Page 1188 - Week 04 - Tuesday, 10 April 2018
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and you will be the richer for it, as we are all the richer for celebrating and sharing our heritage.
MR GENTLEMAN (Brindabella—Minister for Police and Emergency Services, Minister for the Environment and Heritage, Minister for Planning and Land Management and Minister for Urban Renewal) (3.46): I thank Ms Lawder for bringing forward this MPI today. People are often surprised to learn that the ACT is rich in natural and cultural heritage. There is a perception that, as a relatively young city and a smaller jurisdiction, we cannot have many heritage places or objects. This is far from the case.
Our heritage includes places, values and experiences that represent where we have come from and provide a context for the future. By protecting and celebrating our heritage we enable these places and values to continue and to be experienced by others.
Aboriginal occupation of the area has left a rich legacy spanning over 25,000 years. There are many signs of this occupation throughout the natural and built environment, including scarred trees, rock shelters and artefact scatters. Built heritage in the ACT encompasses the 19th century pastoral history of the area as well as many places and objects that tell our important and unique story as the nation’s capital. Natural heritage places in the ACT are reflected in our nature reserves and parks as well as other locations throughout the city where remnant flora or fauna species or important landforms might be located.
It is important that we recognise and protect these places and objects into the future, and keep the stories they tell of who we are and the past that has helped to shape us. Knowing where we come from is important to knowing where we are going. The ACT’s 20th century heritage as the nation’s capital is an important contribution to our story and to our sense of place and identity.
We are fortunate to have Aboriginal, European and natural heritage that shape our history and the future of the ACT. And it is not only really old places that have value. Many places and objects dating from the 20th century are recognised as having heritage significance in the ACT. Some of the youngest heritage places on the ACT heritage register include Callum Offices in Woden, completed in 1981, the Swinger Hill cluster housing precinct, built in the 1970s, and Gus’s cafe in Civic, built in the 1960s.
Many of the ACT’s beautiful, tree-lined garden city precincts dating from the 1920s are also entered on the ACT heritage register, recognising the social, domestic and planning aspects of our origins as the nation’s capital. All of these historically rich and important places and objects, customs and traditions are protected under the heritage legislation.
The Heritage Act 2004 establishes a system for the recognition, registration and conservation of natural and cultural heritage places and objects, including Aboriginal places and objects. The act establishes the ACT Heritage Council. It provides for heritage agreements to encourage the conservation of heritage places and objects and
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