{"id":"perth-town-hall-agreement-act-1953","name":"Perth Town Hall Agreement Act 1953","slug":"perth-town-hall-agreement-act-1953","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"wa","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":106070,"registerId":"wa-perth-town-hall-agreement-act-1953-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-03","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Perth Town Hall Agreement Act 1953","content":"![Crest]()Western Australia\n\nPerth Town Hall Agreement Act 1953\n\nWestern Australia\n\nPerth Town Hall Agreement Act 1953\n\nContents\n\n1. Short title 1\n\n2. Approval, ratification and confirmation of agreement 1\n\nSchedule\n\nNotes\n\nCompilation table 8\n\n  \n\nWestern Australia\n\nPerth Town Hall Agreement Act 1953\n\nAn Act to approve, ratify and confirm an agreement made between the State and The City of Perth providing for the vesting and surrender of certain lands and the variation of a certain agreement dated the twenty‑sixth day of March one thousand nine hundred and fifty‑two, made between the State and The City of Perth and for other purposes.\n\nBe it enacted, by the Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows: —\n\n##### 1. Short title\n\nThis Act may be cited as the *Perth Town Hall Agreement Act 1953*.\n\n##### 2. Approval, ratification and confirmation of agreement\n\nThe agreement entered into by the Governor for and on behalf of the State with The City of Perth and executed on the twentieth day of November, one thousand nine hundred and fifty‑three, a copy of which is set forth in the Schedule to this Act, is approved, ratified and confirmed.\n\nSchedule\n\n[Section 2.]\n\nAN AGREEMENT made under seal this 20th day of November, one thousand nine hundred and fifty‑three, BETWEEN HIS EXCELLENCY LIEUTENANT‑GENERAL SIR CHARLES HENRY GAIRDNER, Knight Commander of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George, Companion of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, Governor in and over the State of Western Australia and its dependencies in the Commonwealth of Australia, for and on behalf of the Crown in right of the State Government of Western Australia (in this agreement called “the State Government”) of the one part, AND THE CITY OF PERTH, a body corporate constituted pursuant to the provisions of the Municipal Corporations Act, 1906‑1951, having its office and principal place of business at Murray Street, Perth, in the State of Western Australia (in this agreement with its successors and assigns called “the City of Perth”) of the other part.\n\nWHEREAS:\n\n(1) By virtue of the provisions of the Perth Town Hall Act, 1950 (in this agreement called “the Act”) it is provided that the parties may execute and carry into effect an agreement for the purposes set out in section two of the Act and on such terms and conditions as may be agreed between the parties.\n\n(2) The parties made and executed an agreement dated the 26th day of March, 1952, which was published in the *Government Gazette* dated the 10th day of April, 1952 (in this agreement called “the principal agreement.”)\n\n(3) Since the passing of the Act and the publication of the principal agreement it has been discovered by the parties and it is agreed between them —\n\n(a) That the land described in the First Schedule to this agreement was inadvertently omitted from the Fourth Schedule to the Act and consequently omitted from clauses four and seven of the principal agreement.\n\n(b) That the land which is required by the City of Perth for widening Wellington Street and described in the Second Schedule to this agreement was inadvertently included in the Fourth Schedule to the Act and consequently wrongly included in clauses four and seven of the principal agreement.\n\n(c) That when the Kensington Hotel which is erected on portion of Perth Town Lot W85 was resumed by the State on the 16th day of March, 1951, a strip of the said lot twenty‑four feet wide fronting Wellington Street, Perth, which is required by the City of Perth for the purpose of widening that street was included in the resumption.\n\n(d) That the City of Perth will on or before the 30th day of June, 1954, surrender to Her Majesty the land described in the Third Schedule to this agreement.\n\n(e) That the State Government will vest in the City of Perth the land described in the Fourth Schedule to this agreement when the building known as the Kensington Hotel is demolished or removed.\n\n(4) The parties hereto desire —\n\n(i) That the Fourth Schedule of the Act and clauses four and seven of the principal agreement be amended by including therein the land described in the First and Third Schedules to this agreement and excluding therefrom the land described in the Second Schedule to this agreement.