LIBS ROUND HOUSE REPAIR PLAN

THE WA Liberals have pledged $500,000 towards the restoration of Fremantle Round House, WA’s oldest colonial building. Future funding will support both colonial and Indigenous historical interpretation and critical conservation efforts at the popular site visited by more than 100,000 people a year.
The announcement today by Fremantle Liberal candidate Serena Kipling is welcomed by the Fremantle Society and Fremantle Round House heritage guides and volunteers.
She said under a Liberal Government, the funding will be allocated to Phase 1 of the Round House restoration and historical interpretation project.
The funding will be directed to the City of Fremantle to ensure long-overdue conservation works at the historic site. It also lines up with the $500,000 the Fremantle Society said in January was needed to fund the Round House restoration.
“This is about ensuring the Round House remains a treasured part of our history for future generations,” Ms Kipling said. “While others ignore our colonial history and let this iconic landmark deteriorate, I am focused on delivering real outcomes for Fremantle, strengthening tourism, and preserving our shared heritage.”
She said the planned restoration will enhance Fremantle’s appeal as a heritage tourism destination, particularly for cruise ship visitors, and provide a much-needed boost to local businesses.
Despite its historical and cultural significance, the Round House has yet to receive national heritage listing and no restoration work has been carried out by the City or Labor State Government.
A 1983 City of Fremantle report identified Arthur Head, the Round House’s location, as “the state’s most significant historic site for all Western Australians” and a place of national importance.
Liberal heritage spokesman Merome Beard said: “WA has an incredibly rich history, and it’s essential that we recognize and protect it. Only the WA Liberals are committed to a common-sense approach to preserving our heritage for generations to come.”
She said heritage restoration had not been prioritised as Fremantle’s local government is under financial strain. The City previously considered applying for national heritage status for the Round House, but no application has been submitted. Only minimal restoration work has taken place to stabilise Arthur’s Head.

2029

The City of Albany will commemorate its bicentenary of settlement next year with a year-long celebration of shared colonial and Indigenous history. According to the City, Albany 2026 is important to the success of the 2029 bicentenary in Fremantle. As yet, no official plans for Freo’s bicentenary have been released.
In a January 19 online post, Fremantle Society president John Dowson said no money has been allocated by the City. He said the 2021 conservation plan identified $652,000 in works needed for the Round House.
“For the nation’s Bicentenary in 1988, Prime Minister Bob Hawke handed over a cheque for $1.5 million for the Round House and Arthur Head from the Federal Government. The money was split between research and works. According to Fremantle Council Planning Director at the time, Jeremy Dawkins, “we determined to treat the project site as a part of the town” … “the primary person we had in mind was the resident of Fremantle … secondly the people of the Perth region, then Western Australians generally. Tourists were welcome.” The area became a landmark attraction until neglected under the current council and closed for 10 years because of cliff face collapses.
Mr Dowson said for the state’s bicentenary in 2029, the City had a “secret committee” discussing the handover of Arthur’s Head to Aboriginal corporations.
The Round House was built as a prison almost as soon as the first European settlers arrived in the Swan River Colony in 1829. It was designed by Henry Willey Reveley, the colony’s first civil engineer and built from 1830 to 1831. It had eight cells and a jailer’s residence that opened into a central small courtyard.
The design is based on the panopticon, a prison designed by philosopher Jeremy Bentham.
Aboriginal warrior Yagan was held prisoner here. So too 15-year-old child John Gavin, who confessed to the murder of George Pollard and was held in the Round House until he was hanged on April 6, 1844, “on a gallows erected ten yards north of the Round House entrance”.
His body was buried just south of the Round House.