Premier to meet with Oatlands Golf Club over memorial

The father of three children who died in a crash is begging to sit and pray at the site where they drew their final breaths.

Premier Dominic Perrottet has sought an urgent meeting with the Oatlands Golf Club as the father of three children who died in a car crash begged for the chance to sit and pray in a garden where they had their final breath.

The Prime Minister and the Premier have united to seek a resolution for the distraught family after The Daily Telegraph revealed the club was planning to put 193 apartment blocks on its site, just six months after rejecting multiple proposals for the memorial.

Danny Abdallah’s children Sienna, 8, Angelina, 12, and Antony, 13, along with their cousin Veronique Sakr, 11, were killed when a drunk and drugged driver ploughed into them with his ute.

Danny Abdallah with his children, Alex, 7, Michael, 5, and Liana, 12. Picture: Justin Lloyd

A photograph of 13-year-old Anthony Abdallah at his funeral. Picture: AAP Image

Photographs of Angelina (left) and Sienna Abdallah. Picture: AAP Image

The grieving father said he wants to sit in the proposed garden with his three remaining children, Liana, 12, Alex, 7, and Michael, 5, to feel “hope” and to “heal”.

“That’s where they had their last breath. It was the last time I saw them. We live in a world where people are trying to forget about their grief, that’s why everyone is struggling so much. We need to express our grief, we need to feel it,” Mr Abdallah said.

The Telegraph can reveal Mr Perrottet is working to turn the family’s dream into a reality and will meet with the club this week.

“The loss of the Abdallah children and their cousin is a tragedy which touched everyone deeply, and Danny and Leila’s desire to remember them is something every parent understands,” he said.

An architectural drawing of a new apartment development proposal inside the Oatlands golf course. Picture: NSW Planning Portal

“I will be meeting with the Oatlands Golf Club later this week to find a solution, and am hopeful we can ensure an ­appropriate memorial.”

Mr Perrottet’s intervention is even more prominent as the golf club will be under his electorate when Oatlands is moved from Parramatta to Epping in the electoral redistribution.

Mr Abdallah wants the memorial to be named “Hope Garden” to inspire forgiveness and healing in families who have lost loved ones.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he was “very distressed” to learn of the club’s new proposal after failing to help the local families.

“Danny and I were texting each other again this morning and I know that the Premier is working with them to hopefully achieve something positive,” he said.

“It has been such an ordeal for them. Both families have shown such grace and forgiveness that it has humbled all of us.” The club was contacted for a response.

Originally published as Premier to meet with Oatlands Golf Club over memorial