Currents
John Mullen AM Outgoing Chair of the museum’s Council
JOHN MULLEN’S HAND – quiet, assured and tempered by his wealth of corporate experience – has been a guiding influence in maritime archaeology and at the Australian National Maritime Museum for more than 15 years. For almost a decade, he has been intimately involved in the museum’s development, first as Chair of the museum’s Foundation (2016–19) and a member of the museum’s Council, and for the past six years as Chair of the Council. In another capacity, his private Silentworld Foundation has been integral to the discovery and exploration of some of the Australia’s most significant shipwrecks, often in partnership with the museum. John’s second and final term as Council Chair ended in May 2025, although he has agreed to continue as a director of the Foundation, the museum’s main fundraising arm. As Daryl Karp, the museum’s Director and CEO notes: John’s passion and deep maritime knowledge, combined with his wisdom and business acumen, have seen the museum go from strength to strength. His contributions to the museum – both intellectually and through his Silentworld Foundation – have ensured a richer appreciation and understanding of our island nation shaped by sea. 82
Signals 151 Winter 2025
During his time as Council Chair, John Mullen helped guide the museum through the Coronavirus pandemic and has overseen a strategy that includes the opening of new permanent galleries, the development of a new website, a program of temporary exhibitions and the redevelopment of the boardwalk. Since the pandemic, the museum has seen onsite and online visitation reach new heights. ‘The development and growth of the Australian National Maritime Museum have provided me with great personal and professional satisfaction,’ John says. ‘I am happy to have played a part in it and am pleased to continue to do so with the Foundation.’ John’s involvement with the museum began in 2009, when Silentworld and the museum worked together on one of Australia’s most exciting shipwreck discoveries, that of HMCS Mermaid, which sank in 1829. This was the vessel that enabled Lieutenant Phillip Parker King’s remarkable expeditions charting the Australian coastline between 1817 and 1820. On New Year’s Day 2009, a team of researchers, archaeologists, divers and two students from Bega High School left Cairns in search of the wreck. Four days later they found the vessel’s remains on Flora Reef, part of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.