EMBARGO: 10.00 am
j AUSI'ALIA 16
PRIME MINISTER
FOR MEDIA MONDAY, OCTOBER 26 1981
OPENING OF THE WORLD HERITAGE COMMITTE MEETINGIt
gives me great pleasure to welcome to Australia the
delegations from the 21 countries which makeup the World
Heritage Committee, and I also welcome the observors who are
attending from a number of other countries.
am advised that some 61 countries have now signed the
World Heritage Convention, and the fact that several countries
have joined in the last few weeks shows that there is growing
acceptance around the world of the aims of the convention.
The doncept of a ' world heritage', which includes both the
cultural and the natural heritage of mankind, and which means
that individual nations will hold sites and properties of
universal value in trust not just for their own peoples, but
for the whole of mankind, is surely a profound expression of
co-operation between people and a willingness to share.
The World Heritage Convention, adopted by UNESCO in 1972, is
an important milestone in the modern history of man's concern
not only for his environment, but also for his cultural roots
and origins. It is impressive that while this is only the
fifth meeting of the World Heritage Committee, there are
already 85 properties and sites listed as measuring up to the
Committee's standards of outstanding universal value.
I hope the World Heritage listing will receive some publicity
in Australia as a result of your meeting here, because our
perspectives as a nation would undoubtedly be broadened through
a wider understanding of these sites and properties.
This particular meeting of the World Heritage Committee has
special significance for Australia, not only because it is
being held here, but also because Australia's first nominations
for the World Heritage list are coming forward, and while these
nominations speak far more strongly for themselves than I
could ever argue for them, I would like to say a word or two
about them, and then to say something about some of our other
environmental and conservation concerns.
One nomination is the Great Barrier Reef. This magnificent maze
of coral banks, reefs and islands, stretching nearly 2,000
kilometres along the coastline of Queensland, has been known
to the world since Captain Cook ran aground there in 1770.
The Capricornia secion of the Great Barrier Reef has already
been established by the Commonwealth Government as a marine
park, and the whole of the reef is fully protected under an
Act of the Comnonwealth Parliament. ,/ 2
-2
The Commonwealth Government is actively seeking a co-operative
approach with the Queensland government in relation to extending
the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, and I am sure that this
Committee would appreciate the importance of a co-operative
approach between governments, especially a federal, system, in
matters such as this. But let nobody be in any doubt that the
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park will be progressively extended.
The question is not whether, but when.
The other two Australian nominations before this meeting forthe
world list are the Kakadu National Park in Arnhem Land
and the Willandra Lakes region in western New South Wales.
These great treasures have been unknown to most Australians
until relatively recently, although both have been known to
Aboriginals for thousands of years. It was only eleven years
ago that archaeological discoveries put the Willandra. Lakes
on the world map as an early site indeed in the emergence
,, of modern man, and new discoveries of scientific and cultural
s ignificance, as well as of unrealized and amazing beauty,
are still " being made in the great Kakadu Park.
Even since last year when it was forwarded as a nomination
for the world list, there have been new discoveries of artifacts
which date the origins of human settlement there at thirty
or even possibly forty thousand years ago.
In addition to these three nominations, I am pleased to
foreshadow now that the Australian Government will soon
Sforward the nominations of a magnificent wilderness area
in south-west Tasmania, and also Lord Howe Island, which
is a unique example of a Pacific island eco-system.
The Commonwealth Government has shown in a number of practical
ways its awareness of the need for initiative and action on
matters of c onservation and the environment. This Government
has prohibited sand mining on Fraser Island. We have banned
whaling in Australian waters and put our weight behind banning
whaling completely. We have substantially increased grants
and research in marine scien Ice. We established thc Fox Enquiry
on uranium and have acted on the Report. We have acted on
and encouraged moves towards the preservation of Antarctica,
and the protection of Antarctic seals. We have embarked on
various treaties-and undertakings for the protection of
migratory birds and endangered species, and for nature
conservation in the South Pacific. We were the first party
to the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance.
We have established the Australiana Fund. -And we have
assisted in the establishment of the World Wildlife Fund in
Australia. The World Conservation Strategy was launched in Australia
last year and-the development of Australia's own conservation
strategy is at a very interesting stage. The various sections
of the strategy are already in draft form, and will be discussed
next month. These sections inc] udc agriculture, forestry, and mining,
fisheries, J. ncluding marine resources, manufacturing and processing,
and special purpose areas, including Aboriginal lands, unallocated
Crown Lands, and nature reserves. Tho strategy will then be rewritten
in the licght of these discussions. Then there will be a process of
public comment and discussion next year. This strategy, which is
concerned with the balance of development and conservation, is
expected to be finalised by the end of 1982.
3
The concern of Australia with the environment and with
conservation has a substantial history. The National Trust
Movement, which now has a membership of about 80,000, dates
back to 1945, a number of field naturalists clubs actually
date right back to the early part of this century, and I would
add that the total membership of the various nature conservation
bodies in Australia runs to quarter of a million.
