Thursday 4 March 2021

In Estimates Hearings today, the Minister for City Services refused to rule out building a new cemetery in the middle of the solar farm on Mugga Lane, smack bang on top of a Landcare area and Dog Trap Creek.

When questioned by Shadow Minister for City Services Nicole Lawder about a giant sign erected prior to the 2020 election stating, ‘Southern Memorial Park will be built here’, Minister Steel refused to confirm if the cemetery would be built where the sign was erected.

The Minister also failed to advise if Southern Memorial Park would be built further along Long Gully Road or Mugga Lane.

“A year ago, there was a big government announcement about a tender for design work, expected to be completed in June 2020,” said Ms Lawder.

“We are yet to see that report, and the Minister still cannot confirm the exact location for the cemetery or if it will ever go ahead.

“Clearly the government was in such a hurry to put up great big signs before the election, they didn’t care where the signs were erected.

“It would be ludicrous to build the cemetery where the sign is erected, yet the Minister would not reject that suggestion.

“Meanwhile, the Southern Memorial Park remains a distant promise from as long ago as 2012. The project remains just another example on a long list of promises that this Labor-Greens Government has failed to deliver,” Ms Lawder concluded.