The Malabar Headland is a heritage-listed former public recreation area and military installation site and now nature conservation and public recreation headland area located at Franklin Street, Malabar in the City of Randwick local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It is also known as Long Bay Rifle Range, Anzac Rifle Range and Boora Point. The property is owned by the New South Wales Government. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 22 July 2005.
Overview
Malabar is a suburb of Sydney, located south of the Sydney central business district. The suburb is named after a passenger cargo steamer called the MV Malabar shipwrecked at Long Bay on 2 April 1931. The ship was named after the Malabar region of the Indian state of Kerala famous for its history as a spice trade centre. Prior to the shipwreck, the suburb was known as either Brand or Long Bay. The local residents petitioned the government to change the name to avoid the association with the Long Bay Correctional Centre; the new name Malabar was gazetted by the government on 29 September 1933.
There have been several shipwrecks on the Malabar headland - the St Albans in 1882, the Hereward in 1898, the SS Tekapo in 1899, the MV Malabar in 1931, the Belbowrie in 1939, Try One in 1947, the SS Goolgwai in 1955 and a barge in 1955.
The Malabar headland includes dramatic sandstone cliffs and provides spectacular coastal views. The western and eastern sections of the headland contain rare examples of the once extensive Port Jackson mallee scrub (Eucalyptus obstans, formerly Obtusiflora).
The headland was first used by local aboriginal people for fishing and cultural activities. Since European settlement, the headland has been used for dairy farming, recreational shooting, military use as a training facility, and a defensive position during World War II known as the Boora Point Battery.
ANZAC Rifle Range on the headland has been in active use since recreational target shooting first began in the 1850s, and is believed to be the oldest rifle range in Australia. It was previously known as the Long Bay Rifle Range and was renamed ANZAC Rifle Range in 1970 by the Army as a tribute to the rifle club members who served the nation during two World Wars and the Korean Campaign. The range has hosted numerous national and international shooting competitions including the prestigious Empire Matches, the Bicentennial Shooting Championships and the annual NSW Queen's Prize competitions.
The central area of the Malabar headland was used for uncontrolled industrial waste disposal from 1968 to 1988. The Labor Government announced its intention to sell the headland in 1986. The tenders included a proposal from Club Med to build a 300-room resort complex linked to an eighteen-hole golf course on the headland. A legal action brought by the NSW Rifle Association blocked the sale of the headland in 1990. The use of the headland has more recently been shared by a number of recreational organisations including rifle and pistol clubs, horse riding school, model aircraft flying club, bush conservation, bush walking, jogging, bird watching and rock fishing. Discharge of firearms can only occur at an approved target shooting facility. In the greater Sydney metropolitan area there are over 55,000 licensed firearms owners who are required by law to use their equipment two, four, or more times per year. The number of people using the headland exceeded 1,000 per week until the Labor Government terminated the user leases in October 2011 citing questionable health and safety concerns. The Labor Government demolished over $5 million worth of community infrastructure including the Malabar Riding School structures, Army Barrack huts, caretaker's cottage, Smallbore Rifle Range and the Sporting Shooters Association of Australia Bench Rest Rifle Range in October 2012.