Wednesday, 6 March 2024

Remembrance Parks Central Victoria

Report 2021–22

Wendy LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (16:36): I rise to speak on the Remembrance Parks Central Victoria annual report of 2021–22. The reason I speak on the 2021–22 annual report is because that is the only annual report that they have tabled in this term of government. They tabled that report late – on 20 December in 2022. It was not tabled by the required time at the end of October, but it was an election year. But this year we still have not seen an annual report that was required to be tabled by the end of October last year. We are now well into March, and we still have not seen an annual report from the 2022–23 year. The year before last, because they came with their annual report so late, they did not manage to hold their AGM by the end of December, which is required by the legislation. They held that in the last week of June last year. Of course this year we have not seen an annual report, but we also have not seen an AGM scheduled. This is a class A cemetery trust, and this class A cemetery trust is incompetent. There is no doubt that the rot comes right from the top, from the chair of the board. The chair of the board is a former member of the Labor Party in this house, Marg Lewis. She is also a cousin of the Speaker of the lower house, and she is a protected species. We have started –

Harriet Shing: On a point of order, Acting President, Ms Lovell has just referred in utterly offensive terms to a former member of Parliament as a ‘species’. That is completely disrespectful and completely disgraceful.

The ACTING PRESIDENT (John Berger): I ask the member to come back to the debate.

Wendy LOVELL: We have started the last three years with a scandal from these –

Harriet Shing: On a point of order, Acting President, the member has also impugned the character of the Speaker in the other house in relation to casting aspersions on her impartiality, and I ask that Ms Lovell withdraw.

The ACTING PRESIDENT (John Berger): I ask the member to withdraw the reference to the member in the other house.

Wendy Lovell: I withdraw, but I did not reflect on the Speaker.

Harriet Shing: On a point of order, Acting President – do not roll your eyes, Ms Lovell; this is actually a serious matter – I would ask that the member unequivocally withdraw.

Wendy LOVELL: I withdraw. We have started the last three years with a scandal every year from this cemetery trust. The first was in 2022 when they tried to put the cost of burials up by 300 per cent. When that was exposed in the media and there was heat on the cemetery trust, of course they blamed the then CEO. That CEO resigned and moved on. He was not going to be associated with it.

In 2023 we saw the desecration of graves at a number of cemeteries that are managed by this trust. The memorials on those graves were destroyed, taken, thrown away, and families were horrendously distressed about it. Of course they blamed the acting CEO, and she was moved on. We then saw the debacle at the Pine Lodge Cemetery, where they changed the headstones, and the appointment of a new CEO was a positive for this cemetery trust. She actually met with families who were distressed by that action at Pine Lodge and reversed that decision. That has been one good thing, and that is the appointment of a new CEO, certainly not the appointment of a new board.

In 2024 we saw the year start with another scandal, the desecration of the grave of James Ness in Sunbury. This caused enormous distress to the family. The family was distressed enough because – (Time expired)