Julie Owens (Parramatta, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, and can I also take this opportunity to congratulate you. I know you will do a great job. Congratulations.

I rise today to alert the House to some rather alarming news for the residents of Parramatta, which is that the O'Farrell state government has plans to sell the old Parramatta Gaol. In Parramatta we have the most remarkable heritage precinct, largely in a state of neglect, partially inhabited by sections of the health and education departments—mainly Health. But it is an incredible precinct that includes the current World Heritage listed old Government House, where most of the things you studied in primary school about Governor Macquarie took place. We have the site of the first farm. We have the confluence of the Darling Mills and Toongabbie Creek, where Governor Phillip landed and walked up the banks and made the decision about where to locate our first Government House. We have the meeting place of the Darug Nation on the banks of the river in that precinct and the site of the first reconciliation attempts.

We also have a Greenway-designed female convict factory, one of the earliest and certainly the most intact in the country—which was built, by the way, on the sacred women's site of the Burramattagal. Adjacent to that is the Parramatta Girls Home, which was established and once occupied by the Girls Industrial School in 1887 and before that the Roman Catholic Orphan School, which was established in 1844. There is also the old Kings School. It was the second school in Australia, but it is certainly the oldest—it is the only one that has survived—and it was established in 1844. The original school building and the headmaster's residence, both dating from 1836, are reminders of the status of that school for the male children of convicts during the 19th century. It is an extraordinary precinct, and when you walk through it you get a sense of the history of modern Australia from the first arrival of white settlers to now. In fact, part of it has been a prison for women for over 200 years, so the entire history of the incarceration of women and girls is on that site. It is a remarkable place.

A couple of months ago there were a couple of things that spurred local heritage groups into seeking to identify the precinct as a whole and preserve its heritage. There was the decision of the state government not to proceed with the funding of the arts precinct in the old Kings School, which was a commitment of the previous state government which the new Liberal state government withdrew from; and the permanent closing of the Parramatta Gaol, which completes the precinct—it sits on the north end of the precinct, and it is a phenomenal collection of buildings. There has been a jail in the precinct since 1798, but the Parramatta Gaol was built between 1837 and 1843, which makes it the oldest jail in Australia; and it is very much intact and still has some of the cells from those earliest days. In 1929 it was the state's principal manufacturing jail, and at one point it was the second-largest jail in the country—so, again, it adds to that collection of buildings that tell the tale of incarceration in modern Australia. These are incredibly important sites.

But on Friday I came upon something that was extremely worrying. It was the September 2012 edition of Tenant Talk, which is put out by the State Property Authority. It goes out to all of its tenants—I understand there are about 500 of them. It is up on their website and you can push 'forward' and send it to anyone you want to send it to. It advises that the old Parramatta Gaol is now being managed by the State Property Authority. It says: 'SPA has taken on the management of the property, while preparing it for sale'—a very clear statement, made publicly, sent to 500 tenants and forwarded further than that. In spite of commitments from the local member that the jail will not be sold, this is a very clear statement that 'SPA has taken on the management of the property, while preparing it for sale.'

The state government have announced that they will be developing a master plan for the precinct. But it is hard to believe that any master plan for the precinct could proceed in any real way, particularly with the level of engagement that the community expects on this incredibly important precinct, without including in it the plans for the Parramatta Gaol.

I would say to the state government and to the community that whatever plans they might have for the future, the planning process and community consultation requires that that jail remains in public hands while that planning process takes place. This is one of the most important heritage precincts in the country and it should be treated as such.