Reconciliation, Tasmanian style: the neglect of Risdon Cove.

THE SITE AT RISDON COVE, across the Derwent River from Hobart's northern suburbs, has a very long history.

For the British, settlement began in September 1803, when a young man, Lieutenant John Bowen RN, led a party of forty-eight made up of free settlers, convicts and marines under the command of Lieutenant William Moore.

This was the first attempted settlement of Van Diemen's Land by the British and the second settlement in Australia. It occurred because it was judged that the French might also want to settle there, thus positioning them in a strategic area south of the settlement at Sydney Cove.

Risdon Cove was subsequently abandoned as the administrative centre and moved to Sullivans Cove (Hobart) under the command of Lieutenant David Collins RN, in February 1804. Even though most people moved out, the site remained inhabited until 1948.

In those intervening years, the colony, then the state, honoured its origins and celebrated the anniversary years of 1853, 1903, 1953 and 1978. In the bicentennial year of 2003, Labor Premier Jim Bacon's government chose not to honour the event.

In 1903, the centenary, a monument to Lieutenant Bowen was erected, using stone supplied from the Proctors Road quarry near Hobart. Because of a smallpox epidemic in Hobart, unveiling was postponed until the following year, when the ceremony was conducted by the Governor of Tasmania, Sir Arthur Havelock. The ceremony was a large affair, as testified by the newspapers of the day. Judging by the pictures, thousands turned out to witness the event, including the military, clergy, government dignitaries, school children and the general public.

For many years the site was somewhat neglected, despite its historical significance. In 1978 two controversial pyramid buildings were erected at the site by the state Labor government, in the hope of ushering in a new era. But it did not eventuate and the site became a white elephant.