A MEMORIAL to all workers killed or injured on the job will be built just metres from the place where two men lost their lives in a trench collapse in 2018.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Ballarat artist Garry Anderson has been chosen by the families of Jack Brownlee and Charlie Howkins to create the permanent sculpture at the new Winter Valley estate which will honour all workers killed or injured on the job.
A fundraising campaign will now be started to raise the up to $200,000 needed to create the memorial, which will be a focus of a new parkland area alongside the Glenelg Highway.
MORE NEWS
Mr Anderson, who visited the site with the families of the two workers killed, said he was moved to create something everlasting for all workers.
"It's an incredible honour to be asked to design something that will become a monument to Australia and to workplace relations," Mr Anderson said. "It's a daunting task, but I would like the community to feel and understand that everybody has fought for a very very long time for change in laws."
In July this year, new industrial manslaughter laws came into place in Victoria, strengthening the penalties for employers found negligent in the death of a worker.
It has been acknowledged that the tireless work of Dr Lana Cormie, wife of Charlie Howkins, and Dave and Janine Brownlee, the parents of Jack Brownlee, has been the key driver for the laws to be able to be passed. The law has been dubbed the "Ballarat law" in some quarters.
"The style of the work we are looking at are things I've been developing over many decades," Mr Anderson said.
"These are symbols that represent the landscape and the strength of the people. This monument will build itself in that sense.
"It will be a physical sculpture, scale is the challenge as we are looking at to have some presence on the landscape as we are in a gully here. But the message we want to get across here is that people have the power to be able to make a change."
Dr Cormie said she hoped the memorial would look at both the past and the future.
"It's one of the aims of this memorial is to give a message of hope that it is not just about remembering who has passed, but what we want for the future in that all of our sons and daughters will go to work and we know they will be safe as they rightly should," Dr Cormie said.
"That is something that many people have striven for in our country and this monument will give that hope.
"We hope this new community, that Charlie and Jack helped create, will be able to appreciate the wonderful space they can spend with their families as a place of respect.
"We feel strongly about this being about hope, the future, let's not make it about death, let's make it about a better future."
Dr Cormie said she hoped it would inspire a sense of inquiry for those who view the memorial. "What's this about and what does it mean to me as a person viewing the sculpture?" she said.
"That will be different for everyone. For example for someone who has been injured in a workplace accident that will be something that they know is for them."
Mr Brownlee said Mr Anderson was one of four artists interviewed, with his commitment and vision standing out.
"It's a tragedy that it happened this way, but hopefully we come up with something that is ever lasting and memorable to all workers," he said.
"We ended up with Garry as he was very attached to the project and showed us examples of his work. It was most definitely important to have a Ballarat artist as well, this is about all workers of Ballarat who can congregate here whenever they feel they need to.
"Art is not one of my strong points, so we'll be guided by Garry a bit, he will interpret our feelings and thoughts and no doubt come up with something very substantial."
Ballarat Trades Hall secretary Brett Edgington said the plan was that the memorial would be an annual commemoration focus of International Workers Day on April 28.
"This will be where we can get workers and families together here on this site to pay our respects to those who have lost their lives or had their lives permanently affected by workplace injury," Mr Edgington said.
"The incident that happened here in 2018 was a catalyst really for the introduction of the industrial manslaughter legislation and the fact that Janine, Dave and Lana were prepared to lend their voice to hundreds of families right across Victoria.
"There's no firm opening date for the memorial. We will be launching a public fundraising campaign. It will be great to have it ready by April 28, 2021, if not, by 2022."
If you are seeing this message you are a loyal digital subscriber to The Courier, as we made this story available only to subscribers. Thank you very much for your support and allowing us to continue telling Ballarat's story. We appreciate your support of journalism in our great city.