I am delighted to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Doncaster-Templestowe Historical Society. Doncaster-Templestowe was the location of some of the earliest settlements in what is now greater Melbourne, although at the time a farming area a few hours by horse and buggy from the city.
I have a keen interest in Australian history. It was my favourite subject at school. At university, it had the opportunity of studying with Professor Geoffrey Blainey, who reshaped and popularised the telling of our national story.
I grew up near the small town of Rosedale in Gippsland, which was settled in the 1840s and 50s - at about the same time of the first European settlement of this area. In and near Rosedale are cairns recording two of the original explorers of Gippsland, Angus McMillan and the Polish 'Count' Paul Edmund de Strzelecki. My father had a keen interest in local history, which I absorbed. So I am delighted to be with you tonight.
The original inhabitants of the region, the Wurundjeri people, also gave us the first English name, Bulleen, from the aboriginal 'Bolin' meaning billabong - a reference to the low-lying area along the Yarra River near the Veneto Club which was a resting place or settlement for the local clan. It was an area rich in food for the indigenous people.
