Joint
media release - 6 February 2009 - A shipwreck
missing off Victoria’s Ninety Mile Beach
for 127 years has re-appeared at Loch Sport,
with remnants of its frames and boiler now
visible to beachgoers.
Heritage Victoria archaeologists
believe the wreck is the Scottish-built,
iron steamer Pretty Jane, which sunk in
1882 following a collision with the Magnolia.
There had been no reported
sightings of the wreck since its demise,
until Parks Victoria rangers reported the
visible remnants on the Gippsland beach
last month.
Victorian Planning Minister
Justin Madden said the location, dimensions
and construction of the remnants all pointed
to the reappearance of the ill-fated coastal
trader Pretty Jane.
“The Pretty Jane was
travelling from Bairnsdale to Melbourne
when it collided with the Magnolia and struck
the sand bar at Lakes Entrance,” Mr Madden
said.
“It continued to Melbourne
for repairs but began to sink just off the
Ninety Mile Beach. All on board were saved
but the Pretty Jane broke up and was never
seen again. The natural sand movement of
the beach has revealed this missing link
in our maritime heritage.”
As it is below the high
water mark, the Pretty Jane is officially
in Commonwealth waters and therefore protected
by the Australian Government’s Historic
Shipwrecks Act 1976.
Federal Minister for
the Environment, Heritage and the Arts Peter
Garrett welcomed the incredible discovery.
“This is a great example
of the Australian and Victorian Governments
working together to ensure the Pretty Jane
wreck is appropriately recorded and protected,”
Mr Garrett said.
“It is vital we preserve
Australia’s historic shipwrecks and their
artefacts, as they are often the only windows
to understanding important aspects of our
vast maritime heritage.
“The Historic Shipwrecks
Act 1976 will give legal protection to the
shipwreck and its relics from damage, disturbance
or removal. Provisions under the Act will
ensure the protection of the wreck, its
relics and any human remains.”
Mr Madden said there
were about 700 historic shipwrecks in Victorian
waters and only about 30 per cent of those
have been found and surveyed.
“Having the Pretty Jane
revealed makes it more vulnerable in many
respects, which is why historic shipwrecks
are protected. Heritage Victoria relies
on cooperation from the community to respect
the wreck and report any possible interference,”
Mr Madden said.
“Although this is a
wonderful opportunity for Victorians to
see maritime heritage up close, beachgoers
should remember that it is an offence to
damage historic shipwrecks, and that includes
removing items from the wreck.”
Penalties include up
to $10,000 and/or imprisonment for individuals
and $50,000 for a body corporate.
The 34m-long Pretty
Jane was built in 1870 in Rutherglen, Scotland
for the New Zealand Meat Preserving Company.
In 1879, it was registered in Sydney and
sold to the Australasian Steam Navigation
Company.
The cargo ship Magnolia
survived the 1882 collision with the Pretty
Jane but in 1887 disappeared without trace
between Wilsons Promontory and Lakes Entrance,
taking the lives of four crew.
+ More
Planning for long-term
recovery for Victorian farms
Joint media release
- 12 February 2009 - The Rudd Government
has committed additional funding to assist
with the long-term recovery of agricultural
land damaged in the Victorian bushfires.
Minister for the Environment
Peter Garrett and Minister for Agriculture,
Fisheries and Forestry Tony Burke today
announced more than $5 million of uncommitted
funding from Caring for our Country to support
bushfire recovery projects in Victoria.
In addition, natural
resource management groups across Australia
now have extra time to lodge investment
proposals for 2009-10 under Caring for our
Country.
Groups have an extra
four weeks - to Friday 3 April 2009 - to
lodge proposals, which will assist those
in both fire- and flood-affected areas who
may have difficulty completing the paperwork.
The Ministers said the
urgent priority remained searching for loved
ones lost in the fires.
However, in the longer-term
the funding would assist communities, including
farmers, who will need significant investment
and support to rebuild and recover from
the fires.
The additional Caring
for our Country investment could support
a range of environmental and landscape repair
work, including:
Planting sterile rye
grass in agricultural soils at risk of erosion
Fencing around significant vegetation and
aquatic sites
Erosion control work on stream banks and
around wetlands
Weed control programs in fire-affected areas
Assist with the care and rehabilitation
of wildlife and habitat
There are early reports of lost stock, lost
fodder and significant damage to permanent
plantings and dairies.
Some timber mills have
been lost and 100,000 hectares of native
forest for timber production has been destroyed,
along with up to 30,000 hectares of plantation
forests.
The fires have also
impacted on some sites of high conservation
value aquatic ecosystems and have burnt
a range of forests, including wet and sclerophyll
forests.
"These funds will
give Catchment Management Authorities, community
groups and individuals the opportunity to
undertake some of the essential environment
rehabilitation works that will be so needed
as a result of the devastation these fires
have caused across the landscape,"
Mr Garrett said.
Mr Burke said many farmers
were dealing with losing friends and family
and it was too early to fully establish
damage to farming properties.
