ABSTRACT
This chapter describes how the three values, and the heritages with which they are imbricated, intersect in a particularly iconic 'outback' area, the North West Cape -Ningaloo Reef region, north of Western Australia's state capital, Perth. The three values are the swagmen, squatters and troopers. In searching for a framework within which to describe the interactions between the concatenations of heritage icons, it is therefore hard to avoid the use of Australia's equally iconic national anthem, 'Waltzing Matilda'. The debates and conflicts over the development and/or preservation of the North West Cape-Ningaloo region clearly illustrate the differing views of the various protagonists on both the local environment and on the various heritages that it can be taken to represent. Adjacent to Ningaloo Reef and 165 kilometres south of Exmouth, tourism development commenced with the construction of a hotel at Coral Bay.
