Mount Meharry
{{Short description|Mountain in Western Australia}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Use Australian English|date=October 2011}}
{{Infobox mountain
| name = Mount Meharry | other_name = Panyjima:{{lang|pnw|Wirlbiwirlbi}}
| elevation_m = 1249
| prominence_m = 836
| prominence_ref = Peakbagger: [http://www.peakbagger.com/peak.aspx?pid=11389 "Mount Meharry"], 23 September 2007.
| map = Western Australia
| map_caption = Location in Western Australia
| map_size = 200
| label_position = right
| location = Pilbara region of Western Australia
| range = Hamersley Range
| coordinates = {{coord|22|58|S|118|35|E|type:mountain_scale:100000|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
}}
Mount Meharry (Panyjima:{{lang|pnw|Wirlbiwirlbi}}){{cite web |url=http://www.drbilldayanthropologist.com/resources/Packsaddle%20Mount%20Meharry%20Mount%20Robinson%20areas.pdf |title=Packsaddle Mount Meharry Mount Robinson areas |year=2011 |access-date=13 December 2015}} is the highest mountain in Western Australia. It is located in the Hamersley Range within the southeastern part of Karijini National Park in the Pilbara region, approximately {{convert|86|km}} south-southeast of Wittenoom,{{cite web|title=Great Circle Distance between MOUNT+MEHARRY and WITTENOOM|url=http://www.ga.gov.au/bin/distancedraw2?rec1=286585&placename=wittenoom&placetype=0&state=WA+&place1=MOUNT+MEHARRY&place1long=118.587784&place1lat=-22.980000|accessdate=18 February 2010|publisher=Geoscience Australia|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604123717/http://www.ga.gov.au/bin/distancedraw2?rec1=286585&placename=wittenoom&placetype=0&state=WA+&place1=MOUNT+MEHARRY&place1long=118.587784&place1lat=-22.980000|archive-date=4 June 2011|url-status=dead}} and {{convert|87|km}} east-southeast of Tom Price.{{cite web|title=Great Circle Distance between MOUNT+MEHARRY and TOM PRICE|url=http://www.ga.gov.au/bin/distancedraw2?rec1=282553&placename=tom+price&placetype=0&state=WA+&place1=MOUNT+MEHARRY&place1long=118.587784&place1lat=-22.980000|accessdate=18 February 2010|publisher=Geoscience Australia|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604123724/http://www.ga.gov.au/bin/distancedraw2?rec1=282553&placename=tom+price&placetype=0&state=WA+&place1=MOUNT+MEHARRY&place1long=118.587784&place1lat=-22.980000|archive-date=4 June 2011|url-status=dead}}
The Pandjima peoples are the traditional owners of the area.{{cite web|url=http://www.drbilldayanthropologist.com/resources/Banyjima%20man%20Percy%20Tucker.pdf|title=My father’s father was Wirrilimarra (Bob Tucker)|accessdate=13 December 2015}}
History
Mount Meharry is named after William Thomas Meharry (1912–1967), Chief Geodetic Surveyor for Western Australia from 1959 to 1967. It was discovered by Europeans by Surveyor Trevor Markey and his party in 1967. Tom Meharry directed the survey party and performed the calculations that confirmed the mountain was the highest peak in Western Australia, being {{convert|15|m}} higher than Mount Bruce which lies {{convert|62|km}} northwest of Mount Meharry.
After Meharry's sudden death on 16 May 1967 the Nomenclature Advisory Committee (now the Geographic Names Committee) recommended to the Minister for Lands that the recently discovered peak be named after him. The Minister for Lands Stewart Bovell approved this on 28 July 1967 and a notice naming the peak was published in the Western Australian Government Gazette on 15 September 1967.
In 1999, Gina Rinehart, daughter of Lang Hancock, applied to the Geographic Names Committee to rename the mountain after her father.{{cite web|url=http://www.allbusiness.com/environment-natural-resources/ecology-environmental/10128949-1.html|title=Gallop kills Hancock plan|work=Australasian Business Intelligence|date=4 November 2002}} The application was declined and in 2002 she lobbied the then-Premier Geoff Gallop with the same proposal.{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200211/s717332.htm|title=Call for WA mountain to be renamed after iron ore magnate|date=3 November 2002|work=ABC News online|accessdate=2008-10-18}} He, too, declined the request.
Geography
The summit of Mount Meharry can be reached from the Great Northern Highway via an unsealed road {{convert|16|km}} in length and a vehicular track {{convert|21|km}} in length. Permission should be sought from the managers of the land over which the road and track pass. These are Juna Downs Station and the Department of Parks and Wildlife, which manages Karijini National Park. In dry conditions, a two-wheel-drive vehicle can reach the national park boundary at about {{convert|800|m}} elevation, requiring a walk of about {{convert|7|km}} to the summit.