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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2022-05-17 Daily Xml
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Moonta Mines Uniting Church

Mr ELLIS (Narungga) (15:29): I rise to make a brief contribution regarding the Moonta Mines Uniting Church and in so doing will briefly outline the background around the Moonta Mines precinct. Obviously, it is a legacy of Moonta Mines, which once held South Australia afloat in a period of great prosperity for that mine. It was a massive producer of copper and it really put Moonta on the map when it was a thriving town. I have been told, and I have not fact-checked myself, it was the biggest town outside Adelaide. Mr Acting Speaker, I do not need more than five minutes, so you are welcome to start the clock now, if you would like.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Mr Brown): We might start the clock for the member for Narungga.

Mr ELLIS: In any case, Moonta Mines was once a thriving metropolis and put South Australia on the map and, indeed, financed it there for some time. That legacy precinct now, which is still there and home to a wonderful tourist train operated by volunteers, a tremendous sweet shop, again operated by the local National Trust, and a plethora of other local tourist attractions that celebrate the history of Moonta Mines, has been awarded national heritage status.

The federal government granted that heritage status and along with it a significant grant of close to $5 million in order for the National Trust and those local volunteers to improve access, to improve signage and to improve all those things that make an attractive tourist destination. We have upcoming a really exciting time in the history of the Moonta Mines precinct. It should be wonderful to see it all take shape and I am looking forward to being involved in that.

Part of that precinct is of course the wonderful Moonta Mines Uniting Church. The church was built in 1865 during the aforementioned copper mining boom in Moonta, and it was built by the miners for the miners. Those immigrants who came out from Cornwall were heavily religious people and relied on that sense of community that the church provided and knocked themselves up what was a really wonderful and beautiful, picturesque church.

It originally seated 750 people, but, with the increased production of the mine, a population boom followed and soon the addition of a gallery was implemented in the church, which can now seat 1,250 people. In 1888, a large traditional pipe organ was installed, which is still in use today, and really is a sight to behold. The church itself is a tremendously beautiful building and has been well upheld by those local volunteers.

Unfortunately, the dwindling of the congregation has necessitated a rethink about how the Uniting Church maintains its assets, and ultimately the decision was made by the synod to put up this church for an expression of interest sale. I have to report that, unfortunately, with all the wonderful investment going on, including the big grant from the federal government, a significant investment from local volunteers and the National Trust to bring that precinct up to spec, that prospective sale has not gone down particularly well in the community.

Although it is accepted that the low congregation numbers would mean that this church is no longer a viable place to worship, it is preferred by community members that the church remain in the hands of someone who will undertake to ensure that public access remains a key component of the church. It would be a terrible shame, in my view, and I think in the view of the majority of our community, if that church were to be closed off to public access and the people who visit, including every second year for the Kernewek Lowender, were denied access to have a look through that church and see a pivotal part of the history of Moonta Mines.

The expressions of interest program has been opened with the local realtor and the church has been calling for those expressions. I met with the church, the synod, along with the Mayor of the Copper Coast Council, Ros Talbot, and we expressed the community's concern on their behalf to the synod, who assured us that heritage would be placed at the forefront of any sale process. We have taken that to heart.

The optimism that arose out of that meeting meant that the council, in collaboration with the National Trust, put in an expression of interest. They combined to put in a joint bid for a rather small amount of money, but one which would put heritage and access for the community at the forefront and guarantee that it would remain in public hands, available to public access and use.

I sincerely hope the synod look upon that application favourably. It would be a tremendous shame for that church to fall out of public access, and I sincerely hope that now that process has run its course they choose to make sure that building is gifted to the community, the ones who built it originally, the miners who built the church for the community on behalf of the community, and I sincerely hope that it is returned to community hands.

A petition has been run by the Progress Association that has in excess of 1,500 signatures on it, which indicates widespread community support to ensure the church remains a public asset. I have written to both state and federal ministers (noting of course that it is caretaker mode in the federal government at the moment), expressing a desire that, should all else fail, one or both of those governments contribute to the purchase cost of that church, gift it to the National Trust or the council, so that they can continue to uphold it and make it a feature part of the upcoming national heritage-listed Moonta Mines.

On behalf of my community, I concur with their outrage that the church might well be lost to public access. I assure them that we are doing all we can to ensure that heritage and access are placed at the forefront of this EOI process, and I will continue to report to the community as it progresses.

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