AUSTRALIA’S australia’s national heritage © Commonwealth of Australia, 2010 Published by the Australian Government Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts ISBN: 978-1-921733-02-4 Information in this document may be copied for personal use or published for educational purposes, provided that any extracts are fully acknowledged. Heritage Division Australian Government Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts GPO Box 787 Canberra ACT 2601 Australia Email [email protected] Phone 1800 803 772 Images used throughout are © Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts and associated photographers unless otherwise noted. Front cover images courtesy: Botanic Gardens Trust, Joe Shemesh, Brickendon Estate, Stuart Cohen, iStockphoto Back cover: AGAD, GBRMPA, iStockphoto “Our heritage provides an enduring golden thread that binds our diverse past with our life today and the stories of tomorrow.” Anonymous Willandra Lakes Region II AUSTRALIA’S NATIONAL HERITAGE A message from the Minister Welcome to the second edition of Australia’s National Heritage celebrating the 87 special places on Australia’s National Heritage List. Australia’s heritage places are a source of great national pride. Each and every site tells a unique Australian story. These places and stories have laid the foundations of our shared national identity upon which our communities are built. The treasured places and their stories featured throughout this book represent Australia’s remarkably diverse natural environment. Places such as the Glass House Mountains and the picturesque Australian Alps. Other places celebrate Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture—the world’s oldest continuous culture on earth—through places such as the Brewarrina Fish Traps and Mount William Stone Hatchet Quarry. Australia’s built heritage is highlighted through sites as varied as the Echuca Wharf and the Mawson’s Huts Historic Site in Antarctica. Several places featured in this book, like Bondi Beach, are well known both here and overseas. Bondi, arguably the home of Australia’s first surf lifesaving club, is one of the world’s most famous beaches and epitomises Australia’s open-to-all-comers beach culture. Other locations on the National Heritage List are important for combining remarkable natural and Indigenous qualities. Witjira-Dalhousie Springs, for example, is in the largest artesian system in the world: Australia’s Great Artesian Basin. These Springs are special, not only as a home for distinct species of plants and animals, but they also hold significant meaning to the Indigenous people of Australia as a place long associated with traditional stories and songs. Our heritage places and stories are increasingly recognised as an important driver of regional economies. Places on our National Heritage List are drawcards for domestic and international tourists. When people visit these places they are helping others build sustainable livelihoods through their support of local businesses and service industries in towns and cities across Australia. This is why in 2009 the Australian Government provided $60 million through the $650 million Jobs Fund initiative for high priority heritage conservation projects; the largest ever investment in Australia’s heritage. I hope you enjoy reading Australia’s National Heritage, the richness and diversity of Australia’s stories are wonderful to check out. The Hon Peter Garrett AM MP AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT, HERITAGE AND THE ARTS AUSTRA LIA’S NATIONAL HERITAGE III National Library of Australia Kurnell Peninsula: Captain Cook’s Landing Place IV AUSTRALIA’S NATIONAL HERITAGE A message from the Chairman of the Australian Heritage Council There are few more exciting or stimulating tasks than to identify the natural, historic and Indigenous places that are significant to all Australians. The Australian Heritage Council’s task is to assess nominated places against the National Heritage criteria to determine if they are of outstanding value to our nation. Since the Council first embarked on the listing process six years ago we have found it an intriguing journey. It has been a voyage through the issues that define us as a country and a people. We are relishing the challenges of our role and are inspired by the passion, care and concern we have seen for these places in their community and the community at large. Places have been nominated and promoted by private citizens, heritage bodies and state, federal and local governments. The List links familiar and iconic places such as the Sydney Opera House and the Melbourne Cricket Ground with lesser known places such as Budj Bim, which is the site of one of the oldest aquaculture systems in Australia. It links sites of great national celebrations, such as Melbourne’s Royal Exhibition Building, with places of sorrow and disquiet such as Tasmania’s Port Arthur and the Myall Creek Massacre site. It also links places of great historic moments such as Captain Cook’s Landing Place and events that have taken mythological standing