FOI documents released to former SA senator Rex Patrick also show that SA Police were advised by the government’s land agency that the former West End Brewery site – not park lands – was the best relocation option.

They also confirm that SA Police asked the state government to buy that land for them, without success.

Details are revealed in documents released to Patrick under Freedom of Information in March 2024 – 18 months after he first applied, and only following a protracted process which culminated in Tribunal hearings involving senior counsel and the state’s Solicitor-General.

SA Police’s refusal to release documents regarding potential relocation sites led Patrick to appeal to the state Ombudsman, who in June last year ordered police to hand some over, but it took months more legal tussling to finally obtain them.

Patrick made his first FOI request about potential new police sites immediately after Premier Peter Malinauskas announced on September 27, 2022, that the state heritage-listed Thebarton barracks would be demolished to make way for a Women’s and Children’s Hospital.

The new Women’s and Children’s Hospital plan meant police units have to be relocated from the state heritage-listed Thebarton Barracks to be demolished. Image: State Govt

The decision meant the state government had to quickly act to secure new homes for the Mounted Police Unit, along with 14 other police agencies housed at the park lands site near the Old Adelaide Gaol.

Patrick’s FOI battle began after SA Police in December 2022 refused access to 21 documents it found within the scope of his request, citing exemptions afforded to cabinet documents and files that affect law enforcement and public safety.

Some documents, including one titled “SAPOL barracks relocation options – Renewal SA”, were also refused because SA Police argued disclosure would impact commercial activities.

After SA Police upheld its refusal to allow access to the documents, Patrick appealed to Ombudsman Wayne Lines, who in March last year overturned the refusal and recommended 13 documents be released in full and a further six be released with partial redactions.

Only two documents which were cabinet submissions should remain confidential, Lines determined at the time.

His draft decision was subject to change based on further submissions from Patrick and SA Police, with the Ombudsman’s final determination largely upholding the draft ruling and ordering SA Police to release 11 documents in full and a further eight in part.

But SA Police then sought a review of the Ombudsman’ decision in the South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (SACAT),  and engaged the state’s Solicitor-General to argue its case.

Under South Australian law, a government agency can only appeal an Ombudsman decision on a “question of law” and must pay the FOI applicant’s reasonable legal costs when it does.

Patrick then engaged his own lawyers and senior counsel, and further documents were released after SACAT proceedings concluded. Patrick estimates that taxpayers now face a combined legal bill from both sides of more than $100,000.

The documents, seen by InDaily, show that the state government’s land development agency Renewal SA prepared a confidential “SAPOL Barracks Relocation Options” paper dated September 1, 2022 – more than three weeks before the state government’s new hospital announcement on September 27.

In a “Future site requirements” summary, Renewal SA said relocating the police horses and other units from Thebarton Barracks would require 7-8 hectares close to the CBD and be able to accommodate horses and up to 350 staff. The new barracks would require about 16,000 square metres of building space and 8500 square metres of open space, the documents show.

But a Renewal SA ministerial briefing document said no state government-owned land of a suitable size and location was likely to be available, and that such privately-owned sites rarely came on the market.

Renewal SA first highlighted the 8.43ha former West End Brewery site on Port Rd just outside the CBD, but said it was “not on the market”.

Renewal SA then listed five Adelaide park land sites, with maps and brief assessments of suitability for potential barracks relocation.

Park 27 or Helen Mayo Park: a 2.6ha parklands site off Morphett St near the River Torrens.

Adelaide City Council controls most of the land which was previously earmarked for a stadium and Convention Centre annexed by the former Marshall Government.

Park 10: a park lands site near War Memorial Drive with a 1.5ha council depot on one corner.

Renewal SA said choosing that council-controlled site “requires SAPOL to take over University ovals for horses – unlikely”.

Park 4, also known as Reservoir Park/Kangatilla: a 2.3ha park lands site near Barton Tce East and LeFevre Rd at North Adelaide.

The council-controlled site was “opposite residential development”.

Park 6, also known as LeFevre Park/Nantu Warna: with “approx.. 1/8ha for built form plus surrounding park lands”, with existing equestrian use.

Service availability to the council-controlled site was uncertain and the site was opposite housing.

Park 27 or John E Brown Park: a 3.9ha site between the Torrens and War Memorial Drive.

The council-controlled site was assessed as having poor connection to the CBD and uncertain access to services.

Another FOI document released to Patrick titled “Commissioner’s Briefing Paper” from October 2022 said that SA Police had asked Renewal SA to review “both private sector and park lands options” for a new site that could accommodate both a new barracks and a proposed State Emergency Coordination Centre.

“Initial advice from Renewal SA is that the former West End Brewery site is the most suitable parcel of land identified to date,” the paper said.

“However, the land is already on the market and with preparation lead times of 4-5 weeks, Renewal SA will require instructions urgently if Government was to support an offer being made for the site.”