I would like to commend the voluntary conservation and
heritage movement to countries where it is less well-known
because it really is a way of involving vast numbers of
ordinary people in the conservation of their own heritage,
and in a purely Australian context, I would like to take
this opportunity to express the indebtedness of Australia
as a whole to those people who have, over many years,
given significant and effective practical expression to their
concerns for heritage and conservation issues.
D. e spite the youth of this country, we are fortunate to
have inherited one of the oldest systems of national parks in
the world, because the 15,000 hectare Royal National Park
was established in 1879 and some 2,000 hectares in the
Jenolan Caves area was set aside for similar purposes as far
back as about 1866.. Australia is still actively building
up as well as conserving this inheritance.
In the five years to June, the area of national parkland
has more than doubled, to more than 31m. hectares, with
new national parks in every State and territory of Australia.
Many of these parks are quite breath-taking and some of
Australia's national parks are surely of outstanding universal
value. I am sure you will understand that when I speak in such
terms I am not engaging in any special pleading, but simply
stating the facts as they really are, as those of you who
are taking the opportunity to look around Australia after
this meeting'will see in due course.
But in advance of having the chance to look around Australia,
you have a daunting task to undertake, namely, to make a
few decisions about the 40 or so nominations that are before
you for inclusion in the World Heritage List.
The criteria and guidelines which are laid down in your
terms of reference will obviously help in the decision-making
part of your meeting, but in the end you will undoubtedly
have some difficult and potentially far-reaching judgments
to make, and I certainly wish you well in your deliberations.
John Turner said in the " Heritage of Australia" that,
" the more we understand, the more we care, and with caring
comes the instinct to conserve". I believe that most people
geuninely desire to preserve the environment, but it is a
fact of life that in many circumstances, something more than mere
goodwill is required to ensure the protection of the environment.
And while contemporary man has an unrivalled -capacity, through
the application of technology and acquired knowledge, to enhance
his natural surroundings, contemporary man has an equal potential
to disturb or destroy the delicate balance of nature, and the fabric
of human achievement.
-4
Man is part of the natural environment, and while man surely
has the right toutilise the resources of this planet, a critical
question is how best to use these resources to enhance the quality
of human life, and ' avoid unacceptable damage to our physical
and cultural heritage. It is certainly not acceptable for this.
generation to rob the next, or for us to pass on to our children
a less healthy, a less beautiful or a less enriching heritage
than we enjoy ourselves. There seems little doubt that future
generations will share our growing interest in the tangibleevidences
of these roots, and the fruits of human civilization
at large, as well as of particular cultures, and we surely have
a responsibility to do what we can to make sure that more -evidenc-e
rather than less is on record for the future to draw upon.
The production of registers and catalogues is a worthwhile development
of this connection. Obviously no catalogue or register, no mattef
how lavish its production, could measure up to the reality of
the sites -and properties that are represented. But heritage
registers certainly can open up unknown vistas, and I would lik~ e
Ito say something about the recently published, " Heritage of
AUstralia" which is, as I am advised, the first attempt anywhere
to publish a single inventory of the heritage resources of an
entire nation.
This book is as fascinating as it is monumental, although of
course, something like this is no sooner published than people
will-, quite rightly, want to start * bringing forward additional
properties which should be in it but are not. Works such as this,
which make history tangible, help a nation to establish its own
~ identity. They provide points of reference by which a people
can reach a better understanding of itself and its way of life..
There can be little doubt that a World Heritage listing, as it is
more fully developed, will contribute to a better understanding
of human civilization as a whole. The growth of interest and
concern among people throughout the world for heritage issues
is a signifi'cant development in our times.
Obviously this growing interest will be vastly more productive
if it can be given practical direction and effective agreements
such as a World Heritage Convention are plainly significant
achievements in this context.
The identification and protection of heritage resources
is obviously an ongoing process, and for some countries it is
relatively easily accomplished. For others, even where the will.
is present, economic considerations in particular place
discouraging constraints on progress.
The UNESCO publication, " Man and his environment", comments
that " the countries that are wealthiest as far as cultural or
natural heritage are concerned are often among the most handicapped
in the action to preserve and enhance it, ow,, ing to their lack of
qualified staff and of investment capital". And the background
notes to the W.% orld Heritage Convention refer to the need for
some kind of international mechanism to spread the burden more
evenly and it is encollr~ ig] ncl thi-L1 this Committee, through the
World Herit. aye Fund, has been able to0 support efforts in many
countries to protect priceless sites and properties.
This Committee, in co-operation with the nations of the world,
has the task of trying to make sure that universally valuable
sites and properties from all countries, not just the wealthy
and well-provided countries, can find a secure place on the
World Heritage List.
The task is a challenging one. I wish you well in your deliberations
this week and have pleasure in declaring this meeting open.