Ms JENNY AITCHISON (Maitland—Minister for Regional Transport and Roads) (00:21): On 20 March this year Maitland City Council announced the immediate closure of Maitland Gaol. This shocking closure followed an independent safety review of the site, including fire and electrical. In fact, I probably only had half a day's notice of this closure. Maitland Gaol was the longest continuously operating correctional institution in Australia, opening in 1848 and closing its gates 150 years later on 29 January 1998. In 1999, following the closure of the jail, Maitland City Council entered negotiations with the State regarding the long‑term use of the site. As a former tourism operator, I was interested in this; I moved to Maitland the same year that the heritage‑listed site was unveiled as a tourism attraction in 2000.

The site is one of Maitland's premier locations for locals, visitors and events. Throughout the time that I have been a tourism operator and the local member in Maitland, the Maitland City Council had argued that it was constrained from any real opportunity to develop the site, largely due to a lack of long-term tenure. Following negotiations with the former Government, in February 2017 the long-term tenure of the jail was resolved through the establishment of a reserve trust, with council appointed as the corporation to manage the trust. Subsequently, with the implementation of the Crown Land Management Act in July 2018, council has been appointed as the Crown land manager and is required to manage the land as public land under the Local Government Act. This is all a lot of bureaucratic bunkum for those of us who just like to go to the jail to experience what is an iconic tourism destination. However, it is important detail to note when we look at the management of the site.

In 2020 Maitland council commissioned a comprehensive master plan for the site and adopted a development plan in September 2020. Under that plan, Maitland City Council has total control of the Maitland Gaol site. On 20 March this year when council made the decision to close the jail until further notice while an assessment is carried out on the electrical and other safety works, we all thought, "Wow! This is four years after they have taken total control of this site that they have been managing for 24 years since 2000." All tours and planned events were cancelled. In fact, I went to the Maitland and Beyond Family History's conference which was held at the Maitland local school because it could not get into the jail site. The jail's work with businesses is closed, community groups have been refused access and school user groups have been unable to use facilities. Groups are unable to meet at the site. So council committed to assisting to find alternatives. The new general manager, Jeff Smith, said:

… this decision was not taken lightly but the safety of Council staff, visitors and the Maitland community is of the utmost importance.

I agree with all of that. He further said:

As a 170 year old heritage site, Maitland Gaol has always required ongoing specialist maintenance but it has now become clear that the site's safety issues pose a risk to staff and visitors, leaving me no choice but to close the site.

At the time that this was announced, the mayor made no public statement. Maitland City Council committed to providing regular public updates about the status of repair work and ongoing communication but, two months later, the mayor popped up on his Facebook page—his major way of communicating with our council and community—and said they had contracted a team of specialist consultants as a first step in determining what is needed to allow the New South Wales Government-owned Maitland Gaol to safely reopen to the public. Reports that will allow us to develop both the time frame and budget required for reopening the site are expected back in July.

We need to note that in 2022 the council and the jail were working together under a management agreement with no reference to me as the local member. The mayor welcomed the former Government's $10 million investment to extend the tourism development of the site. Did they go into the safety aspects? Did they go into the electricity? No. But now, with less than a day's notice, the mayor has put this all on the New South Wales Government. They have shut the site. It is one of six public spaces in our community that have been closed under the tenure of this mayor. I ask the people of Maitland to ask why our mayor is shutting down everything in Maitland.