Welcome to Major Projects Foundation’s e-newsletter. We hope you enjoy this new way to stay informed about the big things happening in our organisation.
DGR Status
After many months of work the Major Projects Foundation is now recognised by the Australian tax authorities as a Deductible Gift Recipient. This means that all donations over AUD$2 are tax-deductible for everyone from small private donors to large international foundations.
This DGR status approval is a huge step for MPF as many donors such as international foundations and governments require such status as a mark of credibility. With this new status, MPF can now reward our supporters with tax benefits, and we have also expanded the pool of funds that we can apply for into the future.
In these tough times, our mission to build resilience in the Pacific is more important than ever and any donations (just in time for the end of the financial year!) are greatly appreciated.
Meet Peter Cundall
Peter is an amazing guy. He is our Chief Historian and a Director of Major Projects Foundation. Peter, until recent retirement, worked in the maritime industry at Svitzer Australia, the main towage operator in Australia.
Peter’s real passion is shipwrecks. He had developed his own database of shipwrecks in the Pacific. He is so passionate about this he taught himself to read Japanese he can’t speak it very well but he can read the documents showing ships logs and manifests from WW2 Japan.
Since joining MPF he has combined his work with other information we have accessed from Pacific nation-states to allow us to assess all known shipwrecks and prioritise our work when the ship leaves for the Pacific.
This database covers all wrecks lost in the Pacific states including Guam, Wake, Marshal Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Palau, Solomons, Papua New Guinea, French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Fiji, Samoa, Vanuatu, Tokelau, Niue, Kiribati and Cook Islands.
In addition, it covers a number of Potential Polluting Wrecks (PPW) on the Australian East Coast and northern NZ waters. The intention is to extend this further to cover all of Australian and New Zealand waters.
A word from our Research Director. Dr Matt Carter.
Firstly everyone at MPF would like to congratulate Matt on completing his PhD thesis. He is now officially a Dr!
While many of us involved with MPF have not been as active due to Covid19, Matt has been keeping busy.
• He is working alongside archaeologists at the Republic of Marshal Islands Historic Preservation Office to put together a proposal for surveying the potentially polluting wrecks in Bikini Atoll with 2021 marking the 75th anniversary of their sinking.
• Matt is also currently working on a report for the Northern Territory Government Heritage Branch on the I-124 Japanese submarine. This is a sensitive heritage site which is also thought to still contain significant volumes of fuel oil.
• We are currently working through the process of getting registered as a not-for-profit organisation with the US government. This is a required step before we can apply for funding and work towards a number of opportunities in the Pacific going forward.
• Matt is also working towards applying for an Australian Research Council ‘Linkage Grant’ with the University of Newcastle and other partners.
• Peter Morris has also done a lot of work on a Potentially Polluting Shipwreck much closer to home. We are in negotiations with a number of interested parties to determine what needs to be done. Watch this space.
As you can see there is a lot going on behind the scenes so we can get hit the ground running and continue our mission as soon as possible. It is only by working together that we can protect the marine ecosystems and the livelihoods and cultures of the Pacific communities who rely on them.
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