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PRIME MINISTERII PRESS STATEMENT NO. 237
April 1974
THE NATIONAL ESTATE REPORT
The Australian Government will take action to preserve the
national estate ranging from protection for natural reserves
to the safeguarding of historic buildings.
The basis of its planning for future action will be the
report of the Committee of Inquiry into the National Estate.
The Committee has just handed its report to the Minister for
Urban and Regional Development, Mr. Uren, and the Minister for
Environment and Conservation, Dr. Cass.
The Government has not yet had time to make final decisions
on the detailed recommendations of the Committee but it supports
them in principle. There are a number of matters on detailed
administrative procedures and taxation questions which must be
subjected to close scrutiny before any final conclusions can be
reached. These are now being looked at by the Government.
The Committee states as its central theme:
" The Australian Government has inherited a
National Estate which has been downgraded,
disregarded and neglected. All previous priorities
accepted at various levels of government and authority
have been directed by a concept that uncontrolled
development, economic growth and ' progress', and the
encouragement of private as against public interest in
land use, use of waters, and indeed in every part of
the National Estate, was paramount".
The concept of the National Estate was devised by my
colleague, Mr. Tom Uren. In my policy speech in December 1972,
I promised that a Labor Government would preserve and enhance
the quality of the National Estate. We have acted swiftly to
discharge the mandate given us to identify, conserve and present
the National Estate.
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In April last year, a Committee of Inquiry was appointed
with Mr. Justice Hope as Chairman. The other members of the
Committee were Mr. Reginald Walker, Mr. Milo Dunphy, Ms Judith
Wright-McKinney, Mr. David Yencken, Mr. Keith Vallance, and
Ms Judith Mary Brine.
The Committee's report runs to more than 600 pages. It
is now being printed and will be tabled in Parliament. Meantime,
because of the interest the work of the committee has aroused, I
have decided to make public the findings and recommendations of
the Committee. The Australian Government is determined that our National
Estate will no longer be degraded and despoiled. The Report
confirms that the present Government is the firstdministration
to make a commitment to identify, conserve and present the National
Estate when it says:
" We believe that the rapid growth in public concern,
involvement and interest, means that this is among
the most far-sighted decisions this Government has
made and that it will be seen as such, not only by a
large proportion of the electorate of today, but
particularly by younger people and Australians of the
future." I am pleased to see that the Report rejects the widelyaccepted
notion that preservation of the environment has a
socio-economic basis, that conservation is a " middle-class"
issue. The Committee affirms that this assumption is not true
and that the conservation of the National Estate is the concern
of everyone. It punctures once and for all the illusion that
the National Estate is the preserve of the privileged. The
forces which threaten our National Estate often bear most heavily
on the less previleged through the loss of parkland, familiar
city-scapes and even dwellings. The Report makes it clear that
often it is the less-privileged who are the most active in working
to preserve the best features of our present way of life. The
pillage and neglect of the National Estate aminishes us all in
equal measure.
The Committee has devoted a great deal of work to defining
with precision the components of the National Estate. The breadth
of the National Estate as defined by the Committee is impressivethe
elements of the cultural-and natural environment which are:
of such outstanding world significance that they need
to be conserved, managed and presented as part of the
heritage of the world;
of such outstanding national value that they need to
be conserved, managed and presented as part of the
nation as a whole;
of such aesthetic, historical, social and cultural,
ecological, or other special value to the nation
or any part of it, including a region or locality,
that they should be conserved, managed and presented
for the benefit of the community as a whole.
This comprehensive definition of the National Estate includes
elements of remarkable diversity and richness. The range of the
National Estate extends from great National Parks to such homely
parts of our heritage as paddlesteamers and a Chinese Joss House.
I do not want to comme nt in detail on the specific
recommendations, except to say that the Government regards it
as a most important and comprehensive document. The findings
and recommendations will be studied most intensively in the
months ahead.
The Report directs particular attention to the role of the
Australian Government in nurturing the National Estate. it
suggests a number of new tasks which the Government should
undertake. I want to make it clear that my Government has not been
idle in its approach to the National Estate. Mr. Uren has
announced grants for National Estate projects in all States
out of a National Estate allocation of $ 2.5 million in the last
Budget. Grants have also been made to assist a number of
conservation groups to meet administrative costs. The
Hope Committee assisted the Government in determining the
allocation of these funds. Now the recommendations of the
Committee will greatly assist the Government in putting National
Estate financial programs on a firm and continuing basis.
The work of Mr. Justice Hope and his Committee deserves
the highest praise. The Government is also grateful for the
help and co-operation given by State and Local Government
authorities, by a host of voluntary organisations, and by
hundreds of individuals in developing and refining the concept
of the National Estate.
The Report of the National Estate Committee is a
recognition of the great physical and cultural endowment we
have inherited. By acting now with firmness and decision we can
ensure that future generations will not lead their lives content
with what we have spoilt.
CANBERRA, A. C. T.