Busselton community commended for helping over sinking of HMAS Swan

13/12/97

The Busselton community should take a bow, Tourism Minister Norman Moore said tonight.

He was speaking at the HMAS Swan Celebration Dinner at Meelup.

Mr Moore said bringing the former HMAS Swan to Dunsborough to sink as a dive wreck would not have been possible without the dedication and support of the entire community.

"The preparation and sinking of the Swan has been a time-consuming process and has involved a great many people and organisations," he said.

"In particular, I would like to thank the many volunteers who gave so much of their time.

"There are so many people who should be acknowledged for what they had done. The entire Busselton regional community should take a bow."

Mr Moore told the guests they were part of a celebration of a long, but fruitful journey that had almost reached its climax.

That journey had begun when the keel of the escort destroyer and anti-submarine warship HMAS Swan was laid in 1965.

"Based mostly at Stirling Naval Base in Western Australia, it is fitting that the ship be returned here to be sunk, where perhaps she will become more famous in death than in life," the Minister said.

"Her sinking marks the end of her journey.

"But as the Swan's journey ends, another begins.

"This is a journey which promises fun, prosperity and another great tourism attraction amongst the many here in the South-West."

Mr Moore said turning the Swan into a dive wreck fitted well with the strategy of nature-based tourism in the South-West.

"Wine tourism already is a well-established part of the region and a premier dive wreck attraction will bring an exciting new dimension to dive tourism," he said.

Mr Moore said figures released in August showed that the South-West had the highest level of tourism development in regional WA.

Projects worth an estimated $304 million were either planned, or under construction statewide. Of this, the South-West had nearly $220 million planned or under construction.

"The volume of commercial and tourism activities within this area rates highly in WA at present," Mr Moore said.

"The sinking of the Swan will make a significant impact on these growing figures."

Media contact: Hartley Joynt (08) 9321 1444

Note: Dunsborough Primary School student Tyson Famlonga (6) pushed the button which set off the explosive charges used to sink the Swan.

He was given the privilege by his father, who won the right to sink the Swan as part of a fundraising raffle.

Tyson Famlonga (6) and his father (right) in lifejackets shortly before Tyson sent the HMAS Swan 30 metres to the ocean floor in Geographe Bay, off Dunsborough.

A ball of smoke and flame billows from HMAS Swan (above) seconds after six-year-old Tyson set off the explosives that sunk the former warship