Warwick Turner gave a talk on "A Focused Future For Our Maritime Past" to members of the Maritime Heritage Association of Victoria and the Williamstown Maritime Association. It was a fascinating talk about potential ways ahead for the Williamstown site. Here is the text of his talk, or you can download it in .doc format (110 Kb) or .pdf format (260Kb).

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MHAV: working for a nationally significant Maritime Heritage Precinct at the former PMA workshops and slipway site at Williamstown

Victoria's maritime heritage has it all: Schooners - Lighthouses - Couta boats - Immigrants - Clippers - Gold-rushes - Windjammers - Naval history - Freighters - Slipways - Shipwrecks - Boatbuilders - Ferries - Stevedores - Tugboats - Container ships - Sailmakers - Docks - Historic vessels!

But how would you ever know? Melbourne - one of the great seaports of the world - is the only state capital in Australia without a State Maritime Museum.

The Maritime Heritage Association of Victoria is a coalition of people and organisations set up in 2002 to:

• Actively promote the establishment of a State Maritime Museum in the Melbourne metropolitan area

• Assist and advise in the design and operations of a State Maritime Museum

• Assist and promote the acquisition of artefacts for Maritime collections

• Promote and expand the public and political awareness of Victoria's rich maritime heritage

• Work with other interest groups and government departments for the purposes of the Association

• Organise financial appeals and fundraising activity for the purposes of the Association

From clippers to container ships, the seaports have moulded the lives of Victorians - providing work, welcoming immigrants, carrying food, gold, wool and coal, creating prosperity for all - and now the time has come to commemorate this foundation with a museum.

If you would also like to support these goals, please become a member of the Maritime Heritage Association of Victoria. You will receive regular newsletters and invitations to associated events, and help in preserving a fascinating past for future generations.

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Please feel free to contact the Association with any enquiries.

Maritime Heritage Association of Victoria, Inc
Registered Office: 22 Delmore Cres, Glen Waverley, Vic, 3150
Postal Address: PO Box 3080, Syndal, Vic, 3149
Phone: (03) 9846 7110
Fax: (03) 9846 7112
Web: www.mhav.net
Email: John Milne, President MHAV - milnejl@mainsl.com.au