Media Release

NORFOLK ISLAND CONVICT SITE ADDED TO THE WORLD HERITAGE LIST

Federal Environment Protection and Heritage Minister, Peter Garrett, and Norfolk Island Chief Minister, David Buffett, have welcomed an announcement by the World Heritage Committee that Norfolk Island’s Kingston and Arthur's Vale Historic Area has been included on the World Heritage List as part of the Australian Convict Sites inscription.

“Norfolk Island’s convict site is a rich historical landscape, where lessons from the past are relevant to the whole world,” said Mr Garrett.

“It holds a visual record of harsh and brutal conditions endured by forced penal migrants for more than 60 years from 1788, but it is also associated with innovative developments in the rehabilitation of criminals, that were later modelled to the rest of the world in the 1840s.

“The Norfolk Island story is part of a phenomenon in world history, the forced migration of prisoners to far-flung places, and their subsequent role in developing the cultural life and the economy of the places they were sent to.”

Mr Buffett welcomed the decision as being important for Norfolk Island.

“The Kingston and Arthur's Vale Historic Area had a reputation as one of the harshest and cruelest of Australia's penal settlements. A convict settlement spanning 1788-1855, it today comprises a large group of buildings from the convict era, some of which have been modified during the Pitcairn period (from 1856 to the present), substantial ruins and standing structures, archaeological remains, landform and landscape elements.

“Gaining World Heritage status will be good for Norfolk Island and stimulate tourism,” Mr. Buffett said.

“The process involved lengthy consultations and much hard work on the part of property managers and the community. I am extremely proud of the Island for getting this site onto the list,” Mr Buffett said.

The other 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

The Australian Convict Sites join more than 850 of the world’s most special places 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 Australian Convict Sites are also included on the National Heritage List and are protected under national environment law.

For more information and images go to www.heritage.gov.au


Media contacts: (Mr Garrett) Ben Pratt 0419 968 734
(Mr Buffett) Elizabeth Burns 0011 6723 22003