Bordertown, South Australia

Location

Bordertown is located 275km south east of Adelaide and 19km from the border of South Australia and Victoria. Bordertown is the commercial and administrative centre of the Tatiara District Council. With an area of 6,525 square kilometres and a population of approximately 6,900 (2005) it is the second largest council area in South Australia incorporating the towns of Bordertown, Keith, Mundulla, Padthaway, Willalooka and Wolseley.

History

Bordertown was first settled in 1846 when grazing leases were taken out. The first three stations established were Nalang Station, Cannawigara Station and Wirrega Station. Tatiara is the local Aboriginal word for Good Country . Pastoralists first settled in the area after having heard about the good country from the Aboriginal people. In 1852, 120 allotments were sold at a cost of 50 shillings for each quarter acre block. These were purchased with the intention of establishing a town or depot where gold exports could rest on their journey between the Victorian goldfields and the port of Adelaide. Development in the region increased with the arrival of wheat farmers in 1872 although farming was difficult due to poor soil types. Farming only became a viable proposition in the 1930s when super-phosphate and trace elements were introduced.

Bordertown Today

Bordertown sign [Image Source: unknown] After the gold rushes the town prospered by establishing itself as a major service centre and continues in this role today. Bordertown has long been established as a transport centre following the arrival of the railways in 1886. The land surrounding Bordertown has traditionally lent itself to wheat and wool though the soil is now rich enough to support vineyards, cattle, seeds and cereals. In 1950 the AMP Insurance Company funded the development of vast areas of bushland into farmland, resulting in a large growth period for Bordertown and the nearby town of Keith.

Birthplace of RJL Hawke

Robert James Lee Hawke was born in Bordertown on December 9 1929, the second son of Ellie and Clem Hawke. Since Bob Hawke became Prime Minister, Bordertown has utilised this fact to promote tourism in the area.

Since moving away with his family in 1935 Bob Hawke has made three official visits back to Bordertown. He returned briefly in 1972 as part of the federal election campaign, then in 1982 he and his father Clem attended the 500th Dinner Meeting of the Bordertown APEX Club and more recently in October 2002, when Bob Hawke attended the official opening of the Hawke Gallery at the Tatiara Council Chambers. On this occasion he was also a guest and speaker at a school assembly held in the Bordertown Primary School and later enjoyed afternoon tea at the Over 50s Club.

Bordertown Attractions

There are a number of attractions in Bordertown commemorating the birthplace of Australia s 28th Prime Minister.

Hawke House

Hawke House [Image Source: unknown] Built in 1884 and located on Farquhar Street, the sandstone home was the birthplace of Bob Hawke, on December 9, 1929. The house was built in 1885 as the National Bank Office and Manager s residence and was bought in 1897 for 420 by the Congregational Church.

Clem Hawke was the congregational minister of Bordertown, serving in this position from 1928 1935. When the Hawke family moved to Maitland on the Yorke Peninsular, the house remained as the Manse until the Uniting Church was formed in 1977. The property is now privately owned and the house contains offices for several community organisations including the Tatiara Employment Support Service. A number of photographs of Bob Hawke are displayed inside the house and for some years a cartoon gallery was a feature in one of the main rooms.

Bob Hawke Gallery

The Bob Hawke Gallery (opens in new window) is located in the Tatiara Council Lobby of the Council Chambers located on Woolshed Street. The Gallery is open Monday Friday, 9am 5pm.


RJL Hawke on a 1947 Panther motorcycle; a bike he once owned	RJL Hawke and Diana Penniment after official opening

The Gallery was officially opened on Wednesday 30 October 2002 by Bob Hawke in the presence of the Bordertown CEO, Councillors and invited guests. The Gallery contains memorabilia and artefacts related to the former prime minister with items on loan from the resources of the Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Library and from the local community. Also included is a portrait of Bob Hawke by Melbourne artist, Michael Henwood.

Portrait

Located in the foyer of the Tatiara District Council Chambers is a portrait of RJL Hawke painted by Melbourne artist Michael Henwood. The painting was an Archibald Prize entry in 2000 and was purchased by the Tatiara District Council in 2001 for $11,000.00.

Bronze Bust

Bronze bust of RJL Hawke [Image Source: unknown] A bronze bust of Bob Hawke is located outside the Tatiara Council Chambers in Woolshed Street, Bordertown. The bust was given as a gift to the town by Melbourne artist Demetrio D Tella and the Giannarelli family and was unveiled by Bob Hawke s father, Clem Hawke, in April 1987.

In 1998 the Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Library purchased the only other casting and this is now situated in the Hawke Building at the City West campus of the University of South Australia.

Pioneer Chapel

Pioneer Chapel [Image Source: unknown] The former Congregational Church is now privately owned and known as the Pioneer Chapel. Clem Hawke, Bob s father, served as the Congregational minister in Bordertown from 1928 to 1935 when the family moved to Maitland on the Yorke Peninsular, South Australia.

Bob Hawke refers to his birth in Bordertown in the Occasional Address he delivered at a Graduation Ceremony on the conferral of his Honorary Doctorate of the University of South Australia on May 13, 1988:

...this is the State of my birth and it has always had, and will continue to have, a warm place in my heart. I was born in 1929 in Bordertown a fact which gave rise to a very ungenerous comment from one of my more politically extreme colleagues during my days as President of the ACTU. We were engaged in a serious national dispute and some of the officials, who were Communist Party members, were pressing for an outcome which I believed to be excessive and unjustified. During the dispute there was a function at which I was the guest speaker. The person who was introducing me, starting from the very beginning said that I was born in Bordertown - at which one of those disgruntled officials interjected from the audience: "Yes, and he s been sitting on the bloody fence ever since."