Statutes Amendment (Heritage) Bill – Second Reading speech

Thursday 6 March 2025

S.E. ANDREWS (Gibson) (12:23): I rise to indicate my support for the Statutes Amendment (Heritage) Bill 2025. This bill delivers on another election commitment of this Malinauskas Labor government. Protecting our heritage is important, and I am proud to stand here as a member of parliament with 101 local and 13 State Heritage Places in my electorate. I will speak about some of those special places later. The government committed, prior to the 2022 state election, to introduce legislation to require the proposed demolition of State Heritage Places to be subject to full public consultation and, additionally, that a public report be prepared by the South Australian Heritage Council and tabled in parliament.

The Statutes Amendment (Heritage) Bill 2024 outlines that on an application to demolish the whole of a State Heritage Place, the South Australian Heritage Council is to prepare a report within a 10-week period. The report will assess the heritage significance of the place in accordance with section 16(1) of the Heritage Places Act 1993.

Additionally, this bill requires the state Heritage Council to publish a copy of the report and invite public submissions within a four-week period. The South Australian Heritage Council is to finalise the report within four weeks of the end of the consultation period, and provide it to the minister responsible for the Heritage Protection Act. This report is to be laid before both Houses of Parliament within five sitting days of receipt.

It is appropriate that the SA Heritage Council, which provides strategic advice to the Minister for Climate, Environment and Water, administers the Heritage Places Act 1993 and administers the South Australian Heritage Register, should provide this report.

You may ask why it is important that we protect such places. They include places like St Jude's Cemetery at Brighton, which was established in 1854 and which is the resting place of many significant South Australians, including Sir Douglas Mawson (who lived in Brighton), and Catherine Helen Spence, one of our suffragettes.

They include Marion's Albion Homestead, occupied by the Turner and Vinall families, amongst others, that saw grapes, alfalfa, peas and olives grown by its inhabitants, as well as honey being produced from the apiary. Edward Vinall even provided free milk to pupils at Brighton Primary School. This homestead, comprising a cottage and stone outbuildings, is an example that demonstrates the development of the south-western Adelaide Plains between the 1840s and 1950s. As we know, much my electorate used to host primary production for our state.

There is the beautiful Townsend House, the site of what was known as the Townsend House School for Deaf and Blind Children, which combined the roles of accommodation for staff and pupils, teaching, and sports and recreation for vision and hearing impaired children. There is also the unique Shri Ganesha Temple at Oaklands Park, which was the first traditional Hindu temple in South Australia, and which has been serving my local community for years. It was an absolute pleasure to visit there are a couple of weeks ago and see their renovations.

While I have highlighted these diverse places, I would also like to mention the Marion Uniting Church, the Marion Cultural Centre, Warriparinga (including Fairford House, the Coach House and grounds), the Brighton Municipal Offices and Council Chambers, the Former Brighton Town Hall, the Verco and Rogerson buildings and Brighton House at Minda Home, and the Paringa Hall at Sacred Heart College, to complete the list of State Heritage Places in my electorate.

In fact, if any of you are familiar with the grounds of Sacred Heart, you may have seen the cottage that sits on the corner of Brighton Road. My parents were married at Sacred Heart, my dad being a student there. He became a teacher, and in his very first year of teaching he and my mum lived in that house for the first 12 months of their marriage.

A consequential legislative amendment will be made to the Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act 2016 to require that an application for consent to or approval of a development involving demolition of the whole of a State Heritage Place be accompanied by a finalised report prepared by the South Australian Heritage Council. This amendment to the Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act 2016 will alert the proponent, through the planning system, of the need to apply for the report. While it is important to protect our heritage, it is also important to ensure that those who may wish to demolish heritage sites are fully informed of their responsibilities.

Earlier I mentioned Brighton Primary School, which was formerly known as Brighton Public School when it opened in 1877. Most of its first 19 students were daughters or sons of local farmers who lived in New Brighton. The original school consisted of two buildings: the bluestone building facing Brighton Road, and the bluestone cottage, which was the residence of the headmaster. Both these buildings are local heritage places.

As a lover and protector of beautiful trees, I am also so pleased to see a number of eucalypts, Moreton Bay figs, pines, and river red gums recognised in local heritage places across my electorate, including the beautiful trees outside St Jude's Church, where I volunteer, serving lunch on a regular basis. I support and commend this bill to the house.