10/03/2006 - Federal Parliamentary
Secretary for the Environment and Heritage
the Hon, Greg Hunt MP, today joined in the
official opening of the Shark Bay Interpretive
Centre, developed in partnership between
the Australian and Western Australian Governments.
"The thousands of Australian and international
visitors who visit the Shark Bay World Heritage
Area each year can now visit a new information
centre to learn and appreciate more about
this unique area, which has been built with
the assistance of $1 million in funding
from the Australian Government's Department
of Environment and Heritage and $759,000
in funding from the Department of Transport
and Regional Services.
"Shark Bay is one of the jewels in
Australia's remarkable World Heritage crown,
and also one of the sites that makes up
our national story.
"I congratulate the Federal Member
for Kalgoorlie, Mr Barry Haase and Senator
for Western Australia, Dr Alan Eggleston
for their commitment to seeing this project
come to fruition," Mr Hunt said.
"It is very appropriate, given the
coastal and maritime heritage focus for
the year recently announced by the Minister
for the Environment and Heritage, Senator
Ian Campbell, for the Centre to now be available
to visitors.
"The Shark Bay World Heritage Area
has played a significant role in the development
of our nation, associated with almost four
hundred years of charted exploration of
our coastline.
"The site is even more significant
from an international perspective, it is
a hotspot of biological diversity that reveals
information about the earth's evolution
as a whole, through the site's extraordinary
'living fossils' - the stromatolites of
Hamelin Pools that represent the first forms
of complex life on earth.
"Without the stromatolites which formed
more than 3,500 million years ago, life
on earth as we know it, could never have
existed. The stromatolites excreted oxygen
into the otherwise lethal atmospheric mix
of methane, nitrogen and carbon dioxide.
"Today Shark Bay is home to some of
the world's best examples of biodiversity,
including dugongs, several turtle species,
hump-backed whales and the world's most
diverse group of seagrass.
"I encourage all visitors to this important
place to take time to come to the Centre
and learn more about Australia's and the
world's unique heritage places," Mr
Hunt said.
Australia has a total of 16 places on the
World Heritage List. For more information
go to http://www.deh.gov.au/heritage/worldheritage
