MMHN June 2022 Update

1. Mawson Hut Foundation (MHF)
News in the recent MHF newsletter most aptly entitled The Blizzard! reminds us that MHF was established in 1996 to conserve the historic and fragile wooden huts at Cape Denison, the site of Australia’s ‘heroic era’ of Antarctic engagement. The forthcoming Third Australian Antarctic Festival (24-28 August 2022) expects participants from Denmark, USA, UK, Norway and others. It is pleasing to note that the huts are now stabilized and MHF is currently working on 5- and 10-year plans for the site. MHF and the University of Tasmania are offering a one-year bursary of $5000 for students working towards a future in the Antarctic. See https://www.mawsons-huts.org.au

2. More on Ice
Maritime enthusiasts will be familiar with Australia’s newest Antarctic vessel the Nuyuna, but less so with the newest UK polar research ship the RRS Sir David Attenborough, which is capable of breaking through the ice and sending submersibles down to explore the ocean depths. Ice contains a record of our climate through bores into that ancient past. A new exhibition at the UK National Maritime Museum at Greenwich reflects the importance of polar research – Poles Apart: Explore the World of RRS Sir David Attenborough. The online exhibition is tremendously informative and we encourage you to have a look. See https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/rrs-sir-david-attenborough

3. Thwaites Glacier, Antarctica
MMHN encourages you to read the astounding article by Ted Scambos Snr, Research Scientist at CIRES, University of Colorado, in The Conversation, 7 June 2022: Antarctica’s riskiest glacier is under assault from below and losing its grip … Antarctica is a continent comprising several large islands, one of them the size of Australia, all buried under a 10,000-foot-thick layer of ice. The ice holds enough fresh water to raise sea level by nearly 200 feet. Its glaciers have always been in motion, but beneath the ice, changes are taking place that are having profound effects on the future of the ice sheet – and on the future of coastal communities around the world … Recent efforts to combine data from hundreds of airplane and ground-based studies have enabled a kind of map of the continent below the ice.

Exactly how this is happening is graphically revealed in a video within this article. It is mandatory viewing. Be afraid! See more here.

4. Any one you know?
Ed Maggs is seeking clues about this portrait of a captain/navigator/hydrographer/ship owner posing with a chart showing the Bass Strait and surrounds, seemingly pointing at Melbourne. The work was owned by Ed’s fathe,r John Maggs. If you have a thought on this, please email: info@mmhn.org.au

5. Victorian Coastal Strategy  
Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) has announced the release of Victoria’s first Marine and Coastal Strategy. The strategy sets out the department’s priority actions to ensure the management and protection of more than 2500 kilometres of coastline and around 10,000 square kilometres of marine waters. This is the first of three five-year strategies that will help ensure we achieve the 15-year vision of the Marine and Coastal Policy 2020 for a healthy, dynamic and biodiverse marine and coastal environment that is valued in its own right, and that benefits the Victorian community, now and in the future. To subscribe to the DEWLP Newsletter, email marine.coasts@delwp.vic.gov.au

In the latest issue:

• Victoria’s first Marine and Coastal Strategy
• First Sea Country Indigenous Protected Area granted
• Guidelines for the management of existing bathing boxes and boatsheds on marine and coastal Crown land
• VicCoasts – Victorian State Budget 2022-23
• Port Phillip Bay Beaches Renourishment Program
• Managing coastal erosion at Queenscliff’s Dog Beach
• Port Fairy landfill project tipped for success
• Lakes Entrance Ocean Rescue seawall replacement
• Mallacoota foreshore seawall replacement – Stage 1B
• Victorian Coastal Monitoring Program beach renourishment research projects in the Bay
• Investigating Apollo Bay’s ocean floor
• Cape to Cape Resilience Project – Stage 1 nearing completion
• Coastcare Victoria’s ‘Coastline’

6. Port of Darwin
Where to from here? Governments change – and so too do national security considerations perhaps?.The Australian (9 June 2022). Journalist Sarah Ison reports Labor to review Chinese port deal. A reminder that the Northern Territory government entered into a controversial lease of the Port of Darwin to China-based Landbridge Group for 99 years. See https://www.landbridgegroup.com.au In 2021 the Coalition federal government found this lease did not carry any national security risk. But – PM Albanese has now signalled that his government will review the matter and may use the Foreign Relations Act, which allows deals struck by states, universities or local councils with foreign power to be cancelled on national interest grounds.

7. What is a Museum? Who says?
In relation to maritime heritage assets, MMHN is committed to the tradition of collection rigor and excellence in curation. Within the MMHN there are many ‘collections’ and ‘museums’ with diverse aspirations and objectives. These vary greatly given they generally reflect the capacity of those working voluntarily and tirelessly to make sure our irreplaceable heritage assets are not lost to future generations.

