Martindale Hall (Protection and Management) Bill

Introduction and First Reading

Received from the House of Assembly and read a first time.

Second Reading

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (Minister for Human Services) (16:40): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I seek leave to have the second reading explanation and the detailed explanation of clauses inserted in Hansard without my reading them.

Leave granted.

I am pleased to introduce the Martindale Hall (Protection and Management) Bill 2021, to establish a framework for securing the future use, protection and management of Martindale Hall as a heritage icon.

Martindale Hall is a Georgian styled mansion located at Mintaro in the Clare Valley. It is a much-loved South Australian heritage icon which is etched into the memories of many Australians after it famously appeared in the award-winning Australian film Picnic at Hanging Rock.

This government has a vision for this property, which recognises the relationship that many South Australians have with this iconic site. This Bill will provide South Australians with certainty about the ongoing protection of the site as a place of heritage significance, whilst also ensuring that the community is able to sensitively experience and enjoy Martindale Hall into the future.

Martindale Hall was originally built in 1880 for pastoralist Mr Edmund Bowman Jr, however the site and the surrounding land was sold to Mr William Tennant Mortlock in 1892. Martindale Hall and the surrounding estate remained in the family for many years and in 1972, the Mortlock family bequeathed the Hall and the estate to the University of Adelaide, so that the property could be used 'by the Waite Agricultural Research Institute for a long range program of animal husbandry research'. Although some of the contents of the building remained with the Hall, the Mortlock Estate gifted other items to the National Trust of South Australia and the University incorporated other items into its collections.

In 1980, Martindale Hall was entered on the Register of State Heritage Items and continues to be protected under the Heritage Places Act 1993 as a State Heritage Place. The State Heritage Register notes that the site is 'closely associated with the pastoral and economic development of South Australia in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries'. It is described as 'an outstanding example of the grand country mansions constructed by wealthy pastoralists...' as well as 'illustrating a way of life that no longer exists in South Australia' and 'remains as a testament to…intergenerational pastoral empires'.

In 1986, the University proposed that the Hall and a parcel of approximately 19 hectares of land be gifted to South Australia as part of the Jubilee 150 celebrations. The State government accepted this offer and in 1991 the land was proclaimed as the Martindale Hall Conservation Park under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972.

The government of the day leased the Hall to the private sector for tourism accommodation for a number of years, however this was financially unsustainable for the government and the commercial leasing of the Hall concluded in 2014. Since then, the Hall has been managed through a short-term caretaker arrangement with a local tourism operator. This arrangement has provided visitors with an opportunity to access the Hall as a museum, where visitors can see rooms that are preserved as the original owners would have displayed them.

During 2015, public consultation was undertaken to understand the community's views with regard to the future of the Hall. The community expressed a desire to ensure that any use of the Hall would protect its heritage values, whilst also ensuring that the public would have ongoing access to the Hall. Community feedback also suggested that if the Hall could be managed in more visionary way, then the Hall had the potential to enhance the Clare Valley community, attract visitation to the region, and in turn, benefit the regional economy.

This government has heard the community's desires for the Hall in the development of this Bill, and as Members will appreciate, the Bill requires that a number of Heritage Policies be created to support the ongoing management and preservation of Martindale Hall. I am able to reassure the community that there will be further opportunities for community input during the development of these policies.

The Martindale Hall (Protection and Management) Bill establishes a clear framework for the future use, management and protection of Martindale Hall. It honours the intent of the gift from the University, that the Hall would be held for the benefit of the people of South Australia, while also making it possible for the Hall and its grounds to be used for a wider range of activities which are consistent with its heritage status. The Bill also responds to the community's desire that the Hall continues to receive heritage protection and maintains public access, while also enabling further investment in the Clare Valley region and realising the tourism potential of the site.

The Bill ensures that Martindale Hall and its grounds will remain in public ownership and appropriately vests the site in the care, control and management of the Minister for Heritage. Its status as an iconic heritage place is further protected by ensuring that the Hall and the associated buildings cannot be removed from the State Heritage Register, and by the requirement to develop specific heritage management policies.

The Heritage Conservation Policy will operate to define the heritage values of the Hall and its surrounds, the appropriate uses of the Hall, and set the duties in relation to the care, maintenance, capital investment and management of the Hall. The Material Contents Policy will list the moveable items that form the Hall's collection, specify how these must be cared for and managed, and provide the terms for loans or removal of items from the collection. This wholistic approach to heritage management is unprecedented in South Australia and represents a modern and innovative approach.

Community consultation will be undertaken during the development of these policies, and advice from the Heritage Council must be considered. This process will provide stakeholders with an additional opportunity to contribute towards the management framework for the Hall.

The Bill establishes a lease and licence system whereby the Minister may grant leases and licences to manage the Hall in accordance with its Heritage Conservation Policy and Material Contents Policy. Importantly, leases and licences may not be granted unless these policies are operative. These provisions enable the government to seek expressions of interest and proposals for the Hall's long term sustainable management within the heritage management framework.

The government is committed to ensuring that the public has ongoing access to the site, which is clearly identified as an object of the legislation, and is practically enforced through the requirement that no lease or licence of the site may be granted unless that interest is subject to an access agreement, which will be binding on all occupiers of the Hall.

