WEST KIMBERLEY PLACE REPORT - Department of Sustainability ...

analysis of the west Kimberley against the theme of pastoralism. State and national
heritage registers were also reviewed to identify potential National Heritage values.
Pearson and Lennon (2008) used eight place significance indicators for the
identification of potential National Heritage values. These include: the pastoral
footprint (pastoralism as exploration, settlement patterns, frontier conflict, industrial
relations, self sufficiency, breeding, pest and disease control and innovation),
government regulation (soldier settlement, closer settlement, travelling stock routes,
transportation, pest control and water infrastructure development), environmental
constraints (retreat and advance along the arid margins), fluctuating markets (impact
of gold mining, woolstores development, beef for burgers push, impact of transport by
rail/river boat/coastal shipping and the impact of British wool market arrangements in
World War I and World War II), off farm processes (meatworks and woolscours), the
human response to pastoralism (pastoral dynasties, worker quarters, homesteads,
schools, swimming holes, artistic associations in literature, poetry and art, making do
and hanging on and other sub topics demonstrating aspects of the pastoralism story
(for example: convict stories). Importantly Pearson and Lennon noted that their study
was focused on the broad national course of history associated with pastoralism in
Australia. Their study was not scoped to include cross cutting historical analyses
associated with aspects of economic and social history, environmental history, frontier
history or the history associated with Indigenous people.
Twenty two places around Australia were identified against these significance
indicators. None of these places are within the west Kimberley area. Kimberley
pastoral stations generally however were noted as places with some potential
significance. Compared to the stations analysed in the thematic study the Kimberley
pastoral stations were found to have some significance under criterion (d) as examples
of Northern Australian pastoral stations but not considered to have other
characteristics or other associated historical significance which would be outstanding
at the national level.
A few other places in the west Kimberley were also mentioned in the study's
historical description of pastoralism. These included Mount House abattoir (for the air
beef scheme), Derby wharf, Noonkanbah and Yeeda Station. The individual place
histories associated with Derby Wharf, Noonkanbah, Yeeda Station and Mount House
abattoir were assessed for significant outstanding events or historical patterns.
While the histories associated with Mount House abattoir and Derby Wharf illustrate
aspects of the pastoral story in the Kimberley, no evidence was cited in the literature
to indicate evidence of outstanding events or other patterns of historical significance
at the national level.
Noonkanbah's history was found to have some historic importance relating to the
mining dispute of 1978-1980. Further analysis on this place and the dispute is
included elsewhere in the comparative analysis.
Historical information about Yeeda Station was not prominent in the pastoralism
literature. Nor was there any evidence to indicate that Yeeda Station is associated with
an outstanding event or pattern of historical significance at the national level.
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