\n\n(ii) That the portions of Perth Town Lot W85 more particularly described in the Fourth Schedule to this agreement be vested, when the building known as the Kensington Hotel is demolished or removed, in the City of Perth for the purpose of widening Wellington Street and for the purpose of truncating the corner of Wellington and Lord Streets.\n\n(iii) That this agreement be approved, ratified and confirmed by Parliament.\n\nNOW THIS AGREEMENT WITNESSETH AND IT IS AGREED:\n\n1. THAT the land described in the First and Third Schedules hereto shall be deemed to have been included in the Fourth Schedule of the Act and in clauses 4 and 7 of the principal agreement and that the Act and the principal agreement shall be read and construed as if such land had been so included.\n\n2. THAT the land described in the Second Schedule hereto shall be deemed to have been excluded from the Fourth Schedule to the Act and from clauses 4 and 7 of the principal agreement and that the Act and the principal agreement shall be read and construed as if such land had been so excluded.\n\n3. THAT the whole of the land more particularly delineated and coloured green and brown in the plan in the Fifth Schedule to this agreement is deemed to be the land which by force of the Act the City of Perth shall surrender to Her Majesty.\n\n4. THAT when the building known as the Kensington Hotel is demolished the State Government shall vest in the City of Perth for the purpose of widening Wellington Street and for the purpose of truncating the corner of Wellington and Lord Streets the portions of Perth Town Lot W85 more particularly described in recital 4 (ii) of this agreement.\n\n5. CLAUSE 4 of the principal agreement is varied by substituting the words “One thousand nine hundred and fifty‑four” for the words “One thousand nine hundred and fifty‑two.”\n\n6. CLAUSE 11 of the principal agreement is varied by substituting for the word “hereto” the words “to the Act.”\n\n7. THAT the provisions of this and the principal agreement may from time to time be varied by agreement in writing between the parties so long as such variation shall not constitute a material or substantial alteration of the rights or obligations of either party under this or the principal agreement.\n\n8. SUBJECT to the variations herein contained and such other alterations (if any) as may be necessary to make the principal agreement consistent with these presents the principal agreement shall remain in force and effect and shall be read and construed and be enforceable as if the terms of these presents were inserted therein by way of addition or substitution as the case may be.\n\n9. THAT the State Government shall take the necessary steps to have this agreement approved, ratified and confirmed by Parliament and published in the *Government Gazette* as soon as possible.\n\n_______________\n\nFIRST SCHEDULE\n\nPerth Town Lot W114 being Reserve No. 11417 (Municipal Purposes) and vested in the city of Perth (*Gazette*, 22nd May, 1908).\n\nSo much of Perth Town Lot W112 as is coloured green on diagram 5791 and being the whole of the land comprised in Certificate of Title Volume 812 Folio 153.\n\nPerth Town Lot W112 less portion transferred and being the balance of the land remaining in Certificate of Title Volume 3 Folio 118.\n\nPerth Town Lot W86 and part of Perth Town Lot W37 being the whole of the land comprised in deposited diagram 1033 and being the whole of the land comprised in Certificate of Title Volume 368 Folio 48.\n\nPortion of Perth Town Lot W60 the subject of diagram 3832 and being the whole of the land comprised in Certificate of Title Volume 577 Folio 88.\n\nPerth Town Lot W66 the subject of diagram 3771 and being the whole of the land comprised in Certificate of Title Volume 571 Folio 157.\n\nAll of which land is that portion of the land coloured green on the plan in the Fifth Schedule to this agreement which lies North of Moore Street.\n\n_______________\n\nSECOND SCHEDULE\n\nAll those pieces of land being portions of Perth Town Lots W81, W82, W83 and W84 and being those portions between Wellington Street and the building line declared under the Municipal Corporations Act, 1906‑1951, and the City of Perth Act, 1925 (Government Gazette, 19/7/40) and being portion of the land comprised respectively in Volume 513/10 Volume 950 Folio 98, Volume 115 Folio 179, Volume 271 Folio 44, Volume 526 Folio 121 to be used by the City of Perth for the purpose of widening Wellington Street.\n\nWhich said portions are more particularly delineated and coloured pink on the plan in the Fifth Schedule to this agreement.\n\n_______________\n\nTHIRD SCHEDULE\n\nPortions of Perth Town Lots W77, W78, W79, W80, W81 being the portion of the land comprised in Certificate of Title Volume 511 Folio 187, which portion is more particularly delineated and coloured brown in the plan in the Fifth Schedule to this agreement.