URGENT CALL FOR SUPPORT ON SUNDAY 14TH SEPTEMBER '08!!

We are inviting you to our protest at the Community Cabinet. The theme of the protest is “Save Yungaba – excise it from the current development application and save it for future generations of Queenslanders”. The protest is about the failure of the State Government to consult with the community on the sale of Yungaba. It has used it’s “call in” powers to shut down the YAG appeal to the development.

Here are the details:
Assemble: 12.45pm for a 1.00pm start.
Date: Sunday 14 September, 2008
Venue: outside Community Cabinet at Belmont State School, Old Cleveland Road, Carindale (on your right after Carindale Shopping Centre if you are coming from the city) Community Cabinet: We will be able to enter the Community Cabinet if we leave any placards outside.

Questions will be taken from the floor at the Forum by the Premier. Get your Yungaba questions ready! Following the one hour Forum, there will be informal deputations to ministers for one hour (2.30 – 3.30pm) and this will be followed by formal deputations to ministers. YAG asked to see Minister Lucas, instead we have been given an appointment with his Parliamentary Secretary at 3.30pm. I do hope you are able to come out and stand up for Yungaba with us.

YUNGABA APPEAL DENIED BY DESPERATE GOVERNMENT CALL-IN!!!

YUNGABA ACTION GROUP, on behalf of our supporters and future generations of Queenslanders, submitted our Appeal against the alienation and sale of historic Yungaba to the Land and Environment Court on Friday 1st August. Our legal team and expert witness were preparing our case which we knew had considerable legal, cultural and moral weight. We had great faith in the justice system to decide the worth of saving historic Yungaba for the Queensland people.

However, out of the blue, on Wednesday 20th August, the Deputy Premier and Minister for Infrastructure and Planning Paul Lucas used his extraordinary “call-in” powers to stop our Appeal dead in its tracks.

See the Ministerial Media Release at: http://www.cabinet.qld.gov.au/MMS/StatementDisplaySingle.aspx?id=59786

His “reason” was that our Appeal would take 18 months to be heard and that he wanted to make a decision “in a shorter time-frame”.

We must insure that due regard for the preservation of the patrimony of the Queensland people and for the application of best practice heritage guidelines is not set aside for the sake of expediency.

YOUR HELP NEEDED – PLEASE TAKE – 3 EASY STEPS TO SAVE YUNGABA!!!!

STEP 1. CONTACT DEPUTY PREMIER LUCAS (and any other political representative you know or who represents you) with your thoughts on the importance of saving Yungaba for future generations of Queenslanders (we have included some text below on what YAG considers important fyi).

Deputy Premier Lucas contact details: POSTAL: PO BOX 15009, CITY EAST QLD, 4002 PH: 3224 4600 FAX: 3224 4781 EMAIL: deputypremier@ministerial.qld.gov.au

STEP 2. FORWARD THIS PLEA TO ALL YOUR FAMILY, FRIENDS AND ASSOCIATES & ask them to help us save Yungaba

STEP 3. CONTACT THE MEDIA & EXPRESS YOUR DISCONTENT ABOUT THE SALE & GIVE YOUR IDEAS FOR A POSITIVE OUTCOME FOR YUNGABA

MURDOCH PRESS Send Letters to the Editor of The Courier Mail at: http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/editorial/letter/

The Courier Mail had an article on the call-in on p.44 today, but it is virtually a copy of the Ministerial Media Release.

This is not good enough for coverage of such an important story from the largest Queensland newspaper! Let The Courier Mail know we expect more!!

FAIRFAX PRESS See article : http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/queensland/fight-to-save-historic-site/2008/08/21/1219262401566.html

Rupert McCall has created a special BLOG devoted exclusively to saving Yungaba called HERITAGE LOST - PLEASE POST COMMENTS THERE: http://blogs.brisbanetimes.com.au/rhymeorreason/archives/2008/08/heritage_lost.html

OUR ANZACS NEVER GAVE UP FIGHTING FOR QUEENSLAND – LET’S NOT GIVE UP YUNGABA WITHOUT A FINAL FIGHT!!!!