In relation to development at the site, the Bill clarifies that the Planning and Design Code under the Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act2016 will be taken to provide that Martindale Hall is an area that may be used predominantly for purposes described in the Heritage Conservation Policy. Any proposed development at the site will be subject to assessment by the State Planning Commission.

Finally, to ensure that there is a clear management framework to guide the future use of the Hall, the Bill seeks to remove the conservation park status of the Hall. This will transition the management framework from the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972, to a framework which is more appropriate and sympathetic towards the heritage status of the site. To ensure that options for adaptive reuse and sensitive modern upgrades can be considered, the Bill abolishes any trusts that were inadvertently created through the terms of the gift of the Hall from the University to the government.

I wish to acknowledge the considerable efforts of the caretakers of Martindale Hall, Sharon and Michael Morris from the Mintaro Maze, who have warmly welcomed local South Australians and visitors to the Hall and the region.

This Bill will operate to protect a site of the highest calibre for the benefit of all South Australians and I commend the Bill to the House and seek leave to insert the explanation of clauses into Hansard without my reading it.

Explanation of Clauses

Part 1—Preliminary

1—Short title

2—Commencement

These clauses are formal.

3—Interpretation

This clause defines certain terms used in the measure.

4—Objects

This clause sets out the objects of the measure.

5—Administration of Act

The administration of the measure must be committed to the Minister administering the Heritage Places Act 1993.

6—Interaction with other Acts

The measure has effect despite the provisions of any other Act. A lease or licence over Martindale Hall may only be granted under the measure and the Retail and Commercial Leases Act 1995 does not apply to a lease granted by the Minister under the measure.

Part 2—Status of land

7—Conservation Park abolished and Martindale Hall freed from trusts etc

This clause provides that on commencement—

the Martindale Hall Conservation Park established under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972 will be abolished; and

all trusts to which Martindale Hall was subject immediately before the commencement will be revoked; and

the care, control and management of Martindale Hall vests in the Minister.

8—Martindale Hall State Heritage Place to continue

This clause ensures that Martindale Hall will continue to be registered in the South Australian Heritage Register and ensures that any alteration of the entry (other than the inclusion of moveable items in the entry, the inclusion of additional detail regarding Martindale Hall in the entry or the correction of typographical or clerical errors) must be approved by a resolution passed by both Houses of Parliament to be effective.

Part 3—Management of land and moveable items

9—Land may not be sold or granted

The Crown may not sell or grant the fee simple of any part of the land forming Martindale Hall.

10—Minister to prepare policies

The Minister must develop a Heritage Conservation Policy (see Schedule 1 of the measure) and a Material Contents Policy (see Schedule 2 of the measure). The clause sets out requirements relating to consultation and the preparation or alteration of the policies.

11—Heritage Council to consider moveable items

The Heritage Council must, at the request of the Minister prior to adoption of the Material Contents Policy under clause 10, consider whether any moveable items should be included as part of the entry for Martindale Hall in the South Australian Heritage Register.

Part 4—Dealings with land by Minister

12—Application of Part

A lease or licence can only be granted under the Part after the policies required under clause 10 have been adopted.

13—Minister may grant leases and licences

The Minister may grant a lease or licence in relation to Martindale Hall but it must be consistent with the policies required under clause 10.

14—Cancellation of licence

The Minister may cancel a licence for a breach or on 1 month's notice.

15—Cancellation of lease

This clause sets out the powers to cancel a lease where it was obtained by a false statement or where there has been a breach.

16—Surrender of lease

This clause provides for surrender of a lease and sets out consent requirements for surrender.

Part 5—Public access to land

17—Access agreements

The Minister must not grant any lease or licence for Martindale Hall unless it is subject to an access agreement specifying rights of public access applying to land. Each access agreement must be published on a website and an access agreement relating to a lease attaches to the land and is binding on each other person who holds a lease or licence for the land.

18—Variation or termination of access agreement

This clause provides for variation or termination of an access agreement. An access agreement may only be terminated (without replacement) in accordance with a resolution passed by both Houses of Parliament. Notice of a variation or termination of an access agreement must be published on a website.

19—Offence

It is an offence to, without lawful authority, obstruct a member of the public exercising a right of access in accordance with an access agreement.

Part 6—Miscellaneous

20—Development assessment

The Planning and Design Code under the Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act 2016 will be taken to provide that Martindale Hall is an area or zone that may be used predominantly for the purposes described in the Heritage Conservation Policy. The State Planning Commission will be taken to be the relevant authority under that Act in relation to any proposed development at Martindale Hall.

21—Duties of Registrar-General

This clause requires the Registrar-General, at the request of the Minister, to do such acts and make such amendments to any relevant instrument of title as the Registrar-General thinks are necessary or desirable as a consequence of the measure. Except in the case of an access agreement in relation to a licence, the Registrar-General must also, on application by the Minister or another party to the agreement, make a notice of an access agreement or an agreement which varies or terminates an access agreement against the relevant entry in the Crown land register.

22—Regulations and fee notices

This clause provides power to make regulations and to prescribe fees by fee notice.

Schedule 1—Heritage Conservation Policy

This Schedule sets out requirements relating to the Heritage Conservation Policy.

Schedule 2—Material Contents Policy

This Schedule sets out requirements relating to the Material Contents Policy.

Schedule 3—Related amendment and transitional provision

This Schedule makes a related amendment to the Heritage Places Act 1993 and provides a transitional provision relating to licences that are in force immediately before the commencement of the measure.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. I.K. Hunter.