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Commonwealth legislation
This Act has been repealed and is no longer in force. It is retained for historical reference.
The Booderee National Park Management Plan 2015–2025 sets ten-year rules for managing Booderee, land owned by the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community and jointly run with Parks Australia. It balances protecting biodiversity and cultural heritage, regulating visitor use, and phasing capacity-building and economic opportunities for traditional owners. The plan matters because it enshrines Aboriginal-majority co‑management, conservation of key species and sites, and local benefits from tourism and park operations.
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Zoe can write the in-depth analysis on top of the summary above: how it works, who it affects and what each part actually does.
Direct links to the current provisions in Approval of the Booderee National Park Management Plan 2015-2025.
1912 Royal Australian Naval College is established at Jervis Bay.
1915 Commonwealth acquires the Bherwerre Peninsula, which becomes a part of the Australian Capital Territory. Efforts are made at that stage to relocate the Aboriginal Community at Wreck Bay.
1924 First school is built at Wreck Bay.
1925 New South Wales Aboriginal Protection Board accepts the Australian Government offer to administer the Wreck Bay ‘reserve’ under the provision of the Aboriginal Protection Act 1909 (NSW). First manager is appointed.
1929–1949 Fish Protection Ordinance 1929–1949 has a provision that excludes Aboriginal residents of Jervis Bay Territory from paying fishing licence fees. Aboriginal initiative to establish a fishing industry in the region.
1940 Aboriginal Protection Act 1940 reflects shift from protectionism to assimilation policies in New South Wales. Aboriginal people are issued with ‘dog tags’. Cultural expression continues to be outlawed to fit in with the assimilation policy of the day.
1954 Wreck Bay Reserve is gazetted under the provisions of the Aborigines Welfare Ordinance 1954 (ACT). Provisions of the Aborigines Protection Act 1940 (NSW) no longer apply.
1965 Aborigines Welfare Ordinance 1954 (ACT) is repealed, thus effecting the transfer of the ‘reserve’ from the Aborigines Welfare Board to the Commonwealth Department of Interior. At the same time, the reserve is abolished and declared an ‘open village’. Assimilation policy of the day brings about attempts to house non-Aboriginals at Wreck Bay, which the Community opposes. Efforts are again made to relocate the Community once again. Wreck Bay School is moved to Jervis Bay.
View image in the official source 1965–1966 Wreck Bay Progress Association is formed to counter the open village status and to secure land tenure, thus securing the Community’s future.
1971 Proclamation under the Public Parks Ordinance 1928 (ACT) of the Jervis Bay Nature Reserve over the majority of the Jervis Bay Territory includes the non-residential land of the reserve.
1973–1974 The Wreck Bay Housing Company and the Wreck Bay Women's Committee are formed. Land rights issues are the main subject for discussion between the Community and the Commonwealth Government.
1979 Blockade of the Summercloud Bay Road prevents the general public’s access to the Summercloud Bay day visitor area. This action is taken as a result of the land ownership issue.
1985 Announcement by the Prime Minister of plans to transfer the Fleet Base and Armaments Depot to Jervis Bay. The Wreck Bay people oppose this decision because of the impact on the cultural and natural environment of the region. The land rights movement accelerates.
1986 The Aboriginal Land Grant (Jervis Bay Territory) Act 1986 is enacted. The Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community secures tenure of 403 hectares of land via the Land Grant Act and the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community Council is established.
1992 The Jervis Bay Nature Reserve, additional Commonwealth lands and the waters of the Jervis Bay Territory are proclaimed as the Jervis Bay National Park under the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1975 (Parks Act). The Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community is offered two positions on a Board of Management of the newly declared park. The offer is rejected.
1993 Commonwealth Government announces that the Armaments Depot will be built in Victoria. The Native Title Act 1993 is enacted.
1994 The Commonwealth Government Ministers for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs and the Environment announce their intention to make a land grant of the Jervis Bay National Park to the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community. Amendments to the Land Grant Act and the Parks Act are introduced to facilitate the land grant.
1995 Amendments pass both houses of Parliament and the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community Council is granted freehold title to Jervis Bay National Park and the Jervis Bay annex of the Australian National Botanic Gardens. Park and gardens are leased back to the Director of National Parks.
View image in the official source
1996 The Jervis Bay National Park Board of Management is established with a majority of Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community representatives. For the first time the Wreck Bay people have a real say on how traditional lands are managed.
1997 The Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community Council lodges a land claim for the remaining areas in the Jervis Bay Territory, which are not Aboriginal land.
1997 To reflect Aboriginal ownership the name Jervis Bay National Park is changed to Booderee National Park.
1999 Wreck Bay Enterprises Limited is established.
2000 Interdepartmental Committee is established to look at a number of issues in Jervis Bay Territory including the Wreck Bay land claim.
2000 Booderee Botanic Gardens are legally incorporated into Booderee National Park in May 2000.
2000 Parks Act is replaced by the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 in July 2000.
2002 First plan of management is produced for Booderee National Park.
2003 Wreck Bay enters into a Service Agreement with the Director of National Parks, marking the first step towards the sole management vision.