such as the site of Ned Kelly’s last stand at Glenrowan and the Tree of Knowledge at Barcaldine. We have been engaged in some ambitious and testing assessments—the Australian Alps which spread across two States and the A.C.T. and include multiple layers of significance— Natural, Cultural and Indigenous. As a Council we have sought out places that have such complexity—we find it one of the most interesting features of our heritage. These and other places comprise the Australian story. Identifying them, telling their tales and providing a framework for their protection is the purpose of the National Heritage List. I hope that what we manage to do with the National Heritage List will inspire a greater awareness and support for heritage throughout Australia and perhaps it will help us know more about ourselves as a nation and a people and as custodians of this continent. The AHC members who have worked on the development of this list are: Mr Roger Beale AO Mr Jonathan Mills (associate member) Mr Rodney Dillon Dr Denis Saunders AM Dr Jacqueline Huggins AM FAHA Dr Gaye Sculthorpe Mr Michael Kennedy Adjunct Professor Sharon Sullivan AO Dr Jane Lennon AM Mr Howard Tanner The Hon Richard Lewis (associate member) Associate Professor Peter Valentine Dr Libby Mattiske Dr Richard Walley OAM All the councillors would like to acknowledge and thank the staff of the Heritage Division for their great commitment to our common purpose. Tom Harley CHAIRMAN OF THE AUSTRALIAN HERITAGE COUNCIL AUSTRA LIA’S NATIONAL HERITAGE V Dinosaur Stampede National Monument, Lark Quarry VI AUSTRALIA’S NATIONAL HERITAGE Contents Introduction 2 Australian Fossil Mammal Sites 44 The National Heritage List 3 Fraser Island 45 Australia’s National Heritage List map 4 Gondwana Rainforests of Australia 46 Great Barrier Reef 47 AUSTRALIA’S HERITAGE PLACES Greater Blue Mountains 48 Budj Bim National Heritage Landscape 5 Heard and McDonald Islands 49 Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens 6 Kakadu National Park 50 Dinosaur Stampede National Monument, Lark Quarry 7 Lord Howe Island Group 51 Kurnell Peninsula: Captain Cook’s Landing Place 8 Macquarie Island 52 Gold Strike 9 Purnululu National Park 53 Mawson’s Huts and Mawson’s Huts Historic Site 10 Shark Bay 54 Brewarrina Aboriginal Fish Traps (Baiame’s Ngunnhu) 11 Tasmanian Wilderness 55 Port Arthur Historic Site 12 Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park 56 Glenrowan Heritage Precinct 13 Wet Tropics of Queensland 57 Sydney Opera House 14 Willandra Lakes Region 58 Fremantle Prison 15 Dampier Archipelago 59 First Government House Site 16 Former High Court of Australia 60 20th Century Architecture 17 Cascades Female Factory 61 Recherche Bay (North East Peninsula) Area 19 Coal Mines Historic Site 62 Richmond Bridge 20 Darlington Probation Station 63 HMVS Cerberus 21 Cockatoo Island 64 Melbourne Cricket Ground 22 Hyde Park Barracks 65 Tree of Knowledge 23 Kingston and Arthurs Vale Historic Area 66 South Australia’s Old and New Parliament Houses 24 Old Government House and the Government Domain 67 Dirk Hartog Landing Site 1616 – Cape Inscription Area 25 Old Great North Road 68 Batavia Shipwreck Site and Survivor Camps Area 1629 – Wave Hill Walk-Off Route 69 Houtman Abrolhos 26 Point Cook Air Base 70 Hermannsburg Historic Precinct 27 Brickendon Estate 71 Australian War Memorial and Anzac Parade 28 Woolmers Estate 72 North Head, Sydney 29 High Court–National Gallery Precinct 73 Point Nepean Defence Sites and Quarantine Station Area 30 Bonegilla Migrant Camp – Block 19 74 Old Parliament House and Curtilage 31 Bondi Beach 75 Glass House Mountains National Landscape 32 Mount William Stone Hatchet Quarry 76 Rippon Lea House and Gardens 33 Cyprus Hellene Club – Australian Hall 77 Flemington Racecourse 34 Myall Creek Massacre and Memorial Site 78 Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, Lion Island, Adelaide Park Lands and City Layout 79 Long Island and Spectacle Island Nature Reserves 35 Australian Alps 80 Warrumbungle National Park 36 QANTAS Hangar – Longreach 81 Royal National Park and Garawarra State Conservation Area 37 Elizabeth Springs 82 Grampians National Park (Gariwerd) 38 Witjira-Dalhousie Springs 83 Stirling Range National Park 39 Porongurup National Park 84 Flora Fossil Site, Yea 40 Cheetup rock shelter 85 Ediacara Fossil Site 41 Sydney Harbour Bridge 42 Protecting Australia’s National Heritage 87 Echuca Wharf 43 AUSTRA LIA’S NATIONAL HERITAGE 1 Introduction Heritage: what is or may be inherited; that which belongs to one by reason of birth; inheritance; something passed down to future generations Australia is a complex and diverse nation composed of both Indigenous and immigrant peoples from nearly 200 countries. But it is our common heritage that makes us distinctively Australian. By recognising our heritage—our past, our significant places and the source of our values—we can better understand our special place in the world. Heritage can be something you can touch and see but it can also be things you can’t, like music, stories, spoken history and traditions.