Heritage Alert

Endangered Places list

National Trust Issues Call to Action to Save Endangered Heritage Places in Western Australia

Media Release 22/08/02

Releasing the 2002 Endangered Places List today, Simon Molesworth, Chairman of the Australian Council of National Trusts, decried the destruction and degradation of heritage places around the nation.

Speaking at the historic Customs House in Brisbane - a place now threatened by overtowering development - he urged his audience to maintain their vigilance to ensure Australia's rich and diverse cultural heritage survived for future generations.

Mr Molesworth said "What country are we, that we would consider further damaging the Murujuga, the world's finest rock art site on the Burrup Peninsular".

"Many key heritage redevelopment issues remain unresolved in Western Australia, and this year's list focuses on another major structure - the East Perth Power Station - deteriorating as it awaits a wise community decision to constructively and creatively redevelop it in a way that retains its wonderful fittings and fabric. The clock is ticking for its future, and for that of the Wonnerup-Ludlow Forest. How could anyone seriously assert that mining underneath a sensitive forest and wetland area would not cause significant damage to it!

"Government must listen to communities and take immediate action to ensure that places of value and meaning, such as those we are listing this year, do survive and can continue to enrich the lives of present and future Australians" he said.

Responding to Mr Molesworth's call, Professor David Dolan, Chairman of the National Trust of Australia (WA) issued a statement today calling on all Western Australians to register their support to protect important Western Australian heritage places.

"A lack of maintenance and conservation funds, as well as policies and incentives that fail to encourage conservation, restoration and reuse are hampering the National Trust's ability to help save important State landmark places" he said.

"As a result, many of the tangible reminders of Western's Australia's heritage are on the verge of disappearing".

"Western Australia's heritage is the places we depend on as anchors in a restless, uncertain world. They are the wellsprings of the sense of continuity that one historian has called 'part of the very backbone of human dignity.' They are the magnets that pull us together to commemorate, to celebrate, to mourn, to mark the major passages in our State's life. They are, in effect, the story of us as a State and a people - a powerful story that can just as easily be written in earth, wood, water, rock, stone and steel as it can on paper.

"We need these places - but we can lose them," Professor Dolan continued. "We've always known they are fragile, but the National Trust Endangered Places 2001 Report Card reminds us of just how quickly and stunningly our heritage can be taken from us. We must work to ensure that the places that embody what Western Australia stands for and which remain significant for its communities are kept safe, firm and alive so that we can continue to learn from them, be enriched by them, draw strength and inspiration from them."

By logging on to the National Trust Web site or by writing to their local Minister, interested Western Australians can voice their support for State action to save these important parts of Western Australia's history and heritage for future generations.

National Trust of Australia Endangered Places list (updated 7th November 2002)