2008 Implementation of the first management plan is completed and reported to the Board of Management through an audit.
2008 Draft Cultural Heritage Strategy is completed for the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community Council and a working group established by the Community to identify cultural heritage priorities for the next ten years.
2009 Second phase of outsourcing commences. Discussion begins about developing an Aboriginal business enterprise in the park focusing on cultural heritage.
Sourced from the Federal Register of Legislation (legislation.gov.au), CC BY 4.0.
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COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA
APPROVAL OF THE BOODEREE NATIONAL PARK MANAGEMENT PLAN 2015-2025
I, JAMIE BRIGGS, Minister for Cities and the Built Environment, acting pursuant to section 370 of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, hereby approve the Booderee National Park Management Plan 2015-2025.
Dated this …4... day of …November…, 2015
JAMIE BRIGGS …………………………………
Jamie Briggs
Minister for Cities and the Built Environment
(THIS PAGE IS INTENTIONALLY BLANK – INSIDE FRONT COVER)
Booderee
National Park
MANAGEMENT PLAN 2015-2025
© Director of National Parks 2015
ISBN: 978-0-9807460-8-2 (Print)
ISBN: 978-0-9807460-4-4 (Online)
This plan is copyright. Apart from any use permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without prior written permission from the Director of National Parks. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to:
Director of National Parks
GPO Box 787
Canberra ACT 2601
This management plan sets out how it is proposed the park will be managed for the next ten years.
A copy of this plan is available online at: environment.gov.au/topics/national-parks/parks-australia/publications.
Photography: June Andersen, Jon Harris, Michael Nelson
Front cover: Ngudjung Mothers by Ms V. E. Brown SNR ©
Ngudjung is the story for my painting.
“It's about Women's Lore; it's about the connection of all things.
It's about the seven sister dreaming, that is a story that governs our land and our universal connection to the dreaming.
It is also about the connection to the ocean where our dreaming stories that come from the ocean life that feeds us, teaches us about survival, amongst the sea life.
It is stories of mammals, whales and dolphins that hold sacred language codes to the universe.
It is about our existence from the first sunrise to present day.
We are caretakers of our mother, the land.
It is in balance with the universe to maintain peace and harmony.
This painting is about us all and tells of the past, present and future.
And it is the story that women have passed on for generations to share.”
Booderee National Park
Booderee National Park is owned by the traditional owners of the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community. Booderee is a Dhurga word meaning ‘bay of plenty’.
The vision for Booderee National Park is:
to excel in the natural and cultural heritage management of Booderee by acknowledging and utilising traditional, contemporary and scientific expertise.
The key objectives for the management of Booderee National Park are:
There are some attributes of the park which are fundamental to the park’s purpose and significance. These cultural and natural values are summarised in the park values statement (Table 1). Identification and recognition of the park’s values ensures a shared understanding about what is most important about the reserve, and the value statement helps to determine management and planning priorities. If the values are allowed to decline the park’s purpose and significance would be jeopardised.
Table 1: Park values statement
| Booderee National Park –Values<br>Booderee National Park is jointly managed by the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community Council and the Director of National Parks<br>Walawaani Njindiwan Njin Booderee | Welcome everyone, this is Booderee<br>Booderee National Park is home to the Bhewerre People. Booderee means bay of plenty in the Dhurga language. We are proud to share our culture and country with you as it holds the evidence of our ancestry and with the wind, the water and all life reflected in the past, it is the home and spirit of our people. We are born of the land and have lived off the land forever. We are proud of this ongoing connection - passing on traditional knowledge of natural resources and ancestral and creation stories through each generation. Our people use the bush as a natural classroom for teaching, collecting foods and medicines, learning stories and interpreting indicators of seasonal and climatic change.<br>Booderee National Park is located on the south-east coast of Australia, within the Jervis Bay Territory. It comprises most of the Bhewerre Peninsula on the southern side of Jervis Bay and St Georges Basin and includes part of the waters of Jervis Bay. The park itself covers an area of 6,379 hectares which includes 875 hectares of marine environment and the Booderee Botanic Gardens that stretches across 80 hectares of the park.<br>Booderee National Park lies in the southern portion of the Sydney Basin Bioregion. The park protects coastal dune systems and their associated habitats which are otherwise disturbed or potentially threatened in the bioregion. The area is scientifically valuable as it has not undergone the degradation that similar coastal sites have suffered (such as coastal sites surrounding Sydney).<br>The park and the Botanic Gardens were proclaimed under the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1975 (Parks Act) as the Jervis Bay National Park and as the Jervis Bay component of the Australian National Botanic Gardens in 1992 and 1991 respectively. In May 2000 the Botanic Gardens were incorporated into the park. The park is deemed to have been declared for the following purposes:<br>the preservation of the area in its natural conditionthe encouragement and regulation of the appropriate use, appreciation and enjoyment of the area by the public.<br>In 1998, in recognition of the Aboriginal ownership of the park, the name of the park was amended by proclamation to Booderee National Park. |
