Climate change will destroy thousands of Australia's archaeological and cultural heritage sites, but there is no national plan to deal with the threat, experts say.
Losses will include Aboriginal cultural sites at Kakadu and Sydney Harbour, important fossil records, convict sites on Tasmania's coastline, historical gardens and hundreds
of rural heritage sites including woolsheds, town halls and churches across the Murray Darling Basin.
Funding to protect Australia's heritage has plummeted to such a low level that "the vast bulk of heritage sites in Australia have not been adequately surveyed, mapped
or assessed," a report to Federal Environment and Heritage Minister Peter Garrett warns.
The report, by former peak federal advisory body the National Cultural Heritage Forum, says future generations of Australians will ''look back at a period of relative economic prosperity and see a period characterised by neglect of cultural heritage places and values.''
The forum's report says the Rudd Government's first federal budget cut overall heritage funding by 22per cent, but slashed funds for conservation works from $3.5million to $200,000 a cut of 94per cent. It also points out that cultural heritage was not included in the discussion agenda at the Prime Minister's 2020 national ideas summit held in April at Parliament House.
The report says ''urgent, substantial and sustained action must begin now'' to address the impact of climate change, and calls for the Rudd Government to show more leadership in protecting Australia's cultural heritage.
It called for a national Heritage Summit to address the crisis and new federal programs to support and reward community conservation programs, volunteer historical societies and history teachers. Other recommendations included a Federal Cultural Heritage Fund, a national climate change salvage plan and a community Hands-on-Heritage program to train volunteers.
Shortly after sending the report to Mr Garret, the forum, which has advised federal environment ministers for 12 years, was sacked. In a letter to the forum's chairwoman, anthropologist Kristal Buckley, Mr Garrett said he had asked his department to establish a heritage working group with experience in ''economics, tourism and business'' in addition to natural, indigenous and historic heritage.
One of Australia's leading cultural heritage experts, Australian National University Emeritus Professor John Mulvaney said the minister's decision to sack the heritage forum was ''a shocking thing to do and does not give great confidence for the future of cultural heritage under a Labor government''.
A spokesman for Mr Garrett said that after 12 years of neglect by the previous government, ''the Rudd Labor Government has a renewed focus on the challenges of managing our cultural and national heritage.'' He said Mr Garrett was ''seeking to develop new opportunities for heritage groups to provide input into government policy.''
Opposition environment and heritage spokesman Greg Hunt said Mr Garrett had ''taken the axe to an independent voice that had the temerity to express concern about inadequate funding and certainty under the new Government.''
Australian Greens heritage spokesman Senator Scott Ludlum has accused Mr Garrett of ''dumbing down cultural heritage'' by sacking Australia's peak heritage advisory body.
''We saw a progressive downgrading of Australia's heritage by the Howard government, and this is a worrying sign the Rudd Government intends to continue that trend with similar narrow policy options.''
Canberra-based heritage consultant and former secretary of the Australian Council of National Trusts Duncan Marshall said storm surges, sea level rise, changes in soil chemistry, rainfall and temperatures would take a high toll on Australia's heritage sites. ''There is even speculation that the Sydney Opera House could be affected by storm surges and rising sea levels.''
But lack of research funding, the low status of history in school curricula and a lack of specialist restoration skills also threatened Australia's cultural heritage.
''We need people who are trained to heritage roof repairs, fix stained-glass windows, do stonework or bush carpentry. All those skills are in very short supply.''