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EMBARGO: 5:00 pm

FOR MEDIA

-2ÃÂ0 SUNDAY, 30 NOVEMBER, 1980 ELECTORATE TALK

Australia is to be the host country next year for the Fifth  Session of the World Heritage Committee. This Committee is  responsible for considering nominations of cultural and  natural sites for inclusion on the world heritage list - an

inventory of the wonders of the contemporary world being  prepared under the convention concerning the protection of  the w o rld1s cultural and natural heritageÃ¢ÂÂ

The convention, to which Australia is a party, was adopted  by the General Conference of U.N.E.S.C.O. in 1972Ã¢ÂÂ The  session is expected to be held in Canberra in mid-October, 1981, shortly after the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting

takes place in Melbourne. Invitations are being extended  to the 21 member states which constitute the Committee, and  to other countries to attend as observers.

Australia has already submitted nominations for the World Heritage List being compiled by the Committee. Two of our great natural assets - Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory, Ã¢ÂÂ¢and the Great Barrier Reef, have been nominated. Kakadu,with its wealti

of Aboriginal art sites, is one of the first places nominated to the World Heritage List for both its natural and cultural v a lues.

In announcing the Government's intention to nominate Kakadu  for possible inclusion on the World Heritage List at the Australian  launching of the World Conservation Strategy in March of  this year I stated that, "our action today in nominating  this national park for these important world listings is a "  demonstration to the world not only of our belief that Kakadu is  a valuable and indeed irreplaceable asset, but also of our  commitment to conservation".

Our actions in relation not only to the proclamation of  Kakadu National Park and its nomination for World Heritage  consideration but also our decisions to ban whaling in Australian  waters, to assist in the establishment of the World Wildlife

Fund in Australia, to protect endangered species of birds,  to preserve - for all time - Fraser Island, and, following the  general principles of the World Conservation Strategy, to  develop a national conservation strategy for Australia - are but

some of the measures we  have implemented which demonstrate  clearly the importance we place on our conservation policies  and programmes.

Our commitment in this regard is clearly demonstrated by our  policies for the protection and conservation of the Great  Barrier Reef.  .. ./2

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These policies include the progressive declaration of sections  of the Great Barrier Reef region as a Marine Park, the banning  of petroleum exploration from the region, the development of  a substantial research programme through the Australian

Institute of Marine Science near Townsville and through  marine science research grants - to increase our understanding  of the complexities of the Reef's unique eco-system and the  establishment of a Commonwealth/Queensland Ministerial Council

to oversee the development and implementation of programmes  for the protection of the Reef.

It is clearly appropriate that the Great Barrier Reef be  considered by the World Heritage Committee at its meeting  in 1981 and given the universal esteem in which the Great  Barrier Reef is held, it seems very likely that this nomination

along with the nomination of Kakadu National Park, will be  accepted by this international committee.

The World List, which contains more than 80 places, has the  capacity to capture the imagination of people everywhere, being  evidence of the finest achievements of past and present  civilisations and of our globe's remarkable natural phenomena.

The acceptance of Australia's invitation to host the Fifth  Session of the World Heritage Committee will provide us with a  unique opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to the  preservation and development of our unique cultural and natural  environment.

It also represents an international recognition of the important  role we are playing in the field of preservation Of Australia's  heritage. I

I hope that it will prove possible for the members of the World  Heritage Committee to visit both the Kakadu National Park and  the Great Barrier Reef to witness at first hand their tremendous  features which have been universally acclaimed.

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