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O'Connor's Dream for Water

Video clip synopsis – In 1890 C. Y. O'Connor was recruited to work as Chief Engineer in the newly self-governing colony of Western Australia, where he formed a dynamic partnership with the colony's larger-than-life Premier, John Forrest.
Year of production - 2007
Duration - 3min 1sec

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O'Connor's Dream for Water

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About the Video Clip

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O’Connor’s Dream for Water is an excerpt from the film Pipe Dreams (55 mins), the second episode of the three-part series entitled Constructing Australia, produced in 2007.

Constructing Australia
Politics, tragedy and conquest combine in stories behind the building of Australia. The Bridge, Pipe Dreams, and A Wire Through the Heart, combine rare archival images with dramatic storytelling in showcasing three landmark events that would allow Australia to mark its place in the world. The Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Kalgoorlie Pipeline and the Overland Telegraph line were engineering triumphs, but the human drama in constructing Australia is even more fascinating.

Pipe Dreams
From the remote coast of Western Australia, to deep within its inhospitable interior, an immense water pipeline was being constructed that would unlock countless riches and help build the nation. This is a story of personal tragedy, political rivalries, corruption and trial by media that nearly tore apart Australia at the moment of its birth.

Pipe Dreams was produced with the assistance of ScreenWest and Lottery West. Developed and produced in association with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. A Film Australia Making History Production in association with Prospero Productions.

Background Information

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The discovery of gold in Coolgardie in 1892 and Kalgoorlie in 1893 not only brought wealth to Western Australia, it brought “t’othersiders”—gold-seekers from the eastern colonies on the other side of the Nullarbor Desert—and a host of problems for Premier John Forrest.

Isolated goldfields were ripe with precious metal, but the people were dying of thirst. The state’s first Premier and leading explorer, John Forrest, had a vision to take water across the desert to the goldfields. Chief Engineer Charles Yelverton O’Connor would turn his grand plan into reality.

O’Connor was Irish born. His family were landed gentry, but young O’Connor broke with family tradition to take up the new profession of engineering. At twenty-one he migrated to New Zealand, to work surveying for roads and railways, and by 1883 O’Connor was appointed New Zealand’s under-secretary for public works.

In 1890 O’Connor was recruited to work as Chief Engineer in the newly self-governing colony of Western Australia, where he formed a dynamic partnership with the colony’s larger-than-life Premier, John Forrest.

O’Connor extended the railways, and transformed Fremantle Harbour into a major international port. However O’Connor is best remembered for the goldfields’ Coolgardie Water Scheme, the system of pipelines that made the gold centres of Kalgoorlie and Coolgardie habitable. Moving water uphill in the longest pipeline at that time in the world was a work of engineering genius. O’Connor was both imaginative and meticulous, witty, good company and a devoted family man. Being scrupulously honest and fair-minded himself, he was easily wounded by the malice of others. This sensitivity, combined with the stress and exhaustion of managing the pipeline scheme, is believed to have led to O’Connor’s suicide in 1902.

At the opening of the Coolgardie Water Scheme in 1903 John Forrest said: “I pay tribute to the memory of O’Connor, the great builder of this work. I am greatly saddened that he did not live to receive the honour so justly due to him.”

Digital resources using the clip - O'Connor's Dream for Water

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Clips on Screen Australia’s Digital Learning site have been used to build multiple learning resources. This list shows all resources using the clip ‘O'Connor's Dream for Water’. Follow the links below to see curriculum-specific learning resources built around this clip.

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O'Connor's Dream for Water

In 1890 C. Y. O'Connor was recruited to work as Chief Engineer in the newly self-governing colony of Western Australia, where he formed a dynamic partnership with the colony's larger-than-life Premier, John Forrest.

NSW / NSW Stage 5 / NSW Stage 5 History / NSW Stage 5 History Topic 1 Australia to 1914
National / National Year 9 & 10 / National Year 9 & 10 Australian History / National Year 9 & 10 Australian History Gold
VIC / VIC VELS Level 6 / VIC VELS Level 6 History / VIC VELS Level 6 History Gold