THE HON TANYA PLIBERSEK MP
MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER
MEDIA RELEASE
Thursday 11 July 2024
New appointments to the Australian Heritage Council
The Albanese Labor Government has today announced the appointment of five distinguished Australians to the independent Australian Heritage Council.
The appointments include a new chair, The Hon Bob Carr, the former NSW Premier, along with historic heritage experts Ms Kristal Buckley AM and Professor Richard Mackay AM. Indigenous heritage experts, Ms Leah Cameron and Mr Jamie Lowe, will return for a second term on the Council.
The appointments follow the departure of The Hon Ted Baillieu AO, who served as chair for three years, and historic heritage experts Professor Liz Vines OAM and Professor Helen Lochhead AO.
The Australian Heritage Council is the principal adviser to the Australian Government on heritage matters, assessing nominations for the National Heritage List and Commonwealth Heritage List. It has also provided input on legislative reforms under the Government’s Nature Positive Plan.
For more information visit Australian Heritage Council
Quotes attributable to the Minister for the Environment and Water, Tanya Plibersek:
“I’m committed to protecting, restoring and enhancing Australia’s precious heritage - the Australian Heritage Council has a key role in this.
“I am delighted to announce the appointment of The Hon Bob Carr who brings a wealth of experience from his service in Parliament to the conservation of our heritage places and the environment, including from his former role as NSW Minister for Heritage. He received the World Conservation Union International Parks Merit Award for creating 350 new national parks and is a life member of the Wilderness Society.
“I would like to thank The Hon Ted Baillieu AO for his leadership of the Australian Heritage Council and for his commitment and advocacy on National and Commonwealth Heritage over the past three years. Mr Baillieu should be particularly proud of his contribution to our modern interpretation of heritage.
“I would also like to thank Professor Liz Vines OAM and Professor Helen Lochhead AO who have provided expert advice on our historic heritage places for the last three years. Their passion and enthusiasm for their roles is greatly appreciated.
“I look forward to continuing to work with the Australian Heritage Council to identify, protect and conserve our country’s most important heritage sites.”
ENDS
APPOINTEE BIOS
The Hon Bob Carr
The Honourable Bob Carr served as Minister for Planning and Environment in New South Wales 1984-1988 where, among other things, he worked with the Honourable Gough Whitlam, former Prime Minister and then-Ambassador to UNESCO, to have New South Wales rainforests placed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. He administered the Environmental and Planning Act and the Heritage Act and delivered major advances in nature conservation and urban environment.
As the state’s longest continuous serving Premier Mr Carr delivered 350 new national parks and a tripling of the wilderness estate by the addition of 1.5 million hectares to wilderness status. He introduced the world’s first carbon trading scheme in 2003, halted the clearing of native vegetation and introduced threatened species legislation and water and energy conservation schemes.
He was a member of the International Task Force on Climate Change convened by Tony Blair and was made a life member of the Wilderness Society in 2003. Between 2019 and 2022 he served as Professor of Industry in Climate and Business at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), spanning its business school and the highly regarded Institute for Sustainable Futures.
Professor Richard Mackay AM
Professor Richard Mackay AM has worked in heritage management in Australia and internationally for four decades and recently completed a term as Commissioner of the NSW Independent Planning Commission. He co-founded Mackay Strategic Pty Ltd, a specialist heritage consulting practice, and was the heritage author for the 2011 and 2016 Commonwealth State of the Environment reports. He convened the ICOMOS Global General Assembly in 2023 and is currently an ICOMOS World Heritage adviser and a Reporter under the Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984.
Ms Kristal Buckley AM
Ms Kristal Buckley AM is an experienced cultural heritage practitioner with 40 years’ professional experience, holding professional qualifications in the disciplines of anthropology, archaeology, and public policy, and is currently an Honorary Fellow at Deakin University. She is an ICOMOS World Heritage adviser and an expert member of the ICOMOS International Committees for Intangible Cultural Heritage and Cultural Landscapes. She is a former international Vice-President of ICOMOS, and was made an Honorary Member of ICOMOS.
Ms Leah Cameron
Ms Leah Cameron is being reappointed to the Council for a second term as an Indigenous heritage expert, and is a proud Trawlwoolway (Palawa) woman from Tasmania, and founder and Principal Solicitor of Marrawah Law Pty Ltd, one of the largest Indigenous owned and operated law firms in Australia.
Ms Cameron has been recognised as one of the Top 20 Under 40 business entrepreneurs in Australia, Indigenous Legal Practitioner of the Year nationally, and was awarded Supply Nation Certified Indigenous Business of the Year and Businesswoman of the Year in 2021.
Mr Jamie Lowe
Mr Jamie Lowe is also being reappointed to the Council for a second term as an Indigenous Heritage expert, and is a proud Gunditjmara Djabwurrung man and CEO of the National Native Title Council, charged with supporting First Nation’s peoples’ right to true self-determination in advocating for their right to speak for and manage their own Country; to govern their own communities; to participate fully in decision making and to self-determine their own social and economic development.
He was previously an Indigenous Specialist Representative for the Victorian Heritage Council and is a joint council member of the Coalition of the Peaks
