World Heritage listing for Australia's convict sites
Peter Garrett
posted Sunday, 1 August 2010
Federal Environment Protection and Heritage Minister, Peter Garrett, today welcomed the World Heritage Committee’s decision to inscribe 11 Australian convict sites on the World Heritage List. These sites together form a single World Heritage property called the Australian Convict Sites.
The sites that together make up Australia’s 18th World Heritage listing are:
· Old Government House and Domain, Hyde Park Barracks, Cockatoo Island Convict Site and Old Great North Road in New South Wales.
· Fremantle Prison in Western Australia.
· Brickendon and Woolmers Estates, Darlington Probation Station, Port Arthur Historic Site, Coal Mines Historic Site and the Cascades Female Factory in Tasmania.
· Kingston and Arthur’s Vale Historic Area in Norfolk Island.
“I am delighted by the World Heritage Committee’s decision. Australia’s convict story is a fascinating and very human tale,” Peter Garrett said.
“World Heritage listing is incredibly important because it is global recognition of places that have universal significance and very high cultural or natural value. So this is a huge day for Australia.
“Together these sites tell a story that is central to modern Australia. It is the story of how people were transported in exile from one side of the world to the other and how a new nation was formed from hardship, inequality and adversity.
“This is a universal story and one deeply deserving of World Heritage recognition. As a nation, we can feel extremely proud of this decision and I encourage everyone to visit these extraordinary places and experience them first hand.
“Visiting historic sites such as these is a way for us to connect with those who played a critical role in the development of Australia as a modern nation.
“The Australian Convict Sites World Heritage nomination has been a priority of the Gillard Labor Government.
“I congratulate everyone who has been involved in this complex and important nomination, including the Western Australia, New South Wales, Norfolk Island and Tasmanian Governments, property managers and of course the communities that have protected and cared for these special places,” Peter Garrett said.
The Australian Convict Sites join more than 850 of the world’s most special places, which have been given this prestigious international recognition. Some other Australian places on the World Heritage List are the Sydney Opera House, the Great Barrier Reef, Shark Bay and Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park.
The 11 convict sites are also included on the National Heritage List and are protected under national environment law.
More information and images are available at: www.heritage.gov.au.
Tags: convict, environment, Garrett, heritage