It is useful perhaps to define the work being done and the task ahead for all of our ‘collecting’ organisations which are all part of a global endeavour to ‘do heritage well’. It is significant from the MMHN perspective, that the International Council of Museums (ICM) states Museums have no orders – they have networks!

A yardstick for consideration of museum practices, the ICM is proposing the below definition of museums in the modern world. This definition is to be ratified in Prague in the near future:

A museum is a not-for-profit, permanent institution in the service of society that researches, collects, conserves, interprets, and exhibits tangible and intangible heritage. Open to the public, accessible and inclusive, museums foster diversity and sustainability. They operate and communicate ethically, professionally and with the participation of communities, offering varied experiences for education, enjoyment, reflection and knowledge sharing.

This is a very useful guiding statement for all heritage enthusiasts within MMHN.

8. Australian Museums and Galleries Association (AMaGA)
AMAGA convened its Victorian Collections Day at the Mission to Seafarers late in June to assist those in the collecting community on how best to best care for their collections. Museum and Gallery industry experts shared expertise in management, cataloguing and digitisation for volunteer organisations on very a practical level and with small budgets. MMHN would like to draw your attention to a wonderful collaborative website for all heritage stakeholders and most importantly from our perspective, it is searchable by region – (e.g. Mornington Peninsula, Phillip Island, Bass Coast, Geelong, Great Ocean Road, Bellarine Peninsula) or by topic (e.g. Shipwrecks, Migration, War Heritage). Victorian Collections is a free digital archive where you can search thousands of items held by galleries, museums, libraries, archives, historical societies and cultural collections across the state of Victoria. Victorian Collections also offers a free collection management system with training available for organisations to help catalogue, digitise and upload records. See https://victoriancollections.net.au

9. Off-Shore Windfarm – A new form of maritime industry
Such a promising technology and complex! Star of the South, which is developing our off-shore wind energy project off Gippsland, offers this very helpful video. See how an offshore wind farm works here.

10. Yarra Edge Precinct – Once a key maritime industrial site
MMHN is pleased to note that Yarra Traders, at the far western end of the Yarra’s Edge Precinct, acknowledge and value the great maritime industrial heritage of the precinct. If you venture to the precinct, look for lines painted on the wharf replicating critically important rail tracks likely to be found on wharves in ports all over the world. Catch glimpses of now redundant maritime infrastructure on piers and wharves around Victoria’s coast. In the Yarra’s Edge Precinct, we are reminded that this was the bustling port for interstate steamships that once connected Melbourne with the rest of the country.

11. Houston Connection
The MMHN Update is gaining an audience in Houston (USA)! Maritime law firm Laniers Law recently reached out to MMHN share work they have been doing around global maritime safety, reminding us that the maritime industry is not only global, but it is also dangerous. Jake Bryant at Laniers Law cites the US Centre for Disease Control which covers maritime safety: the marine transportation industry recorded 87 fatal injuries between 2011-2017, almost six times the rate of all US workers. During the same period, US Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows 11,000 non-fatal maritime injuries. Obviously, Australia has its own excellent safety regulatory mechanisms (AMSA). Laniers Law has produced a maritime safety guide they have sent to MMHN in the hope that it may ‘shed some light’ on issues faced by seafarers. See Maritime Safety Guide – lanierlawfirm.com/maritime-safety-guide/. A reminder that the AMSA website carries a wealth of safety information. See https://www.amsa.gov.au

12. RAAF Maritime Surveillance 
Operation Solania, and Operation Rai Balang
The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is working with its south-west Pacific neighbours to detect and deter illegal maritime activity in the region. Known as Operation Solania, the ADF’s regular contribution to regional maritime security conducted in partnership with Pacific Island nations Palau and Micronesia, in support of the Pacific Island Forum Fisheries Agency’s own Operation Rai Balang. In the first iteration of Operation Solania for 2022 the RAAF conducted aerial maritime surveillance patrols in Palau. Australia plays a vital role in supporting sovereign exclusive economic zones (EEZs) in the south-west Pacific. Obviously, fishing is a major economic resource for many pacific nations. The RAAF works alongside local authorities with monitoring, control and surveillance operations. Each day, the RAAF locates vessels of ‘Interest’ recording and reporting back to the Pacific Island Forum Fisheries Agency. On one particular mission, they located 46 vessels and identified one suspected of illegal activity. Australia has a strong 25-year security partnership with Palau, dating back to the handover of the Pacific-class patrol boat PSS President HI Remeliik in 1996. This vessel was replaced in September 2020 by the vessel President Remeliik II (IMO: 4734166, MMSI: 511000700), a patrol vessel designed and built in Australia by Austel and currently sailing under the flag of Palau.
See https://news.defence.gov.au/international/navy-air-force-support-pacific-fisheries.

