MARKING TIME - TOURISM AND HERITAGE REPRESENTATION AT MILLERS-POINT, SYDNEY

The aim of this paper is to eh amine how Millers Point, a harbourside precinct of Sydney, is being assimilated into the tourism production s ystem as the traditional local economic base of maritime industries ha s declined. For localities with some attribute that can be marketed pa ckaged and sold, assimilation into the tourism production system is a viable route towards realigning the local economy. For Millers Point, commodification of the past as 'heritage' is central to the assimilati on process. Following Britton (1991), three mechanisms of assimilation are discussed. How these mechanisms are engaged has particular implic ations for the representation of place and history for tourism purpose s. Millers Point is largely portrayed as an opportunity to escape back to the 'beginnings' of the European notion of the Australian nation a s it is represented in the built environment. In contrast, scant atten tion is given to indigenous peoples, social histories, or to the indus trial infrastructure of the early twentieth century.