❓ Mr. Taylor asks how Fremantle Prison will benefit from being managed by the State Heritage Office. The Minister outlines benefits including Heritage Council oversight, specialist expertise, and ongoing conservation investment.
AnsweredQoN 351Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
FREMANTLE PRISON
351. Mr M.H. TAYLOR to the Minister for
Heritage:
The transfer of Fremantle Prison to
the State Heritage Office was recently announced. Could the minister please
inform the house how Fremantle Prison will benefit from being a branch of the
State Heritage Office?
351. Mr M.H. TAYLOR to the Minister for
Heritage:
The transfer of Fremantle Prison to
the State Heritage Office was recently announced. Could the minister please
inform the house how Fremantle Prison will benefit from being a branch of the
State Heritage Office?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Bateman for
the question. Indeed, last Thursday, I had the opportunity to be at Fremantle Prison
along with the Minister for Finance.
Mr
J.M. Francis interjected.
Mr
A.P. JACOB : Yes, we had some stories about that as well, member for
Jandakot.
We were opening a new exhibition of
14 decades of Fremantle Prison operating as a jail.
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Members!
Mr
A.P. JACOB : We used the opening as an opportunity to announce that as of 1 July
this year, the Fremantle Prison, which is our state's only World
Heritage–listed built heritage facility, will be transferred to the
management of the State Heritage Office, which is now a stand-alone state department
for the first time in Western Australia. Significantly, this transfer will
bring all four of Western Australia's World Heritage–listed
sites under one ministerial portfolio. The other three sites are Cape Range
National Park and Ningaloo Reef, Shark Bay and Purnululu, which are all within
the environment portfolio.
The building management and works
division of the Department of Finance was historically the manager of Fremantle
Prison since 1991, when the prison stopped operating as functional jail. It has
done an outstanding job to navigate the transition of that significant site
from a jail in 1991 to being one of the most vibrant and popular tourism
destinations in Western Australia. Now under the management of the State
Heritage Office, there are a range of benefits for the management of the prison
as a World Heritage–listed site. In the first instance, the oversight
of the Heritage Council fits perfectly with the oversight provisions required
for World Heritage–listed sites. Similarly, this is an opportunity to
leverage the State Heritage Office's specialist expertise on heritage,
its industry connexions and its demonstrated best practice. That is a two-way
street; I think there will be many benefits for the State Heritage Office
generally having Fremantle Prison as a partner going forward.
For the past 12 months, the
government has been investing heavily in Fremantle Prison, including $1.5 million
in the current financial year to refurbish the perimeter wall, also major
conservation of the new division block and, of course, the new
climate-controlled museum space that housed the exhibition that the minister
and I were able to open last Thursday. Fremantle Prison is more than 150 years
old and, perhaps, arguably the most significant of this state's built
heritage sites, certainly the only World Heritage–listed site, and
conservation works will be ongoing into the future to ensure its preservation.
the question. Indeed, last Thursday, I had the opportunity to be at Fremantle Prison
along with the Minister for Finance.
Mr
J.M. Francis interjected.
Mr
A.P. JACOB : Yes, we had some stories about that as well, member for
Jandakot.
We were opening a new exhibition of
14 decades of Fremantle Prison operating as a jail.
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Members!
Mr
A.P. JACOB : We used the opening as an opportunity to announce that as of 1 July
this year, the Fremantle Prison, which is our state's only World
Heritage–listed built heritage facility, will be transferred to the
management of the State Heritage Office, which is now a stand-alone state department
for the first time in Western Australia. Significantly, this transfer will
bring all four of Western Australia's World Heritage–listed
sites under one ministerial portfolio. The other three sites are Cape Range
National Park and Ningaloo Reef, Shark Bay and Purnululu, which are all within
the environment portfolio.
The building management and works
division of the Department of Finance was historically the manager of Fremantle
Prison since 1991, when the prison stopped operating as functional jail. It has
done an outstanding job to navigate the transition of that significant site
from a jail in 1991 to being one of the most vibrant and popular tourism
destinations in Western Australia. Now under the management of the State
Heritage Office, there are a range of benefits for the management of the prison
as a World Heritage–listed site. In the first instance, the oversight
of the Heritage Council fits perfectly with the oversight provisions required
for World Heritage–listed sites. Similarly, this is an opportunity to
leverage the State Heritage Office's specialist expertise on heritage,
its industry connexions and its demonstrated best practice. That is a two-way
street; I think there will be many benefits for the State Heritage Office
generally having Fremantle Prison as a partner going forward.
For the past 12 months, the
government has been investing heavily in Fremantle Prison, including $1.5 million
in the current financial year to refurbish the perimeter wall, also major
conservation of the new division block and, of course, the new
climate-controlled museum space that housed the exhibition that the minister
and I were able to open last Thursday. Fremantle Prison is more than 150 years
old and, perhaps, arguably the most significant of this state's built
heritage sites, certainly the only World Heritage–listed site, and
conservation works will be ongoing into the future to ensure its preservation.
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