[citation needed] Other places were saved because of people such as Niels Neilsen, who became the New South Wales Minister for Lands and a strong advocate of a public reserve around Sydney Harbour.

[clarification needed] It was not possible to undo all the damage done in past decades, but there was still much that could be preserved, and the 1960s were a particularly active time in this regard.

The national park is renowned for its sheltered beaches, tranquil picnic spots, rich Aboriginal, colonial and military heritage, aquatic reserves and harbour islands.

[3] The Guringai Resting Places, at both Reef Beach and Quarantine Station, are Aboriginal reburial sites where ancestral remains have been returned to Country.

Historic sites include Greycliffe House, erected at Shark Bay by the Wentworth family in neo-Gothic style during the 1850s; and the mast of the first HMAS Sydney at Bradleys Head.