\n\n_______________\n\nFOURTH SCHEDULE\n\nThat portion of Perth Town Lot W85 fronting Wellington Street, Perth, being a strip of land between the Northern boundary of Wellington Street and the building line declared under the Municipal Corporations Act, 1906‑1951, and the City of Perth Act, 1925 (Government Gazette, 19th July, 1940) also that portion of Perth Town Lot W85 which is required for the truncation of the corner of Wellington and Lord Streets. Which portions are more particularly delineated and coloured yellow on the plan in the Fifth Schedule to this agreement.\n\n_______________\n\nFIFTH SCHEDULE\n\n(See Map attached.)\n\n_______________\n\nIN WITNESS WHEREOF His Excellency the Governor of the State of Western Australia and its dependencies for and on behalf of Her Majesty and the Government of Western Australia has hereunto set his hand and the seal of the said State and the City of Perth hath hereunto set its seal the day and year first abovementioned.\n\n| SIGNED by HIS EXCELLENCY LIEUTENANT‑GENERAL SIR CHARLES HENRY GAIRDNER, Knight Commander of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George Companion of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, Governor in and over the State of Western Australia and its dependencies in the Commonwealth of Australia, and sealed with the Public Seal of the said State in the presence of —<br> P.L. Sparrow    Acting Assistant Under Secretary, Premier’s Department. | ![]() | [L.S.]      CHARLES GAIRDNER |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n\n| THE COMMON SEAL of the CITY OF PERTH was hereto affixed in the presence of —<br> J. Totterdell,    Lord Mayor.     W.A. McI. Green,    Town Clerk. | ![]() | [L.S.] |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n\n\nNotes\n\n1. This is a compilation of the *Perth Town Hall Agreement Act 1953* and includes all amendments effected by the other Acts referred to in the following Table.\n\nCompilation table\n\n| **Short title** | **Number and year** | **Assent** | **Commencement** |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| *Perth Town Hall Agreement Act 1953* | 58 of 1953 | 9 Jan 1954 | 9 Jan 1954 |\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"},"summary":{"complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Scope cannot be assessed as the legislative text was not retrievable. The source URL returned a system error page rather than the content of the Act."},"complexity_factors":["No legislative text was available for analysis — the source is a broken webpage, not actual legislation","Cannot assess complexity without access to the Act's provisions","Historical Acts from 1953 may use archaic drafting language, which could add complexity, but this cannot be confirmed"],"plain_english_summary":"## Perth Town Hall Agreement Act 1953\n\n**The content of this legislation is not available for analysis.**\n\nThe source provided does not contain the actual text of the *Perth Town Hall Agreement Act 1953* (WA). Instead, it returns a website error page indicating the link is broken due to system upgrades on the Western Australian legislation website.\n\n**What we can reasonably infer from the title:**\n- This is a Western Australian Act from 1953\n- It likely relates to a formal agreement (contract or arrangement between government bodies) concerning the **Perth Town Hall** — a heritage building in the Perth CBD\n- Such Acts from this era typically ratified (gave legal force to) agreements between the State Government and the City of Perth regarding ownership, maintenance, use, or funding of significant public buildings\n\n**To find the actual legislation**, visit the [WA Legislation website](https://www.legislation.wa.gov.au) and search directly for the Act title."},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains tightly focused on its original purpose: correcting specific technical errors in land transfer documentation between the State and the City of Perth regarding the Perth Town Hall precinct. The scope has not expanded beyond this discrete administrative fix."},"complexity_factors":["Extensive cross-referencing to the Perth Town Hall Act 1950 and a 1952 agreement (the 'principal agreement')","Five detailed schedules describing specific land parcels using historical survey references (Perth Town Lots W114, W112, etc., Certificate of Title volumes and folios, deposited diagram numbers)","Conditional vesting of land (Fourth Schedule) triggered by a future event (demolition of the Kensington Hotel)","Deeming provisions that retrospectively alter the legal status of land (clauses 1 and 2 of the agreement treat land 'as if' it had been included/excluded from the original Act)","Variation mechanism allowing future amendments by written agreement (clause 7), subject to a materiality threshold","Legislative technique of 'approval, ratification and confirmation' of an existing contract rather than direct legislative prescription of rules"],"plain_english_summary":"This Western Australian law fixes a paperwork mistake about land transfers between the State Government and the City of Perth.