When Mosman City Council sent letters to all members of Australian Parliaments asking for stone contributions to its Federation Monument Project, the State Member for Orange and Orange City Councillor Russell Turner responded enthusiastically.
“I thought it was a fantastic project and coming from an area with a diverse range of rocks, I drove around the Electorate and collected three,” he said. “The most significant stone is a piece of gold bearing quartz from the Ophir district.”
Russell Turner noted that all the gold for both the Olympic and Paralympic Games medals, approximately 10 kilograms valued at $200,000, will be donated by the communities of Orange City, Cabonne and Blayney Shire Councils. “I also gave a piece of granite from Cowra and basalt from the peak of Mount Canobolas, both millions of years old,” he said. “Orange will be well and truly represented in the Monument.”
The 2001 stones will form the basis of Mosman’s Monument together with a steel sculpture of the paddle wheel steam yacht, ‘Lucinda’. It will be erected on the western shore of the Spit at Middle Harbour as Mosman Council’s contribution to the Centenary of Federation.
It acknowledges the final revision of the Australian Constitution Bill which took place on board ‘Lucinda’ in 1891 while she cruised Middle Harbour. “It was an honour to hand the stones over to Mayor Jim Reid and I congratulate him, his Council and the Federation Community Committee on their initiative and look forward to seeing the final product,” Russell Turner said.
“I believe it will symbolise not only geological time measured in the millennia, but also the coming together of the Australian colonies in Federation. “What a wonderful and fitting way to help us celebrate our centenary of Federation.”