13. Maritime surveillance is dangerous
Journalists Michael Smith and Andrew Tillett (The Australian Financial Review, 7 June 2022 Online) write: Beijing warns of ‘serious consequences’ after fighter jet complaint. The Chinese government has warned of the potential for ‘serious consequences’ following a complaint by the federal government after a Chinese fighter intercepted an RAAF maritime surveillance plane over the South China Sea. It has made a similar warning to Canada after the nation complained that Chinese warplanes were harassing its aircraft monitoring North Korea. Analysts suggest that the two incidents are a sign that China will continue to make territorial claims in the South China Sea and seek to expand its influence in the Pacific.
Further, the ABC app states that the federal government says it will not be intimidated by the dangerous actions of a Chinese aircraft towards an Australian surveillance plane in the South China Sea last month. Read the full story

14. What is a Wickie?
MMHN regularly and indefatigably advocates that, given we are an island nation, Australia must maintain a serious level of maritime skills. But we have not thus far, highlighted by a particular land-based maritime skillset, that of a ‘Wickie‘. Although traditional manned lighthouses were phased out in the late ‘90s, the 84 automated lighthouses and 500 navigation aids safeguarding shipping around our vast coastline, like all maritime infrastructure, need regular maintenance. These days monitoring this infrastructure includes being helicoptered into remote sites to monitor critical maritime assets. Journalist Rhiannon Down (The Weekend Australian, 4-5 June 2022) writes of The lightness of being a ‘Wickie’, interviewing veteran Wickie Mark Sherriff about his work from the far west, the Buccaneer Archipelago, to the far east of the continent at Gabo Island.
If you fancy staying in a lighthouse – Click here.

15. Wreck Success
Wreck of the SS Lake Illawarra 1975
A recent CSIRO survey has illuminated this wreck lying in the Derwent River, Hobart. Some of us will remember the shock of the SS Lake Illawarra, a 140-metre bulk ore carrier, striking and sinking the Tasman Bridge in 1975. Twelve lives were lost: seven ship crew and five motorists driving across the bridge. 70,000 vehicles cross the bridge each day (the highest volume road section in Tasmania). Few would reflect on the wreck lying beneath the surface nearby. However, astounding new technology literally illuminates the wreck – and the enormity of the tragedy. See https://blog.csiro.au/new-technology-lights-up-ss-lake-illawarra/

Wreck of the Fiji 1891
The wreck of the barque Fiji was caused by poor weather and a navigational error. The ship was wrecked at Wreck Beach near Moonlight Head, southwest Victoria, during a voyage from Hamburg to Melbourne. You may recall an earlier MMHN Update supported Alan McLean and local residents in pressing for Parks Victoria to re-establish a walking trail to the monument, which had become overgrown. They now report HERITAGE WIN AT MOONLIGHT HEAD. A plan is afoot to erect a replica low picket fence around the monument, respecting the grave of seven sailors buried below, and naming the other four sailors whose bodies were never found, plus Arthur Wilkinson. MMHN congratulates Alan and the descendants of those involved in the brave rescue efforts of many.

Wreck of the HMS Gloucester
A world away and reaching back across centuries, wreckage from the 340-year-old Royal Navy warship HMS Gloucester has been discovered off the Norfolk Coast. The HMS Gloucester sank in 1682 while carrying the future King James Stuart. See http://bit.ly/guardianwiressub It was actually found in 2007 by the Barnwell Brothers after a four-year search over more than 5000 nautical miles, but it is only now that its discovery can be made public. What an illustrious service and what a sad demise! Originally built in 1652, the vessel participated in battles during the Anglo-Spanish war of 1654 to 1660 and the second and third Anglo-Dutch war. In 1682, the ship was wrecked after it collided with a sandbar, with up to 250 people dying as a result.

16. Museums Matter – ‘Climate Wars’ and ‘Culture Wars’
 
We are all familiar with the term Climate Wars, but we are perhaps less familiar with the term ‘Culture Wars’ raging on and off-shore within the museum sector. Andrew Taylor (Sydney Morning Herald, 7 June 2022) unpacked the changing role, or currently defined role, of museums in society. President of the Australian Museums and Galleries Association (AMaGA) Seb Chan contends that decisions around what is collected, preserved and exhibited is a broadly ‘political’ matter. Museums should represent the diversity of their communities – and using the past to open up conversations about the future, he said.

Museums certainly matter greatly to the MMHN! A reminder that a primary MMHN Objective is the establishment of a Maritime Experience Centre at Melbourne, which remains, inexplicably, the only capital city in Australia which fails to celebrate its maritime heritage, or also its status Australia’s largest container port. Importantly, MMHN advocacy is directed at ensuring the well-being and viability of the sixteen widely dispersed maritime collections within Maritime Museums Victoria (MMV). The AMaGA vision aligns closely with that of MMHN.

