Mosman Park on the Swan River was one of Perth’s oldest industrial areas for the majority of the 20th Century. The Colonial Sugar Refinery, General Motors Holden Assembly Plant, CSBP Farmers fertiliser works, State Engineering Works and others were places of skilled and semi-skilled employment defined the profile this mixed-use location on Rocky Bay and adjoining working class residential suburb. Economic rationalisation, globalisation and rising land value all led the eventual closure of these diverse operations in Mosman Park by the end of the century. Today there are no physical remains of the industry that once dominated the area, only the memories of the living who worked in them. Through eleven interviews, this oral history project has captured stories of the industrial chapter of Mosman Park, and considers how its past has shaped the unique profile of this now affluent yet still demographically diverse suburb.
Keywords: Mosman Park, Rocky Bay, Colonial Sugar Refinery, CSBP Farmers, State Engineering Works, General Motors Holden, oral history, heritage from before 1964.
For transcript and project summary please visit: http://bit.ly/2A68DRg
