Voyager Point

Voyager Point was gazetted on 11 September 1987. The suburb was subdivided from Pleasure Point. The area was previously known as the East Hills Naval Estate and contained married quarters for Australian Naval families.

What’s in a name?

The suburb was named after Voyager Park, which was contained within the new suburb. The park had been created to commemorate the lives lost on board the HMAS Voyager. In 1964 the Voyager passed in front of the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne off Jervis Bay during sea trials. The Voyager was split in two by the collision, with 82 lives lost. The opening of Voyager Park was commemorated on 6 November 1965, with a plaque unveiled by Captain RJ Robertson DSC.

Voyager Point and surrounding street names commemorate the legacy of Australia's naval history.

Aboriginal Land

Kogi was a well-known Dharawal man who tried to negotiate with colonial settlers. He is known to have met with Governor Lauchlan Macquarie in the Cowpastures on one occasion [source, date]. Kogi lived in what is now Voyager Point near where Harris and Williams creeks join the Tucoreah-Georges River. In 1857, a white neighbour tried to push Kogi's grandson, Jonathon Goggey and his family, off the land. Jonathon Goggey wrote a petition to the Governor demanding the return of the land. Goggey explained that he and his farther Jack had been living on Picnic Point block for 21 years. He made it clear this was not a personal claim but one for the family and community. No record survives of the government’s response to this petition.

There is robust evidence that Aboriginal people continued to live at Voyager Point until it was resumed as a migrant hostel in 1949. Locally, it was believed that the land had been reserved for the use of Aboriginal people up until 1950, although a formal gazettal never occurred.xxix

East Hills Migrant Hostel

East Hills Migrant Hostel at Voyager Point was home to migrants arriving to Australia from 1954 to the late 1960s.