Part of the 8.43 hectare former West End Brewery site in Thebarton that SA Police wanted in late 2022. The state government last year paid more than $60 million for the site for high-density housing. Photo: Tony Lewis/InDaily

Another FOI document dated November 15, 2022, said that on November 11 “SAPOL wrote the Under Treasurer seeking support for SAPOL to submit and offer through Renewal SA for acquisition of the former West End Brewery site”.

SA Police said the prominent Port Road land had been put on the market with expressions of interest closing on November 25, 2022.

“SAPOL considers it represents the only appropriate long term future solution currently available for relocation of Thebarton Barracks functions. The site could also accommodate a news State Emergency Coordination Centre,” the document said.

The Commissioner’s Briefing Paper said that because Renewal SA had advised that it needed several weeks to prepare a submission to the government, “urgent consideration by Cabinet is required to enable RSA sufficient time to prepare an offer for purchase of the site by the deadline of 25 November 2022”.

But that month the state government passed legislation that allowed SA Police to choose a park lands site for its new barracks, with no land acquisition costs to the government.

In March 2023, SA Police nominated an eight-hectare site at Park 21 W, at the corner of Greenhill Rd and Sir Lewis Cohen Avenue.

The proposal prompted a public backlash, with the state government in May 2023 saying it had not yet decided whether to approve the construction.

The government then considered land near Adelaide Airport, but in August 2023 it announced that the Mounted Operations Unit would be relocated to a purpose-built, $90 million complex on government land at Gepps Cross, with a city staging area to be built in the courts precinct off near Victoria Square.

On September 25 last year, the state government said that it had bought the former West End Brewery site for $61 million and 1000 homes would be built there.

A day later on September 26, senior police officers told a parliamentary committee that relocating Thebarton Barracks units had so far cost $114 million and the figure would rise as it covered only six of the 15 units currently housed at the site.

Patrick this week estimated that legal costs incurred during the Freedom of Information hearings in SACAT would exceed $100,000, with taxpayers liable to cover the cost. 

“Whilst the release of these documents is historical and the park lands were not used in the end, the fact is that the government improperly used FOI exemptions to prevent the public knowing that five park lands sites were in the firing line for potential use by SAPOL,” he told InDaily.

“The government knew the sensitivity of all this and spent more than $100,000 trying to keep this secret from the public.

“This release shows the cavalier attitude the government has towards the park lands that uniquely surround our city. Only in the face of a public uprising did they abandon Park 21 as an option.

“There can be no explanation for the secret approach taken by the government other than the fact that they knew it was politically controversial. That is no basis to withhold information from the public the government purportedly serve.

“The government thinks park land is free land, when in actual fact it’s priceless land.”

In a statement to InDaily, the state government said “SAPOL’s Mounted Operations Unit has been located on the park lands for more than a century”.

“As the Government made clear publicly at the time, it sought advice on all available options, both on and off park lands, to identify a new home for the MOU in accordance with SAPOL’s requirements,” it said.

“It was ultimately decided the Mounted Operations Unit would permanently relocate to Gepps Cross and that a staging area would be constructed in the CBD.

“The management of SAPOL’s FOI requests is entirely a matter for SAPOL.”

InDaily asked SA Police why it did not want documents released regarding potential park lands sites for a new barracks.

“SAPOL referred the ombudsman’s June 5 determination to the SACAT for review. The Commissioner of Police had an obligation to Cabinet, as the Chief Executive of SAPOL, and a decision to refer the matter was in line with fulfilling that obligation,” it said in a statement.

“The matter was referred to SACAT as a matter of principle. On 8 December 2023, the Tribunal made a determination that four documents were considered exempt and would not be released.”

Asked for comment regarding the cost and time involved in the Freedom of Information request, SA Police said:

“A standard $38.25 application fee was paid by Rex Patrick. SA Police sought payment of additional processing fees of $235.20. All other costs were incurred as a result of legal fees when the matter was referred to SACAT. The timeline was determined by SACAT.”

Adelaide Lord Mayor Jane Lomax-Smith said: “The State Government made the right call when they decided to relocate the extensive mixture of buildings required by SAPOL to a location outside the park lands.”

Adelaide Park Lands Association president Shane Sody said the FOI documents “make it perfectly clear (as if there was any doubt) that the current Government does not value your open, green, public park lands”.

He said only “overwhelming community demand” prevented the Park 21 site becoming “a massive semi-industrial police complex”.

“In future, Renewal SA must be given clear instructions that the world-unique Adelaide park lands are not merely a ‘land bank’ for future infrastructure,” Sody said.

“Adelaide is the only city in the world built inside a single park but this park has no effective legal protection – these documents prove the state government has not grasped the world significance of Adelaide park lands and continues to view this garland merely as potential building sites.”