No surprise to anyone is that funding is the crux of the Culture Wars. Simply put – who funds will shape what is collected, preserved or exhibited. The persistent ‘amnesia’ around maritime industry matters in Victoria is ‘political‘. In Victoria, unlike other state capital cities or other comparable cities off-shore, there is an absence of a stand-alone institution tasked with collecting, preserving or exhibiting our maritime heritage, our maritime industry and our maritime technologies. This regrettable ‘deficit’ continues to exacerbate the public ‘amnesia’ in relation to maritime matters. This is particularly damaging to our young who have little exposure or access to our rich maritime heritage. Imagine if this was the case in relation to the Gold Rush or Gallipoli? Without awareness, there can be no understanding. We look forward to a political attitudinal change in relation to this island nation – hopefully before too long.

17. Makassar Connection
Pleasing to note that when PM Albanese recently visited Indonesia, he referred to the historic seafaring connections linking Australia and Makassar in Sulewesi. Makassans from this region traded over centuries with the Yolngu people, an aggregation of people inhabiting north-eastern Arnhem Land. Noting that each December the Yolngu people would look out to the sea waiting for the horizon to fill with the sails of Makassan vessels. He said these journeys were now immortalised in northern Australia in rock art and on bark – sails forever full with the wind that brought them across the sea. The PM also pointed out that the fishers from Sulawesi were the first Muslims to visit Australia, writing the first chapter of the story of all that Muslim people have contributed to our nation; and he called on Minister for Industry Ed Husic to stand and present himself to the present-day Makassans in the room – many of whom had been educated in Australia. Minister Husic is the first Muslim to serve in an Australian federal cabinet. You may wish to look at examples of the rock art and lean more of the Makassan connection. See more here.

18. Good news stories on Piers
How pleasing it is to report good news from Parks Victoria (PV) on piers and other maritime infrastructure! The PV website refers to the state government’s $24 million piers and jetties economic stimulus package, see https://www.parks.vic.gov.au/projects/piers-and-jetties

The list is extensive – and works variously described – approaches, piles, repairs, upgrades, restorations, renovations and reconstructions. As well, there is reference to entirely ‘new works’ being scoped, e.g. projects related to the Cape Schanck Lighthouse Precinct and planning for Point Nepean Forts.

MMHN encourages you to check on particular piers in locations of interest to you. Obviously, had this overdue funding arrived earlier, the damage to heritage structures would have been less. For example:

19. Point Gellibrand sea wall renovation at Heritage Park
The seawall is damaged after many years of predictable erosion from wind and waves. Following structural and technical investigations and consultations with Heritage Victoria and DELWP, PV state that they will ensure the heritage values of the sea wall are maintained, and that the coastal environment will not be impacted by their works. Work will begin in 2022.

20. Flinders Pier warrants particular attention
Built in 1864, the historic pier was quietly scheduled for demolition during COVID in 2020, triggering immense opposition by the Flinders Community Association and from international naturalist David Attenborough who was particularly aghast at the threat to the weedy sea dragon habitat. Buried within the recent 2022 state budget was an allowance of $1.5 million for immediate repairs to the timber sections of the pier. While obviously this is an excellent outcome, MMHN observes that IT SHOULD NOT BE THIS HARD TO PRESERVE HERITAGE ASSETS. See The Age, 6 May 2022, p.2-3.

21. Ports and Piers Forum – early notice
MMHN is working towards a Forum in September with the view to bringing together the plethora of agencies and authorities assigned responsibility for key maritime infrastructure. Although recent state government investment appears to indicate that maritime infrastructure is very important to the community on a number of levels, has it also understood that one-off cash injections for repairs and partial restorations are not a satisfactory response in the mid- to long-term? Martine infrastructure requires on-going expert maintenance. This is not optional. The community continues to grapple with this labyrinthine bureaucratic complexity.

22. Bridges really matter
MMHN recommends a forthcoming Royal Historical Society of Victoria (RHSV) event on Thursday 30 June at 5:30pm for 6pm when architectural historian, Professor Miles Lewis in partnership with Engineering Heritage Victoria, will present The Rise and Fall of Iron Bridges. $10 / $20 at RHSV Gallery Downstairs + ZOOM. A taste for you: The earliest cast iron bridges were simple arches. But in the next century wrought iron, and then steel, became important bridge-building materials. The arch bridge was joined by the suspension bridge, the box girder, the parallel-chorded girder, and even more elaborate forms. And bridges fabricated in Europe were sent across the world to places like Latin America, Japan, and India. Exported bridges faced special problems. These prefabricated bridges will be the main focus of the presentation. 

23. A sweet conclusion – Dutch Connection
Recently found in a Brunswick opportunity shop – a sweet Image by Anton Piesk Nioe the ‘hybrid’ vessel-featuring sail, funnel and paddles. Does anyone have any further information to add?

 
Do keep well in these most interesting times.
Until next month,