06/04/2005 - The dramatic
stories of shipwrecks lying in South Australia's
Investigator Strait will be accessible to
land-based visitors thanks to funding announced
today by the Minister for the Environment
and Heritage, Senator Ian Campbell.
Senator Campbell said the Australian Government
would contribute $28,637 through its Historic
Shipwrecks Programme to upgrade and expand
maritime heritage trails on Kangaroo Island
and the Lower Yorke Peninsula.
"This funding will enable our state
partner, the SA Department for Environment
and Heritage, to design and install a total
of 20 new interpretive signs along these trails,"
Senator Campbell said.
"Visitors to these parts of South Australia
will be able to go to the coast near individual
shipwrecks and actually see the often wild
environment in which they came to grief.
"Kangaroo Island and Lower Yorke Peninsula
were part of a treacherous maritime highway
that settlers to South Australia had to traverse
before arriving safely at their destination.
"Through bad luck, bad weather or bad
judgement, about 26 vessels and more than
70 lives are believed to have been lost over
the past 156 years in the waters between the
island and the peninsula.
"These heritage trails will make our
history and the experiences of those involved
in the wrecks much more vivid for visitors
to the area."
Senator Campbell said the upgrade of the
heritage trails was one of 40 shipwreck-related
projects being funded through the Historic
Shipwrecks Programme.
Under this programme, the Australian Government
funds its state and territory partners to
help protect, preserve, research and inform
about some of the nation's 6500 shipwrecks
and related materials.
"Every shipwreck is a watery timecapsule
with a story waiting to be told," Senator
Campbell said.
"Through investigation, research and
interpretation we can see into our past and
discover more about our history particularly
in areas such as trade, defence and migration."
A total of $58,228 will be given to five
South Australian shipwreck-related projects
as part of the Australian Government programme.
