If the house at Dromana is a holiday house, closed up and unoccupied for long periods, the moisture content of the timber is about right at 12-15%. If it is continuously occupied year round, and heated and/or air conditioned, ideally the timber should be a little drier. The wall framing will be OK - pine framing is classed as 'seasoned' at 15% or less. However, the flooring may undergo some changes if subject to further drying.

We would hesitate to call any varnish coating 'permanent' when applied to exterior timber, unless protected from the weather. Varnishes form a skin which tends to become brittle with age, causing cracking and peeling. Some varnishes perform better than others, but are best applied to new wood. Weathered wood leads to poor adhesion of the coating. For your weathered jarrah deck we suggest a deck cleaning product, followed by decking oil. Such finishes are easy to apply, and easy to maintain when re-coating is necessary.

Fixing a waling plate to an external wall is covered in our Technical Design Guide #21 - refer Section 2.1.3, page 19. A copy of TDG #21 can be downloaded via this link https://www.woodsolutions.com.au/publications.

The PDF attached to your query indicates the project is a hotel. Fire rated construction details are included in our Technical Design Guide #03 or, if a 'mid-rise' building, TDG #37C. Copies of our Technical Design Guides can be downloaded free of charge via this link https://www.woodsolutions.com.au/publications.