Ousted committee to be reinstated under National Trust of SA deal

Posted Mon 27 Jul 2026 at 6:08pmMon 27 Jul 2026 at 6:08pmThe National Trust of SA says its Moonta branch committee members will be reinstated after an agreement has been reached. (ABC News: Shannon Pearce)In short:The National Trust of SA has reached an agreement with its Moonta branch committee after months of turmoil between the organisation and its volunteers.As part of the deal, the volunteer committee will be reinstated.What's next?Attractions at the Moonta Mines Heritage Precinct, including the museum and the sweet shop, will progressively reopen.The National Trust of South Australia (NTSA) says a deal has been struck to end an ongoing dispute with one of its regional branches, allowing popular historical sites to fully reopen to the public.The committee members, who said the accusations were exaggerated and they were not given procedural fairness, launched a Supreme Court action to be reinstated in May. In a statement, NTSA's chief executive Nicolette Di Lernia said both parties had come to an agreement to start mediation but the local branch committee would be required to "discontinue legal action".She said the NTSA was looking forward to the mediation.Nicolette Di Lernia says the NTSA is pleased to have reached a deal with the Moonta branch. (ABC News: Lincoln Rothall)"We are pleased to have reached an agreement with the Moonta branch committee that will see committee members reinstated," Ms Di Lernia said."Mediation enables both parties to work to ensure the NTSA is meeting the responsibilities we hold for the entire organisation." Ms Di Lernia said the museum, the sweet shop, institute building and railway would be progressively reopened after the February closures.The NTSA says Moonta heritage attractions including the sweet shop will progressively open. (ABC Riverland: Shannon Pearce)James Levinson of HWLE Lawyers, which took on the case pro bono for the committee, said the reinstatement of the committee could not have come soon enough. "Keeping these sites open means so much to the eight committee members, the hundreds of volunteers, and the Moonta community," he said."The committee members are so relieved that this saga is nearly over. They can't wait to get things up and running again."The NTSA is a not-for-profit organisation, which conserves, manages and promotes more than 100 heritage sites across the state, including at Moonta which is home to the 19th-century Cornish Mines.