Victoria Gardens (East Perth) dedicated to City of Perth

April 28, 1996 

The State Government today dedicated to the City of Perth one of the most historic sites in East Perth.

Planning Minister Richard Lewis said Victoria Gardens, on the hill overlooking the Swan River, was established by Governor Sir William Robinson 120 years ago.

Mr Lewis said the public garden was Perth's first municipal nursery and a popular picnic spot in the 1870s.

"The site, which has cultural significance for both Aboriginal and European people, has been rehabilitated as part of the successful East Perth redevelopment project," he said.

A team of Aboriginal and European artists and landscape architects prepared plans to reinstate the garden featuring a special dreaming path along the river, given the Aboriginal name Ngango Batta's Moonditcher, which means sunshine's living strength and refers to the design of the garden.

Mr Lewis paid tribute to the close association of Aboriginal people with the river at East Perth.

"It was a place of plenty for the Nyoongar people where they did not go hungry or thirsty or wander aimlessly in search of a place to camp," he said.

The dedication ceremony was part of a carnival held in the gardens to celebrate the rebirth of East Perth and its historical and cultural contribution to the city as a whole.

Mr Lewis said like Claisebrook Cove, Victoria Gardens would provide an important focus for the redevelopment project and would be an enduring asset for the City and its people.

"We could not hope for a better outcome than to see people return to East Perth to enjoy the gardens, one of Perth's true hidden treasures," he said.

"Victoria Gardens is a perfect example of how East Perth is emerging as a new, dynamic community offering a colourful, efficient and exciting lifestyle on the city's doorstep.

"The renewal of East Perth follows closely with the Coalition Government's plans to revitalise Perth over the next 10 years as a capital city all Western Australians will admire and enjoy."

Other features of Victoria Gardens include a limestone lookout, the Observatory, which represents the six Nyoongar communities that lived on the edge of the Swan River, and a recessed colonnade along Claisebrook Cove with a mural telling the story of East Perth.

Media contact : Bronwyn Hillman 222 9595, 221 1377 or 480 5125 (pgr).