Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2013L01343:front:0:p48
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2013L01343
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 123249–126174

associations with all members of the AAE and the crew of the expedition vessel SY Aurora. The site's association is not only with the eighteen members of the Main Base at Cape Denison, but also the eight members of the Western Base, and five members of the Macquarie Island Base. These activities and associations are important to Australia's history in terms of early achievement in Sub-Antarctic and Antarctic scientific exploration and discovery.

     Mawson's Huts Historic Site is particularly associated with AAE members who continued their Antarctic associations (including Davis, Wild, Hurley and Moyes) and those who continued careers in science and applied science (including Madigan, Webb, Laseron, Stillwell and Kennedy). The AAE is significant for the photography of Frank Hurley, including his innovative use of colour images and cinematography.

     The place is directly associated with Sir Douglas Mawson's major Antarctic expedition, one which made him a hero to much of the Australian population. Mawson is a major figure in Australian science and played a huge role in Australia's Antarctic history. The place is similarly, though less prominently in the public mind, associated with all the members of the AAE. A number of these men went on to have significant careers either in Antarctica and/or in science. Perhaps the best known of the other expeditioners is photographer and filmmaker Frank Hurley, who made a major contribution to his fields of endeavour.

     The attributes are the same as criterion (A).

Statements of Significance and Values – Commonwealth Heritage Listing

Summary Statement of Significance:

Mawson's Huts Historic Site is a place of great historical and social significance. The site is significant as the first base for scientific and geographical discovery in Antarctica by Australians. The Australasian Antarctic Expedition 1911-1914 (AAE) was the first large-scale scientific inquiry after Federation. Mawson's Huts is a complex historical site, a remnant of the 'Heroic Era' of exploration in Antarctica. The expedition survived the isolation and the severe climate and the site illustrates this through its form and setting. The site is, for Australia, of political significance as the location for what eventually became sovereignty claims. The site fabric demonstrates the intense period of AAE occupation between 1912 and 1913. The external relationship of buildings and artefacts illustrates the way the AAE organised their activities spatially.

The site is significant as one of only nine wintering expedition bases built in Antarctica during the 'Heroic Era' of exploration, of which only six now survive. This base is the least disturbed by human activities making it one of the most diverse and unique. The site is a fundamental part of the history of Antarctic exploration and of the two bases constructed by Australians during this period it is the only