Heirisson Island is an island in the Swan River in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

at the eastern end of

Perth Water Perth Water is a section of the Swan River on the southern edge of the central business district of Perth, Western Australia. It is between the Causeway to the east, and Narrows Bridge to the west – a large wide but shallow section of river, ...

, between the suburbs of

East Perth East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

and

Victoria Park Victoria Park may refer to: Places Australia * Victoria Park Nature Reserve, a protected area in Northern Rivers region, New South Wales * Victoria Park, Adelaide, a park and racecourse * Victoria Park, Brisbane, a public park and former golf ...

. It occupies an area of , and is connected to the two foreshores by

The Causeway The Causeway is an arterial traffic crossing in Perth, Western Australia, linking the inner-city suburbs of East Perth and Victoria Park. It is carried over the Swan River at the eastern end of Perth Water by two bridges on either side of ...

. The next upstream island is Kuljak Island, then Ron Courtney Island, with no islands in the Swan River downstream between Heirisson Island and the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by t ...

other than the artificial islet in

Elizabeth Quay Elizabeth Quay is a mixed-use development project in the Perth central business district. Focusing on an area located on the north shore of Perth Water near the landmark Swan Bells, the precinct being developed by the project was named in hono ...

. Before development, there were several small islands, surrounded by

mudflats Mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats or, in Ireland, slob or slobs, are coastal wetlands that form in intertidal areas where sediments have been deposited by tides or rivers. A global analysis published in 2019 suggested that tidal fl ...

. Over the years, dredging and reclamation has created a single island, which is now a landscaped nature reserve, with a walking path. The

Noongar The Noongar (, also spelt Noongah, Nyungar , Nyoongar, Nyoongah, Nyungah, Nyugah, and Yunga ) are Aboriginal Australian peoples who live in the south-west corner of Western Australia, from Geraldton on the west coast to Esperance on the so ...

name for the area is Matagarup (meaning "leg deep"), which has been retained for the single island after reclamation. Heirisson Island is listed on the Western Australia Department of Aboriginal Affairs' Register of Aboriginal Sites, as ID 3589.

History

The area around Heirisson Island is traditionally associated with the Beeloo people, a subgroup of the

Whadjuk Whadjuk, alternatively Witjari, are Noongar (Aboriginal Australian) people of the Western Australian region of the Perth bioregion of the Swan Coastal Plain. Name The ethnonym appears to derive from ''whad'', the Whadjuk word for "no". Countr ...

Noongar, who knew the small islands and mud flats as Matagarup, referring to the river as being "one leg deep". The island located on either side of the current causeway bridge was known as Kakaroomup. The Matagarup mud flats were the first major crossing point upriver from the river's mouth (at Fremantle) and were an important seasonal access way over which the Beeloo gave other groups right of passage across the river. The first European to visit the Heirisson Island area was the Flemish explorer

Willem de Vlamingh Willem Hesselsz de Vlamingh (November 1640 – ) was a Dutch sea captain who explored the central west coast of New Holland ( Australia) in the late 17th century, where he landed in what is now Perth on the Swan River. The mission proved fruit ...

in January 1697. He was exploring the Swan River in

longboat A longboat is a type of ship's boat that was in use from ''circa'' 1500 or before. Though the Royal Navy replaced longboats with launches from 1780, examples can be found in merchant ships after that date. The longboat was usually the largest boa ...

s but only got as far as the Heirisson Island(s) because the mud flats impeded any further progress. Heirisson Island was named after French midshipman , who was on the French ship ''Le Naturaliste'' on a scientific expedition led by

Nicolas Baudin Nicolas Thomas Baudin (; 17 February 1754 – 16 September 1803) was a French explorer, cartographer, naturalist and hydrographer, most notable for his explorations in Australia and the southern Pacific. Biography Early career Born a comm ...

between 1801 and 1804. The expedition made several journeys up the river from Fremantle in longboats and made the first maps of the Swan River. The island was named in June 1801. Captain James Stirling later investigated the area in 1827 just before the Swan River Colony was settled in 1829. In September 1984 the Government of Western Australia erected a statue of Aboriginal warrior

Yagan Yagan (; – 11 July 1833) was an Aboriginal Australian warrior from the Noongar people. Yagan was pursued by the local authorities after he killed Erin Entwhistle, a servant of farmer Archibald Butler. It was an act of retaliation after ...

on the island. In 1997 the statue's head was twice removed by vandals. In 1998, five female

western grey kangaroo The western grey kangaroo (''Macropus fuliginosus''), also referred to as a western grey giant kangaroo, black-faced kangaroo, mallee kangaroo, sooty kangaroo and (when referring to the Kangaroo Island subspecies) Kangaroo Island grey kangaroo, is ...

s were introduced onto the island, followed by a female with a male joey in 2000. In 2008 a new master plan for Heirisson Island was adopted by the

City of Perth A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

which proposed establishing an international quality sculpture park on the island as well as constructing an amphitheatre and a footbridge that would link Point Fraser to Heirisson Island. The plan faced opposition from Aboriginal elders, and as of December 2022 the sculpture park and amphitheatre have yet to be established. In December 2022, the construction of two pedestrian and cyclist bridges was approved that will connect Point Fraser and McCallum Park in Victoria Park via Heirisson Island. The $100 million bridge project will begin construction in 2023 for an intended late 2024 opening.

Aboriginal protests

Heirisson Island has been the site of a number of protests by Australian Aboriginal activists.

Tent embassy

In 2012, the island was the site of a tent embassy, set up in February by

people to raise community awareness about problems with a government plan to extinguish most of the native title land in the southwest of Western Australia that was recognized in 2006 by Justice

Murray Wilcox Murray Rutledge Wilcox, (1937–2018) was an Australian Federal Court Judge, serving from 11 May 1984 until retiring on 2 October 2006. He also served as an additional judge of the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory from 23 Apr ...

of the Federal Court of Australia. The Noongar Tent Embassy was intended to be a peaceful affirmation of native title to Noongar country and legitimate use of a state-registered Aboriginal Heritage Site,Kerr, Thor & Cox, Shaphan (2013). R. Briggs, N. Lucy & S. Mickler (Eds.).
Setting up the Nyoongar Tent Embassy: a report on Perth media
'. Perth: Ctrl-Z Press. and was inspired by the

Aboriginal Tent Embassy The Aboriginal Tent Embassy is a permanent protest occupation site as a focus for representing the political rights of Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islander people. Established on 26 January (Australia Day) 1972, and celebrating i ...

in Canberra. However, there were many claims made of rocks being thrown at passing boats. The tent embassy was removed by police in March 2012.

Refugee camp

In early March 2015, a group of Aboriginal activists set up what they referred to as a refugee camp after the state government announced plans to close some remote Western Australian Aboriginal communities. The camp was removed ten days later by City of Perth rangers, with police support, but gradually reassembled and was occupied by about 100 people when it was dismantled again by police and City of Perth rangers in late April 2015. In January 2016 a group of about 60 peopleincluding some non-indigenous homeless peoplewere camping on the island again. By April 2016, the camp had grown to over 100 and it was again removed by police and rangers.

References

External links

Vintage aerial photograph
by

Frank Hurley James Francis "Frank" Hurley (15 October 1885 – 16 January 1962) was an Australian photographer and adventurer. He participated in a number of expeditions to Antarctica and served as an official photographer with Australian forces durin ...

at the

National Library of Australia The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "mainta ...

*{{commons category-inline Perth Water Islands of the Perth region (Western Australia) Artificial islands of Australia