Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2023L01286:front:0:p10
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2023L01286
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significance. Further consultation is required with Traditional Custodians.
Early European history
The 1770 expedition to Australia, led by naval explorer Captain James Cook, first made landfall on 19 April 1770 near modern-day Point Hicks, Victoria. That same day, Cook recorded in his journal:
    Friday 20th[9]. – In the P.M. and most part of the night had a fresh Gale Westerly, with Squalls, attended with Showers of rain. In the A.M. had the Wind at S.W., with Severe weather, At 1 P.M. saw 3 Water Spouts at once; 2 were between us and the Shore, and one at some distance on our Larboard Quarter. At 6, shortened sail, and brought too for the Night, having 56 fathoms fine sandy bottom. The Northernmost land in sight bore N. by E. (half) E., and a small island lying close to a point on the Main bore W., distant 2 Leagues. This point I have named Cape Howe; it may be known by the Trending of the Coast which is N. on one Side and S.W. on the other. Lat 37°28' S.; Long 210°3'W. It may be known by some round hills upon the main just within it.[10]
The 'small island lying close' identified by Cook would later be known as Gabo Island.
Later expeditions recorded the prevalence of seals in Bass Strait which led to an explosion of sealing in the region. Although no conclusive evidence has been found to suggest Gabo Island and its harbour were used as a sealing base, it was used as a base for whaling in the early 19th century. Dr Imlay's whaling establishment operated on Gabo Island for a period of time, however by 1846 all that remained of the station was three deserted huts.[11]
  3.4 The first Gabo Island Lighthouse (1853-1862)
By the 1840s, it was determined by the various Australian colonies that Bass Strait required lighting. The Strait was traversed frequently by shipping, and its treacherous waters had claimed many vessels and lives over the course of the early 19th century. No coastal lighthouse had been constructed in Australia since Macquarie Light in 1818, the country's first lighthouse, meaning "there was no systematic approach to the lighting of the long and dangerous coast of Australia".[12] The Cape Howe region was presented to the colonies in 1841 as a possible site for a lighthouse. Sir John Franklin, Governor of Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania), addressed the matter with Sir George Gipps, Governor for New South Wales, who in turn agreed that "a Light on Cape Howe would also be most desirable".[13]
No further action was taken until 1845 when the Select Committee of the Legislative Council of New South Wales reiterated these statements, and in 1846 Gabo