[2][1] In early March 1788, soon after arriving with the First Fleet's convict settlement, Governor Arthur Phillip explored the southern arm of Broken Bay in search of suitable land to farm.

[4] By the late 1940s the Port Jackson and Manly Steamship Company had suffered an economic downturn and was forced to sell off many of its assets, including its holding at Little Mackerel Beach.

[6][1] 'The idea of affordable and improving holidays in natural surrounds took off after the Great War following the lead of camping, bushwalking, amateur fishing and national park movements.

Not all agreed that this was entirely the motive and Jim Hagan, University of Wollongong Professorial Fellow and historian believes that the unions considered that by uniting people with a common cause, loyalty to the Labor movement was reinforced.

The State and federal governments were working together to establish Postwar Reconstruction and housing programs in response to the critical shortages, leading to the development of labour saving construction methods and the industrial manufacture of cost effective building materials.

In correspondence to Jim Kenny, then the President of the NSW Labor Council, in April and May 1950, Vandyke Brothers Pty Ltd pointed out that the design of the roof of the cabins had been modified from the original sketch.

After the War the Sectionit system was used for a variety of applications including temporary premises for the Commonwealth Bank at Campbelltown, an unemployment office at Mascot and on a larger scale, barracks for Snowy Mountains Scheme workers at Cooma.

She stated: "it is a place which is safe for children, far from the usual commercial pressures of holiday resorts, full of bird and animal life, immersed in the ancient spirituality of the original custodians of the land, and strongly connected to the historical struggle for workers rights in NSW".

'For those unfamiliar with Currawong, it can best be described by telling you what it doesn't have - no roads, no cars, no shops, no TV, no cinema, no restaurant, no amenities really at all, except the tennis court, the jetty for fishing, and a squishy golf course of sorts.

One of the main reasons given was that: "As a matter of policy in the public interest, that any further subdivision of land situated generally on the western shores of Pittwater where access is by water only, be not approved[12]".

[6][1] In a letter dated 4 April 1978 the then NSW Premier, Neville Wran advised the Labor Council that it was the Government's longstanding policy that Currawong and other "in-holdings" on the western shores of Pittwater should be incorporated into Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, subject to the availability of funds for their purchase by the NPWS.

The Premier further advised that, having regard to this policy and the controversy which arose in relation to the Labor Council's 1977 subdivision proposal for Currawong, he had instructed his colleague the Minister for Lands to enter into negotiations for the purchase of the property.

[6][1] In February 1992, lnsite Architecture and Design put a proposal to the Labor Council for a low scale development at Currawong comprising timber accommodation units with corrugated iron roofs.

The major constraints identified in their report were as follows: Later in 1992 the Labor Council agreed to a restoration plan instead of redevelopment, the $56,000 cost of repairs being met by a levy on each of the State's unionists.

Media reports stated that the Labor Council under then Secretary Michael Costa had been negotiating over a 99-year lease to Transcendental Meditation Guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi for a $5 million Executive Stress Resort.

Further media reports stated that the Labor Council had been negotiating with the company Corporate Renaissance with a view to developing a retreat centre at Currawong on a long-term lease basis.

[1] In March 2011 the NSW Land & Property Management Authority purchased the site from Eco Villages P/L for $12.2m to establish a new State Park[16](Sydney Morning Herald, 22/3/2011, abridged).

A second New South Wales State Heritage Register nomination was submitted by Pittwater Council in 2003, however comparative information was still required in order to assess its significance in a statewide context.

[1] The Minto Bush Camp established by the Communist Party of Australia (CPA), near Campbelltown on the south-western outskirts of Sydney, is the only other relatively intact mid-twentieth century workers' holiday campsite remaining in NSW.

The Minto Bush Camp differs from Currawong in being located in bushland some distance from the sea, having dorminatory-style accommodation rather than catering for families, and being relatively unknown because of its association with a radical political grouping rather than the mainstream union movement.

The Miner's Federation (now CFMEU) Bushy Tail camp at Wrights Beach on St George's Basin, in the Shoalhaven Council area, has operated largely as a caravan park since the 1940s with just one caretaker's cottage.

Its wide verandas were originally semi-enclosed and the house was carefully positioned on the site to shelter from the southerly winds, the tidal beach and occasionally flooding creek.

[1] The Vandyke cabins at Currawong had corrugated iron clad gable roofs, in-situ concrete piers and locally quarried rock faced sandstone front steps.

The later cabins are completely fibro, the double hung windows have single sashes with a standard chamfered architrave across a grouping and the ventilators are metal grilles positioned on site.

The historic record for Currawong suggests that in the 19th century and during the Stiles period of occupation the flats area was used for grazing of dairy cattle and growing of some food crops for domestic consumption.

The State and federal governments were working together to establish Postwar Reconstruction and housing programs in response to the critical shortages, leading to the development of labour saving construction methods and the industrial manufacture of cost effective building materials.

Currawong is of State significance for its landmark value as a workers' holiday camp located amongst bushland and surrounded by national park on a magnificent Sydney waterfront (described by Governor Phillip in 1788 as "the finest piece of water which I ever saw".

The Currawong Vandyke cabins were individually adapted for the Labor Council camp and are indicative of the close relationship between innovative industrialists, Postwar Reconstruction ideals of social economy and the union movement.

Currawong is one of few intact groupings of 1950s holiday cabins remaining in NSW, whether union-based or private, and as such demonstrates a modest mid-twentieth century family vacation style and practice that is in danger of being lost.

The majority of the Currawong estate is remnant bushland and provides habitat for Lyre birds, bandicoot, curlew, honeyeater, giant dragon flies and possibly koalas.