Department of the Environment, Aborigines and the Arts

Department of the Environment, Aborigines and the Arts
Department overview
Formed	31 May 1971
Dissolved	19 December 1972
Superseding Department	Department of Aboriginal Affairs – for Aboriginal affairs; Department of Environment and Conservation; Department of the Media – for film industry, government printing, publishing, advertising; Department of Science (I); Department of Services and Property; Department of the Special Minister of State (I);
Jurisdiction	Commonwealth of Australia
Headquarters	Canberra
Ministers responsible	Peter Howson, Minister (1971–1972); Gough Whitlam, Minister (1972);
Department executive	Lenox Hewitt, Secretary;

The Department of the Environment, Aborigines and the Arts was an Australian government department that existed between May 1971 and December 1972.

The department, created by the McMahon government, was a collection of three areas that had previously been handled by other departments or government agencies. These included the Department of the Interior, the Department of the Vice-President of the Executive Council, and the Office of Aboriginal Affairs in the Prime Minister's Department. The department was abolished by the incoming Whitlam government, with its functions split across six departments (the Departments of Aboriginal Affairs, Environment and Conservation, Media, Prime Minister and Cabinet, Special Minister of State, Science and Services and Property).^[1]

The DEAA was not formally created as a new department, but rather the former Department of the Vice-President of the Executive Council was renamed.^[2]

Scope

Information about the department's functions and government funding allocation could be found in the Administrative Arrangements Orders, the annual Portfolio Budget Statements and in the department's annual reports.

At its creation, the department dealt with:^[1]

activities related to the environment
Aboriginal affairs
support for the arts and letters
the National Library
Australian films
national archives
general services of printing, publishing and advertising (including the Gazette)
world expositions
grants to national organizations
overseas visits
war memorial and war graves
overseas property

Structure

The department was an Australian Public Service department, staffed by officials who were responsible to the Minister for the Environment, Aborigines and the Arts.^[1] The department's first Minister, Peter Howson, was not keen on the job, reportedly calling the portfolio "trees, boongs and poofters".^[3]

The secretary of the department was Lenox Hewitt.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f CA 1407: Department of the Environment, Aborigines and the Arts, Central Office, National Archives of Australia, retrieved 15 December 2013
^ "Change of Name of Department". Commonwealth of Australia Gazette. No. 56A. 31 May 1971. p. 3303A.
^ MacCallum, Mungo (5 February 2009), Peter Howson, minister for ‘trees, boongs and poofters’, Crikey, archived from the original on 5 November 2012

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[NAA_CA_1407-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f CA 1407: Department of the Environment, Aborigines and the Arts, Central Office, National Archives of Australia, retrieved 15 December 2013

[2] "Change of Name of Department". Commonwealth of Australia Gazette. No. 56A. 31 May 1971. p. 3303A.

[Mungo-3] MacCallum, Mungo (5 February 2009), Peter Howson, minister for ‘trees, boongs and poofters’, Crikey, archived from the original on 5 November 2012

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