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Graves grief

Shirley O’Brien, KallarooFremantle Gazette

This is no longer so.

In 1986 the Labor government changed the rules. It legislated to recycle graves.

Once a grave is 50 years old the Metropolitan Cemeteries Board now has the power to recycle it and this is what it is doing.

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It is refusing to allow a person to extend the lease on a grave.

I urge anyone who is considering a burial to get a firm commitment for how long they can have the grave.

I wrote to Bill Marmion, the MP for the Karrakatta area, to ask if the present Government would repeal this legislation. I never got an acknowledgement of my letter.

Apparently, the Government is condoning the recycling of graves.

It is spending millions on a football stadium and to divert the river, projects that I believe 99 per cent of West Australians don’t want. However, it can’t find a few million for a new cemetery.

Karrakatta is full up.

Graves are being desecrated; tombstones demolished and family histories are being lost.