WHAT YAG CONSIDERS IMPORTANT FOR MINISTER LUCAS TO TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION BEFORE WASHING HIS HANDS OF YUNGABA:

1. YUNGABA is the last remaining intact 19^th Century Immigration Depot in Australia and should be kept intact for future generations
2. YUNGABA and its grounds should remain as a place for the people of Queensland to honour the migrant origins of Queenslanders 
3. YUNBABA should be immediately excised from the rest of the current development application
4. YUNGABA, if necessary, could be swapped for the sham mini-Multicultural Centre the developer is to build in the carpark
5. YUNGABA should be developed as a vibrant tourist and educational facility and could be run by a private operator
   
   

   Delene Cuddihy

   Yungaba Action Group

   www.yungaba.org.au
   PH 040 259 7 259
   

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URGENT – Request for financial support

Please write a cheque to:
Yungaba Action Group Inc, and post to PO BOX 5564 West End Q 4101

Or deposit straight into our bank account: 
Yungaba Action Group Inc, Commonwealth Bank, West End
BSB: 06 4131      Account Number: 10272133

Many thanks to those supporters who have already sent in donations – they are very much appreciated.

Yungaba National Heritage Nomination

The National Heritage Council are currently considering Yungaba for National Heritage Significance and have asked for feedback -

Could you please send in your comments to them on why you think Yungaba should be listed as nationally significant?
To send your comment go to : http://www.environment.gov.au

To see the full Yungaba National Heritage Nomination – go to : http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/ahdb/search.pl & type in Yungaba & select the Yungaba National Heritage Nomination

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Last week BCC posted the long-anticipated negotiated development approval on their website – it will see the guts ripped out of Yungaba, the last remaining intact 19th century immigration depot left in Australia, leaving only a shell for the public to view from outside a gated community.

Never again will future generations of Australians have the chance to walk in the footsteps of their ancestors where they first set foot on Australian soil. Instead, Yungaba will become the sole property of 10 millionaires who will live in luxury units with their own exclusive views down to the Brisbane River.

We need your help in this fight – we have been told that the sale is a done deal and that our cause is hopeless. But it is not in the Australian spirit to give up on what is important even though it seems hopeless.

We invoke the indomitable spirit of our immigrant ancestors and of the wounded ANZACS who were welcomed back to Queensland after their baptism on fire in WW1 to help us win back Yungaba for the people of Queensland. We will not give up!

We are preparing our legal challenge – we have engaged a legal firm with extensive experience in the Land and Environment Court and we have the support of a very reputable heritage expert as our expert witness – they believe that our cause is not hopeless and that we do have good grounds for appeal to save this very significant building for future generations to honour their immigrant origins.

We need your financial assistance – remember, NO AMOUNT IS TOO SMALL to give – TOGETHER WE WILL SUCCEED!

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On 6 December 1887 , the migrant ship “Duke of Buccleuch” landed the first migrants at Yungaba (Kangaroo Point Immigration Depot). Since then, hundreds of thousands of migrants, refugees and evacuees have been welcomed to Queensland within this gracious building and grounds. Yungaba also has national significance as it was the site of the deportation for thousands of South Sea Islanders under the White Australia Policy. During WW1 it was transformed into the 6 th Australian General Hospital where thousands of wounded Queensland ANZACS were welcomed home.

What is Yungaba?
It is a publicly owned building beside the southern approach to Brisbane’s Story Bridge. The elevation of the building is Italianate because of the decorative motifs, Queenslander because of the enclosing verandas, and institutional because of the resolute symmetry. It has a wide field of view over extensive gardens to the Brisbane river and city beyond.

What happened there?
Immigration to Queensland reached a record 35,000 in 1883. So, in 1884, six acres at Kangaroo Point were purchased for “(a barracks) where immigrants would get a favourable impression in pleasant surroundings.” An ‘Immigration Depot’ to temporarily accommodate 500 was designed by the Colonial Architect John James Clark and constructed by 1887. During the next century it provided a reception centre where migrants were helped to find destinations, jobs and homes.

How has Yungaba survived?
The community has valued it as Queensland ’s centre for immigration. When there were few migrants, Yungaba served other purposes, such as a military hospital in World War 2. Currently it is being used as a multicultural facility with other rooms available for hire for conferences, training and other events. In 1988, when the impact of redevelopment at Kangaroo Point caused community concern, Yungaba was the first site listed under the Cultural Record Act. In 1992 it was permanently entered on the Queensland Heritage Register.

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