Page 1352 - Week 05 - Thursday, 26 April 1990
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beginning, partly as a reaction to the dismal conditions of earlier industrial cities. It is important, however, to recognise the significant role that various industries play in sustaining our present quality of life.
No modern society can exist without supporting industry, whether it is primary production, mining, manufacturing or the high-technology computer industry. They all provide products that are essential to our daily lives. What is important is that industry should be responsible in its treatment of the environment and prudent and sensible in its use of resources.
Mr Speaker, the Alliance Government is committed to the protection and conservation of all aspects of heritage in the ACT. Apart from our industrial heritage, the ACT is fortunate to have significant components of Aboriginal heritage, including the rock shelter at Birrigai where the earliest evidence of human occupation in inland south-eastern Australia has been found. This site dates back more than 21,000 years.
Pastoral traditions are strongly reflected in our heritage also. Sites such as Lanyon homestead exemplify nineteenth century pastoralism, while Lambrigg, the home of William Farrer, was the site of his experiments in rust prevention in wheat, so important to the viability of a major Australian primary industry. Canberra, as a planned city, is itself a valuable item of heritage significance, not only in Australia but also in world terms.
The recently released draft Planning and Heritage Bills demonstrate our commitment to maintaining our heritage. As a government, we recognise and are reinforcing the obvious connections between heritage protection, conservation and land use planning. Consequently much of the value of the Heritage Bill is proposed to be brought into effect through the draft Planning Bill and its provisions for a Territory plan.
The provisions of the Heritage Bill provide not only for the protection of heritage places but also for heritage artefacts and objects - a much neglected and potentially fragile component of this community's heritage. Heritage is essentially about what we as a community value in the environment around us - what we care about and what we want to pass down to our children.
The responsibility for heritage protection and conservation is shared between the Government and the community. The Government can provide a legal and administrative framework which can act as a stimulus for the community to act responsibly towards its heritage, but the cooperation and participation of the community is essential for effective heritage protection and conservation.
In this regard, the Alliance Government supports the provision of grants from the community development fund for
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