Sydney Catholic Archbishop Anthony Fisher attacks cemetery policy

Sydney’s Catholic Archbishop has launched an extraordinary attack on the NSW government over its decision to overhaul cemeteries management.

Sydney’s Catholic Archbishop Anthony Fisher. Picture: Toby Zerna

Sydney’s Catholic Archbishop has launched an extraordinary attack on the Berejiklian government over its decision to overhaul the state’s cemeteries management, accusing Gladys Berejiklian of deceiving the Church, marginalising its role in burials, and timing its announcement to be “dumped” on Catholic leaders just days after a crucial by-election.

In remarks directed at the premier and her government, Archbishop Anthony Fisher said Ms Berejiklian had repeatedly assured him during consultations that faith groups would be included the solution to Sydney’s shortage of cemetery space.

The state’s highest-ranking Catholic leader also took special aim at government bureaucrats, who he said were intent on secularising the cemeteries industry and had “no sympathy for the mission of caring for the dead”.

“It’s a shocking decision,” he said. “I call on the Premier to reverse the announcement of (Property) Minister (Melinda) Pavey and restore people’s confidence that their loved ones will be truly allowed to rest in peace.

Pointing to more than 150 years of work conducted by the Catholic Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust, one of five Crown cemetery trusts that will be consolidated under the plan, Archbishop Fisher said its pool of funds would not be usurped by government and controlled by “some secular bureaucrat”.

“Our state government has made absolutely no provision for a single new cemetery in over a century. They have made absolutely no provision for the perpetual care of existing graves,” he said.

“Now they are grabbing the care funds built up by Catholics and others over the years for the care of their graves and chapels and applying them to other uses.”

In an opinion piece for The Australian the Arcbishop declares: “We will not give up the care of our dead without a fight. This is a ­matter of religious liberty and a matter of respect for the dead’’.

The Australian revealed on Tuesday that the NSW Government would press ahead with a decision to amalgamate the state’s five cemetery trusts under a move the Catholic Church feared would relegate their stewardship of burial sites to the margins.

It was also opposed by some prominent member of the Berejiklian ministry in cabinet discussions. The decision was made after an independent review of the state's cemeteries found that some would be unable to accommodate the city’s burial needs within a decade or less, and more than $300 million was required to purchase new land for these purposes.

But the review also found that the Catholic Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust had been successful in its management of cemeteries, proposing two alternative consolidation models: one in which the trust would retain full control over all crown cemeteries, and the other where responsibility would be split between the trust and another provider.

Instead, the government opted with appointing a new entity, known as OneCrown, which would be controlled by a board yet to be appointed. It will tender for a single operator to manage the state’s cemeteries.

Archbishop Fisher said the plan amounted to a sidelining of the Church and a deception, given his recent, ongoing talks with Ms Berejiklian and the highest levels of her office.

“In recent weeks we were invited into a dialogue with (Ms Berejiklian’s) most senior staff to find a solution that would respect the unique role that faith groups have in the provision of burials,” he said.

“We now feel like we have been deceived. Immediately after the (Upper) Hunter by‐election, this decision has been dumped in our laps,” he said, referring to a crucial ballot held in the NSW seat of Upper Hunter over the weekend, which the Berejiklian government stood to lose.

The Archdiocese engaged lawyers on Tuesday to seek advice about a possible injunction against the consolidation plan. It’s ongoing concern is that bureaucrats will run a sector managed by the Church with the support of Islamic and Jewish leaders.

“Where for a century and a half my predecessors and I, and many of our clergy, have celebrated funerals and prayers in Catholic chapels at Rookwood and elsewhere, access to those chapels will now be by permission of some secular bureaucrat,” he said.