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| Mike Elliott Leader Australian Democrats Member of the Legislative Council |
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Legislative
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| Mike Elliott Leader Australian Democrats Member of the Legislative Council |
Parliament Index |
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Adjourned debate on second reading.
(Continued from 5 October. Page 66.)
The Hon. M.J. ELLIOTT: I support the establishment of a select committee for the consideration of this bill, which at this stage I have examined only briefly. I have been involved in the issue of managing cemeteries in Adelaide and have asked a few questions about them in this place over the years, particularly about the West Terrace Cemetery which arguably is the most important historic cemetery in Australia. No other capital city cemetery of this age is as intact as that one, and historians place a great deal of importance upon it. The maintenance of that history is an issue that I think needs to be addressed, and the current legislation, as I read it, is totally silent on that matter.
The Hon. Diana Laidlaw: The current legislation or the bill?
The Hon. M.J. ELLIOTT: The bill. Another concern I have, about which the bill does not offer any great hope, is that there has been increasing monopolisation of the whole funeral business in Australia. In fact, South Australia is probably the best of the states in this regard, but vertically integrated companies are involved in ordinary burials, cremations, the running of cemeteries, etc., and it is a nice little earner for those companies. These companies are coming out of the United States and Great Britain where they have built up enormous power. Funerals are a bit like weddings and births. In fact, there are three times when people really get nailed to the wall and they do not like to buck about the prices: no-one wants to skimp on their wedding; no-one wants to skimp on the birth of their child; and no-one wants to skimp on a relative's funeral. It is a place where, I think, improper business practice can flourish if we are not careful.
In Adelaide, because of the high level of competition, I do not think we have had a problem like that in the past, but I would be deeply concerned if, as a consequence of all this, we facilitated an effective outsourcing of cemeteries and ended up with a near private monopoly of cemetery operations. I think that that would be a retrograde step, and nothing in this legislation really gives us any protection from that happening later. They are two matters that I will be looking at very closely in relation to this legislation whilst it is under consideration by the select committee.
