NO.114

NATIONAL HERITAGE LISTING FOR THE MCG

The Melbourne Cricket Ground has been given Australia’s highest heritage

honour – inclusion on the National Heritage List – in recognition

of its outstanding significance to the nation.

Announcing the listing at the MCG today during the Boxing Day Test match, the

Treasurer, Peter Costello, said the Australian Heritage Council had assessed

the ground as having three key heritage values.

They are its contribution to Australia’s cultural history through strong

social links for the sporting community; its key role in the development and

history of Australia’s two most popular spectator sports, cricket and

Australian Rules football; and its special association with sportsmen and women

who have excelled there.

The MCG embodies Australia’s love of sport and its inclusion on the National

Heritage List ensures its unique values will be protected for the future.

This is the birthplace of cricket in Australia and Aussie Rules and venue for

the 1956 Olympics, but its significance extends far beyond that of a sports

stadium – it is an integral part of the fabric of Melbourne and the nation.

It is ‘the people’s ground’.

It is fitting that this place and its spirit are protected for future generations

to experience.

Built in 1853, the MCG has developed into one of the biggest, most recognisable

and modern sports stadiums in the world.

The inaugural inter-colonial first-class cricket match between Victoria and

NSW was played there in 1856 and in 1877 it hosted the first Test match between

Australia and England.

Australian Rules was played on the MCG for the first time in 1859. It remains

football’s symbolic home.

The Australian Heritage Council, the Australian Government’s expert advisory

body on heritage, has assessed the MCG as having outstanding heritage value

to the nation for three of the nine National Heritage criteria listed in the

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

The Minister for the Environment and Heritage, Senator Ian Campbell, formally

approved the listing.

The MCG joins 21 other places on the list, including the Sydney Opera House,

Port Arthur convict site in Tasmania and Melbourne’s Exhibition Building,

which is also on the World Heritage List.

MELBOURNE, 26 December 2005

Enquiries: Jonathan Epstein 02 6269 0858