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ABC News
6 days ago
- Politics
- ABC News
How Boundary Islet became Australia's shortest 'land border'
When Tasmania separated politically from New South Wales in 1825, it was decided that all islands south of Wilsons Promontory would belong to the new colony of Van Diemen's Land. But when the proclamation included more specific coordinates, it mistakenly put the border right through a 2-hectare granite island. The bungle created an 85-metre land border between Tasmania and what would later become Victoria. It is shown on official maps. The rocky island, 56 kilometres east of the southernmost point of mainland Victoria, is Australia's shortest land border. Maritime Museum Tasmania's Colin Denny said there was some skepticism about Boundary Islet and whether it was a legitimate border, so the organisation conducted its own research. "It's not as simple as it sounds, and we have to go right back to the discovery of Australia by Europeans to find out how the boundary came about," he told Joel Rheinberger on ABC Radio Hobart. Mr Denny said the issue arose when an order-in-council in the United Kingdom defined the new colony of Van Diemen's Land. "[The council] basically said the islands of Bass Strait would be part of Van Diemen's Land and north of there would remain New South Wales," he said. "It was very indeterminate." Governor Ralph Darling, who was overseeing New South Wales, wanted the border to be more definite and drew a line at 39 degrees 12 minutes latitude, based on it being below Wilsons Promontory. "The charting that had been done by various people was inaccurate," Mr Denny said. "When Governor Darling drew the line, it was found that it went through Boundary Islet." The blame lies with Captain John Black, who surveyed Bass Strait after Matthew Flinders and George Bass circumnavigated Tasmania and proved it was separate from the Australian mainland. Keeping in mind the technology used would have been sextants, circumferentors, and low-level theodolites, which led to wonky borders across the country. A spokesperson for the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania (NRE Tas) said the parallel latitude of south 39 degrees 12 minutes had been accepted as the Tasmania–Victoria border. "Boundary Islet is known as the North East Islet Nature Reserve," the spokesperson said. "It was historically known as North East Islet. Its name change was gazetted in 1990. "There was some ambiguity in the description of the location of the border in the historical proclamations of the colony of Van Diemen's Land upon its separation from NSW in 1825." The spokesperson said there were several border anomalies between Australian jurisdictions. The island is part of the Hogan Group, with Hogan Island being the largest island in the group. Hogan Island, which is 232 hectares, has been leased to graziers in the past, but is now a conservation area. In terms of inhabitants, there has been one formally recorded sighting of an Australian fur seal according to NRE Tas. Veteran travel writer Tony Wheeler can confirm there are actually many seals, after flying low over the island by helicopter while writing his book Australia's Islands. "Captain John Black, in his survey of 1801, had slightly misplaced North East Islet and the boundary runs smack through the middle of the 2-hectare island," Mr Wheeler said. "The constitution would have to be amended to correct the problem, and neither Tasmania nor Victoria seems too concerned about their curious meeting point." It's unclear whether the seals are Victorian or Tasmanian residents and would depend on which side of the island they choose to inhabit.
ABC News
17-05-2025
- General
- ABC News
Oatlands Gaol's colonial-era solitary cells unearthed below old pool
In tiny cells uncovered at a central Tasmanian town, prisoners were once given nothing more than a bucket, a straw mattress and a blanket. Only 1 metre by 2 metres in size, the cells were a place of punishment for those who committed "minor infractions" — but the average stay was between two and three weeks. "You potentially could be in there 20 hours a day," said Allan Townsend, the history projects officer for Tasmania's Southern Midlands Council. The recently unearthed solitary cells belong to the colonial-era Oatlands Gaol, which opened in 1837 and was the largest regional house of correction in then-Van Diemen's Land. "If you did something really terrible that needed a long sentence, you'd probably be sent to Port Arthur," Mr Townsend said. "But for, say, two years or under, you'd wind up here." Mr Townsend is part of the local archaeological team working to uncover the former correctional facility buried under what used to be a council swimming pool in Oatlands. It later became a municipal jail in 1863 but, due to lack of use, was decommissioned in the 1930s. Later in that decade, much of the complex was demolished because of neglect. Mr Townsend said the complex, which had two-storey-high walls and was visible from anywhere in town, became an unwanted symbol for residents at the time. After World War II, the rest of the yard was filled to house a memorial swimming pool for the town, burying a part of local history beneath it. Brad Williams, the manager of the Heritage Projects team within the council, said they were forging ahead to restore what remained of the complex. "Even though we couldn't have access to much of the site because it was still an operating recreational facility at the time … we knew then that we had quite substantial archaeological remains," he said. The most recent excavation this year uncovered the solitary and condemned cells. Mr Townsend said it was "just sheer luck" that the construction of the pool in the 1950s did not compromise the structure of the site. "It didn't obliterate the solitary cells on the ground floor of the old gaol," he said. "It didn't obliterate the well [or] the wall between the male and the female yard." The gallows, uncovered in 2013, have also been re-exposed in this round of works. "Oatlands, Launceston and Hobart were the only places where people could be executed," Mr Williams said. "We've excavated the foundations of where about 15 people were executed." Mr Williams said team members were working with the Tasmanian Heritage Council to obtain a permit and further explore the site, so they could get a better idea of what else may lie beneath the surface.
