Mount Meharry Explained

Mount Meharry
Other Name:Panyjima

Wirlbiwirlbi

Elevation M:1249
Elevation Ref:[1]
Prominence M:836
Prominence Ref:[2]
Map:Western Australia
Map Size:200
Label Position:right
Location:Pilbara region of Western Australia
Range:Hamersley Range
Coordinates:-22.9667°N 153°W

Mount Meharry (Panyjima:'''Wirlbiwirlbi''')[3] is the highest mountain in Western Australia. It is located in the Hamersley Range within the southeastern part of Karijini National Park in the Pilbara region, approximately south-southeast of Wittenoom,[4] and east-southeast of Tom Price.[5]

The Pandjima peoples are the traditional owners of the area.[6]

History

Mount Meharry is named after William Thomas Meharry (1912–1967), Chief Geodetic Surveyor for Western Australia from 1959 to 1967. It was discovered by Europeans by Surveyor Trevor Markey and his party in 1967. Tom Meharry directed the survey party and performed the calculations that confirmed the mountain was the highest peak in Western Australia, being higher than Mount Bruce which lies northwest of Mount Meharry.

After Meharry's sudden death on 16 May 1967 the Nomenclature Advisory Committee (now the Geographic Names Committee) recommended to the Minister for Lands that the recently discovered peak be named after him. The Minister for Lands Stewart Bovell approved this on 28 July 1967 and a notice naming the peak was published in the Western Australian Government Gazette on 15 September 1967.

In 1999, Gina Rinehart, daughter of Lang Hancock, applied to the Geographic Names Committee to rename the mountain after her father.[7] The application was declined and in 2002 she lobbied the then-Premier Geoff Gallop with the same proposal.[8] He, too, declined the request.

Geography

The summit of Mount Meharry can be reached from the Great Northern Highway via an unsealed road in length and a vehicular track in length. Permission should be sought from the managers of the land over which the road and track pass. These are Juna Downs Station and the Department of Parks and Wildlife, which manages Karijini National Park. In dry conditions, a two-wheel-drive vehicle can reach the national park boundary at about elevation, requiring a walk of about to the summit.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Mount Meharry . 2004-01-16 . Gazetteer of Australia . Geoscience Australia, Government of Australia . deviated . https://web.archive.org/web/20121004065957/http://www.ga.gov.au/bin/gazd01?rec=274282 . 2012-10-04 . 2024-06-23 .
  2. Peakbagger: "Mount Meharry", 23 September 2007.
  3. Web site: Packsaddle Mount Meharry Mount Robinson areas . 2011 . 13 December 2015.
  4. Web site: Great Circle Distance between MOUNT+MEHARRY and WITTENOOM. 18 February 2010. Geoscience Australia. https://web.archive.org/web/20110604123717/http://www.ga.gov.au/bin/distancedraw2?rec1=286585&placename=wittenoom&placetype=0&state=WA+&place1=MOUNT+MEHARRY&place1long=118.587784&place1lat=-22.980000. 4 June 2011. dead.
  5. Web site: Great Circle Distance between MOUNT+MEHARRY and TOM PRICE. 18 February 2010. Geoscience Australia. https://web.archive.org/web/20110604123724/http://www.ga.gov.au/bin/distancedraw2?rec1=282553&placename=tom+price&placetype=0&state=WA+&place1=MOUNT+MEHARRY&place1long=118.587784&place1lat=-22.980000. 4 June 2011. dead.
  6. Web site: My father’s father was Wirrilimarra (Bob Tucker). 13 December 2015.
  7. Web site: Gallop kills Hancock plan. Australasian Business Intelligence. 4 November 2002.
  8. News: Call for WA mountain to be renamed after iron ore magnate. 3 November 2002. ABC News online. 2008-10-18.