\n\n**What happened:**\nIn 1950, Parliament passed the *Perth Town Hall Act* to allow land swaps around the Perth Town Hall area. In 1952, the State and the City signed an agreement about which land would be handed over. But after signing, both sides realised they'd made errors in the paperwork:\n\n- **Some land was accidentally left out** of the agreement (First Schedule)\n- **Some land was accidentally included** that shouldn't have been (Second Schedule)\n- **A strip of land** taken by the State when it acquired the Kensington Hotel needed to be sorted out\n\n**What this 1953 law does:**\n- **Approves and fixes** the corrected 1953 agreement between the Governor and the City of Perth\n- **Adds** the forgotten land to the original deal\n- **Removes** the land that was wrongly included\n- **Arranges** for the City to surrender certain land to the State by June 1954\n- **Promises** the State will hand over a strip of the old Kensington Hotel site to the City once the building is demolished (for widening Wellington Street)\n- **Changes two dates** in the original 1952 agreement from 1952 to 1954\n\n**Who it affects:**\n- The State Government of Western Australia\n- The City of Perth (the local council)\n- Anyone owning or using land around Perth Town Hall, Wellington Street and Lord Streets\n\n**Why it matters:**\nThis is essentially a **\"whoops, let's fix the paperwork\"** law. Without it, the land transfers around the Town Hall would be legally messy—some land wouldn't properly belong to who thought it did, and street widening plans could be blocked. It ensures the government can proceed with town planning and road improvements without legal uncertainty."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"Yes. The Act alters the scope of the earlier arrangement by amending which specific parcels are included or excluded from the Fourth Schedule and clauses 4 and 7 of the principal agreement (recital 3(a)–(b); clauses 1–2), shifts vesting obligations tied to demolition of the Kensington Hotel (recital 3(e); clause 4), and changes a deadline (clause 5). It confirms the principal agreement remains in force subject to these variations and requires parliamentary confirmation (clause 8; clause 9; section 2)."},"complexity_factors":["Narrow, technical adjustments to cadastral schedules and title holdings (First–Fourth Schedules; Fifth Schedule map).","Cross‑references and incorporation with the earlier Perth Town Hall Act 1950 and the 26 March 1952 principal agreement (recitals (1)–(2); clause 8).","Condition precedent vesting: State vests parts of Lot W85 in the City only when the Kensington Hotel is demolished or removed (recital 3(e); clause 4).","Fixed compliance timetable requiring the City to surrender specified land by 30 June 1954 (recital 3(d); clause 5 as to date substitution).","Textual, non‑substantive variations to the principal agreement (clauses 5–6) and a broad saving that keeps the principal agreement in force subject to consistency (clause 8).","Requirement for parliamentary approval and Gazette publication to make the agreement effective (section 2; clause 9).","Implementation depends on accurate cadastral description and title work, creating administrative burden for land transfer and registration (Schedules; Fifth Schedule map)."],"plain_english_summary":"This Act approves a 20 November 1953 agreement between the State (Governor) and the City of Perth that corrects which specific Perth town lots are included or excluded from an earlier Perth Town Hall agreement, requires the City to surrender certain land by 30 June 1954, and provides for vesting parts of Lot W85 in the City when the Kensington Hotel is demolished or removed. Mechanically it changes who holds title over listed parcels, adjusts a deadline and two clauses of the principal agreement, and makes parliamentary confirmation formal (Schedule; clauses 1–6)."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/perth-town-hall-agreement-act-1953","history":"/api/acts/perth-town-hall-agreement-act-1953/history","analysis":"/api/acts/perth-town-hall-agreement-act-1953/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/perth-town-hall-agreement-act-1953/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/perth-town-hall-agreement-act-1953/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/perth-town-hall-agreement-act-1953/documents"}}