Babinda Museum Officially Open to the Public

TANYA TUTTLE | BABINDA TASKFORCE

AFTER five years of development following the initial proposal, history was made this past Saturday with the grand opening of the Babinda Museum.

The dream of this small community has finally been achieved after many years of commitment and hard work with the official opening of the community museum on Saturday, January 21, 2023.

The ribbon cutting honour went to Cairns Regional Council Mayor Bob Manning OAM and the daughter of George Jago, to whom the museum is dedicated, Ruth Boustead.2

A very high rainfall area surrounded by Queensland's two highest mountains, Babinda district is a thriving community with a strong identity and rich history.

It is this history, culture and environment that is on display and, according to Dr Jo Wills, Museum Development Officer from the Queensland Museum Network, many of these stories are uniquely Babinda and "you won't find them anywhere else".

In her role assisting communities throughout the Far North to manage, interpret and preserve their collections, Dr Wills said it has been a real privilege helping the Babinda Museum steering committee to deliver their vision.

"This project was special as the committee has stayed true to the values we set out in the original strategic planning document - remembrance, reconciliation, regrowth and resilience," said Dr Wills.

"It's been a real community effort. That resilience and regrowth has been realised through the committee's perseverance over the years, their willingness to embrace new skills and even through using recycled museum cabinetry and infrastructure. Their commitment to being inclusive and representative has resulted in liaising with First Nation's representatives and families and going to extraordinary lengths to identify compelling community stories."

As well as the Mayor, State Member for Hill Mr Shane Knuth MP and Cairns Regional Council Division 1 Councillor Mr Brett Moller were also in attendance.

Councillor Moller said not only can the Babinda Museum form part of a larger tourism strategy, but importantly, it has strengthened the community's social fabric, bringing it together to share in its history.

Creating a community museum involves researching, collecting, collating, fundraising efforts, and in this instance, lots of 'jigsaw puzzle' funding.

Successful applications to various grant programs became the primary source of financing for the development and establishment of the museum.

Steering committee member Tanya Tuttle said the development of the Babinda Museum also benefited from tremendous community support and local corporate sponsorship.

"The community really got behind us (the steering committee) as they identified a need for this sort of project and also because it was such a collaborative exercise; we really engaged with the community and whoever wanted to be involved in the storytelling could be involved."

Dr Wills said this sort of grassroots, participatory approach is also conducive to sustainability and succession planning, with a real diversity of people from differing backgrounds and ages involved in the project.

Mrs Tuttle also said that while "starting from scratch" meant a long gestation period, it was beneficial in one sense as the committee was able to start from 'the ground up', rather than having to attempt to update or revamp an existing space.

"The committee are all absolutely thrilled with the final result; the space looks beautiful and some of the stories that have been told by our local families and are on display are really spectacular."

A volunteer steering committee-led project and a Babinda Taskforce economic development initiative, the Babinda Museum will be open to the public Tuesday to Saturday, from 10 am-3 pm, with entry by donation.

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