Author Michael Samaras thinks local proposals for a world-class regional museum celebrating the Illawarra’s history are a “great idea”.

“I think that would be splendid,” said Michael, who will be in Thirroul tomorrow night to talk about his new book, Anti-Fascists.

“Wollongong has such a fascinating, rich history, and yet there's a couple of small volunteer-run museums by people who are very dedicated and do great things.

“But that's not the same as having a fully professional, full-time museum. I mean, those volunteers run raffles to pay the electricity bill.”

Volunteers keep history alive

The Helensburgh and District Historical Society is a good example of how the task of preserving local history has fallen to community-minded volunteers.

On April 12, the society held a genealogy-themed open day where a highlight was a fundraising raffle, with Marsha Canning (senior) winning the main prize, the Tunnel watercolour by painter Edith McNally.

The society is volunteer run and led by retired Helensburgh fire chief Jim Powell, who celebrated his 80th birthday this month. Its researchers were recently instrumental in uncovering the lost history of Helensburgh Cemetery after a lucky backburn exposed century-old burial sites. Thanks to the society, the resting places of paupers and stillborn babies will now be officially recognised and protected.

Last year, Jim told the The Illawarra Flame he thought the idea of gathering local history in a large regional museum was "brilliant".

"I'm all for it," Jim said. "I'd like to see it start off with a timeline of our history, starting off with our Indigenous history. It would be a place to learn about the people and the place.”

Stories that should be 'in every school book'

Wollongong's history has inspired numerous creative works, including Danny Ivanovski's 2025 Sculpture in the Garden entry, In Memory of Red Cedar. Other highlights over the past decade range from Sandra Pires' documentary The Dalfram Dispute 1938: Pig Iron Bob – about how dockworkers refused to load the ship Dalfram with iron destined for Japan as they believed it would be used to make bullets – to Michael Samaras' award-winning essay, Discovering A Secret Nazi: Bob Sredersas And The Gift, which exposed the truth about Wollongong Art Gallery's original benefactor. 

There remains a need for a regional museum to collect our past in one place and educate the next generation.

Michael said: “The history of Wollongong, or the Illawarra, with the Indigenous history and then all the convict stuff, and then the development of the cedar industry, and then the coal disasters – Bulli disaster and Mount Kembla disaster – you know, they should be in every school book.

“Then all the things that happened – like in the Depression, Pig Iron Bob and the Dalfram … and then post-war, with the development of a multicultural region and heavy industry, jobs for women campaigns…

"All these things are remarkable – they come out of one region and yet there's no museum telling the stories or preserving them.”

In his travels around the state, Michael has seen other enviable establishments.

“Newcastle's got a fully professional museum; places like Dubbo have had big grants to develop proper museums. They're not just run by volunteers doing raffles.

“The Illawarra has got one of the richest histories in the country, and we haven't got a proper fully professional museum – which we should have."

Call to fund local history

Ahead of the Federal Election campaign, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visited Wollongong in February 2025 to announce $13.6 million in funding towards the St George Illawarra Dragons’ Community and High Performance Centre, which is tipped to create a "significant legacy" for the sporting community.

Michael would like to see government funding for a regional history centre too.

“If they can find $50 million for a rugby league centre of excellence, surely there's $50 million for a proper museum," he said.

“I love sport too, don't get me wrong. But it does make you wonder that if we’ve got money for that, why haven't we got money for something else?”

Michael Samaras will be in conversation with Stephen Jones MP on Wednesday, April 30 at Ryan's Hotel, Thirroul, 6.30 for 7pm start, book via Humanitix. Copies of Anti-Fascists are available at Collins Booksellers Thirroul