Australia is nominating its most important sites for World Heritage listing them as some of the most meaningful places on earth.

Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts, Peter Garrett, announced the nomination today within the castle-like walls of Western Australia’s Fremantle Prison, where most convicts began their life of hard labour.

‘These convict sites are a living record of one of the greatest penal experiments in world history ñ the transportation of more than 166,000 men, women and children to a vast and largely unknown land,’ Mr Garrett said.

‘We are asking UNESCO to recognise the outstanding universal value of these convict sites, just as it has the living culture of the first Australians, in listings such as Kakadu and Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Parks.’

Fremantle Prison is one of 11 nominated sites. The others are: New South Wales — Old Government House and Domain (Parramatta), Hyde Park Barracks (Sydney), Cockatoo Island Convict Site (Sydney) and Old Great North Road (near Wiseman’s Ferry) Norfolk Island — Kingston and Arthur’s Vale Historic Area Tasmania — Port Arthur Historic Site (Tasman Peninsula), Cascades Female Factory (Hobart), Darlington Probation Station (Maria Island), Coal Mines Historic Site (via Premadeyna) and Brickendon and Woolmers Estates (near Longford).

‘The exile of convicts from one side of the world to the other is both a dark and uplifting tale, from isolation and punishment to extraordinary opportunities for starting a new life,’ Mr Garrett said.

‘At New South Wales’ Old Great North Road, you can still see the pick marks in sandstone blocks that our convict ancestors quarried by hand to create an intricate drainage system.

‘Tasmania’s Brickendon and Woolmers Estates rehabilitated convicts through agriculture, while the walls of Cascades Female Factory evoke the harsh experience of women and children.

‘At the Kingston and Arthur’s Vale Historic Area, the buildings and landscape are a haunting reminder of the terror and pain the convicts suffered.

‘After a huge amount of work by state and territory governments, property managers and local communities, this nomination is now winging its way to Paris,’ Mr Garrett said.

‘It will be examined by UNESCO and after a rigorous assessment process, the World Heritage Committee will make a final decision, expected in mid-2009.’

Contact: www​.petergarrett​.com​.au

Peter Garrett is widely known as a passionate advocate and campaigner on a range of contemporary Australian and global issues. He was the former president of the Australian Conservation Foundation, an activist, and a former member of Australian band Midnight Oil www​.midnightoil​.com

Photo: The Hon Peter Garrett AM MP
Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts
Photo: © www​.petergarrett​.com​.au