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| 1. Aboriginal Cultural Values:The park is the traditional home of the Bhewerre people, containing cultural sites, special places and artefacts that are a record of the traditional owners’ ancestry and is a place where traditional skills, knowledge and cultural practices can be passed on to future generations.<br>The park is home to the Bhewerre People, a place where traditional skills, knowledge and cultural practices can be passed on to future generations.The Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community Council, through its Vision Statement and goals, supports Wreck Bay Aboriginal People in their aims to become self-sufficient and to determine their future and lifestyle.The park provides opportunities for Bhewerre People to apply traditional land management knowledge and practices and to support and maintain cultural knowledge.The park contains cultural sites which demonstrate Aboriginal occupation and use of the land over time include shell middens, rock shelters, burial sites, ceremonial grounds, stone flaking sites, axe grinding grooves and scarred trees, as well as less tangible sites associated with traditional culture, history and practices. |
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| 2. Post-Colonial Cultural Values:The park protects a range of historic sites and artefacts that tell the story of the region‘s post colonial history.<br>The park contains a number of shared heritage sites including the ruins of the Cape St George lighthouse, Christians Minde cemetery, and archaeological evidence of a camp used by survivors of the wreck of the Hive convict ship and gun emplacements and associated infrastructure on Bowen Island. |
| 3. Natural Values:The park protects coastal dune systems, their associated habitats and unique biodiversity which are otherwise disturbed or potentially threatened in the bioregion.<br>The park protects a number of significant listed species, recognised under the EPBC Act and neighbouring New South Wales legislation, including:<br>- grey-headed flying fox (Pteropus poliocephalus)<br>- eastern bristlebird (Dasyornis brachypterus)<br>- pied oystercatcher (Haematopus longirostris)<br>- swift parrot (Lathamus discolour)<br>- barking owl (Ninox connivens)<br>- grey nurse shark (Carcharias Taurus)<br>- Gould’s petrel (Pterodroma leucoptera leucoptera)<br>- albatross and marine turtles<br>The relatively undisturbed habitat of the park provides habitat for other key species such as the little penguin, sea eagle and powerful owl, and is a type locality for many marine invertebrates. |
| Natural Values - Continued:<br>The park contains a diverse range of well-preserved coastal plant communities including remnant rainforest, heath communities, woodland and coastal littoral communities.The park is considered a population reservoir for many species across the wider region, home to a diverse range of fauna, including more than 30 native terrestrial and marine mammal species and around 200 bird species.The park supports a diverse range of marine habitats including the intertidal zone, extensive areas of seagrass, sandy bottom habitat and subtidal rocky reef, vital for the conservation of marine species in the bioregion.The living collection of Booderee Botanic Garden contains open ground plantings of some 1,200 taxa, concentrating on species of the coastal regions of south-eastern Australia, including plants and themes of cultural significance to local Aboriginal people. |
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| As a result of these values, the park is of great economic, social and research significance to the community and the region. |
| National Listings<br>In 2004, a number of sites in or including the park were listed as places in the Commonwealth Heritage List established under the EPBC Act: Cape St George Lighthouse Ruins and Curtilage for historical importance to maritime navigation history.Booderee Botanic Gardens for its importance to the traditional owners who have strong cultural and traditional ties to the area and as an important example of mid-twentieth century botanic gardens established to display native plants.The wider area of Jervis Bay Territory in recognition of its outstanding landscape features, its diversity of flora, fauna and archaeological sites and its value to past and present communities for recreational activities. |
Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community Council Vision Statement
Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community Council seeks to be a respected equal and valued part of a culturally diverse Australian society. By controlling and managing its own lands and waters, the Community aims to become self sufficient and able to freely determine its future and lifestyle. The Community desires to do this by protecting its interests and values while preserving for future generations, its unique identity, heritage and culture.
To achieve this vision Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community Council’s Goals are:
Foreword
We believe visitors and all those connected with Booderee National Park recognise the park as a very important and special part of Australia’s heritage which needs careful management and cooperation between all interested parties. Booderee is home to the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community, it is a national park with considerable cultural and biological significance and it is a valued destination for many visitors.
This management plan has been completed following extensive public input. A draft management plan was released for public comment on 4 May 2011 which attracted 29 written submissions. These submissions spanned a diversity of interests: Australian, state and local government; industry and user groups; and individuals. The Board of Management considered these submissions when finalising this management plan, and altered aspects of the plan in response to the issues raised.
This second management plan for Booderee National Park will provide essential guidance over the next decade for the management of one of the most popular visitor destinations in the Shoalhaven region, which provides rewarding visitor experiences in natural and cultural settings.
Booderee National Park Board of Management
| Craig Ardler<br>Beverley Ardler<br>Annette Brown<br>Joseph Brown<br>Leon Brown<br>Julie Freeman | Sally Barnes<br>Captain Stephen Hussey<br>Sheryl Klaffer<br>Tony Carter<br>Wendy Hills |
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The Booderee National Park Board of Management is grateful to the many individuals and organisations that contributed to this management plan. In particular they acknowledge the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community Council, Parks Australia staff and those who provided information and assistance or submitted comments that contributed to the plan’s development.
Contents
[2.4 Legislative context 21](#a240
This is an opening excerpt, not the complete document.