ResearchOnline@JCU This file is part of the following reference: Lloyd, Rohan James (2016) Fathoming the reef: a history of European perspectives on the Great Barrier Reef from Cook to GBRMPA. PhD thesis, James Cook University. Access to this file is available from: http://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/49776/ The author has certified to JCU that they have made a reasonable effort to gain permission and acknowledge the owner of any third party copyright material included in this document. If you believe that this is not the case, please contact [email protected] and quote http://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/49776/ i Fathoming the Reef: A History of European Perspectives on the Great Barrier Reef from Cook to GBRMPA Thesis submitted by Rohan James Lloyd BEd/BA (Hons) James Cook University October 2016 For the degree of Doctor of Philosophy In the College of Arts, Society and Education James Cook University ii Statement of Access I, the undersigned, the author of this thesis, understand that James Cook University will make it available for use within the Eddie Koiki Mabo Library and, by microfilm or other means, allow access to users in other approved libraries. All users consulting this thesis will have to sign the following statement: In consulting this thesis, I agree not to copy or closely paraphrase it in whole or in part without the written consent of the author; and to make proper public written acknowledgement for any assistance which I may have obtained from it. Beyond this, I do not wish to place any restrictions on access to this thesis. Signature Date iii Abstract The contest between economic development and the preservation of the natural world has had important implications for the way the Great Barrier Reef has been treated, both physically and imaginative, by European Australians. Most recently well circulated imagery of coral from the Reef's north, bleached as a result of higher than normal ocean temperatures caused by climate change, provided a vivid sense of the conflict between industrial development and the maintenance of global environments. In Australia the bleaching event has invited a frank ultimatum from Reef scientists who research the collage of life it sustains: you can have coal mining or the Reef, not both. Embedded in the choice is an understanding that Australians have a complicated appreciation of the Reef. While most Australians appreciate the Reef's natural beauty and romantic appeal, they hold conflicting valuations of coal mining and the jobs it provides. This thesis explores the tension between exploitation of the Reef and its preservation throughout the history of European and European Australian engagement with it. Specifically, it examines the history of perceptions of the Reef by considering how explorers, scientists, politicians, tourist company operators, nature and travel writers, and conservationists discussed the Reef, and how imaginations of its economic and natural attributes fuelled their valuations. This history begins with Captain Cook's encounter with the Reef in 1770 and ends with the establishment of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) in 1975. Use and management of the Reef today is premised on the notion that it is exposed to a range of competing values and uses. GBRMPA was introduced to ensure that these values and uses, while seemingly contradictory, could co-exist alongside the Reef environment. Importantly, appreciation of the natural values of the Reef, while encouraging a sympathetic view of the environment, has not always restrained the urge to appraise its potential for exploitation. Rather, valuations of the Reef's social, cultural and economic virtues have been complicated by the interaction of both perspectives leading to the creation of a composite attitude towards the Reef. Consequently, the Reef has been simultaneously perceived, often by the same people, and by those historically characterised as its custodians, as valuable for economic reasons and the natural beauty with which it abounds. This thesis argues that European iv perceptions of the Reef have been informed by an entanglement of its imagined economic and natural values since Cook's arrival in 1770. While the Reef's variety has inspired diverse reactions, this thesis concludes that appreciation of its exploitable and natural qualities have interacted to produce a range of complex perceptions of its value to European Australia. v Table of Contents Statement of Access ............................................................................................................... ii Abstract .................................................................................................................................. iii Statement of Sources ............................................................................................................ vi Acknowledgements .............................................................................................................. vii Abbreviations ......................................................................................................................... x List of Figures ........................................................................................................................ xi List of Maps .......................................................................................................................... xii Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 1 Chapter One: Environmental History .............................................................................................. 8 Chapter Two: An Extraordinary Barrier ....................................................................................... 38 Chapter Three: A Settled Reef ........................................................................................................... 62 Chapter Four: Wealth of the Reef .................................................................................................... 92 Chapter Five: Discourse of Concern ............................................................................................. 126 Chapter Six: The Oilman Cometh............................................................................................... 153 Chapter Seven: Black Ban ................................................................................................................ 189 Chapter Eight: The Royal Commission .......................................................................................... 217 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 243 Bibliography ....................................................................................................................... 248 vi Statement of Sources Declaration I declare that this thesis is my own work and has not been submitted in any form for another degree or diploma at any university or other institution of tertiary education. Information derived from the published or unpublished work of others has been acknowledged in the text and a list of references is given. Signature Date vii Acknowledgements The completion of this thesis would not have been possible without the support, friendship and love provided by a number of people. Initial thanks go to Claire Brennan and Russell McGregor. Both saw something in me and this topic and have encouraged me to pursue it with vigour since day one. During this thesis Russell retired and Claire had a second child. While their personal circumstances changed dramatically they continued to offer important comments, advice and support. I am indebted to them for their inspiration to chase opportunities and to develop arguments with detail, force and intellect. I would like to thank the volunteers and staff of the Eddie Koiki Mabo Library, Townsville City Libraries, Queensland State Archives, National Library of Australia, National Archives of Australia, and Mitchell Library. I would especially like to thank Haidi Beard, Bronwyn McBurnie and Jacqui Stockdale in Special Collections at the Eddie Koiki Mabo Library who provided friendship and support throughout the entirety of the thesis. During this thesis I was awarded a National Library of Australia Summer Scholarship. That scholarship allowed me to stay in Canberra for six weeks to research the 'Save the Reef' campaign in considerable depth. I would like to thank the National Library for providing the opportunity and the anonymous donor, the McCann family and John and Heather Seymour for funding it. I also attended two postgraduate writing workshops focussing on environmental history and humanities. The first was organised by Tom Griffiths and Libby Robin and held at the Australian National University. The second was organised by Iain McCalman and held at the University of Sydney. The lessons and friendships gained from these workshops had an immeasurable benefit on the thesis and my time writing it and I would like to extend my thanks to the organisers for providing the opportunity. Throughout the thesis I have made a number of friends who were in pursuit of their own academic achievements but who shared offices, conversations and memorable times with me. From JCU I would like to thank Ryan Anderson, Bianka Balanzategui, Wayne viii Bradshaw, Nicole Crowe, Kate Cameron, Belinda Duke, Michelle Dyer, Felise Goldfinch, Patrick Hodgson, Ray Holyoak, Puangtip Kerdsap,