RSL branches across the state are working around the clock to ensure the graves of returned service men and women are protected if local churches are sold.
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The organisation started an audit of Tasmanian churches after the Anglican Diocese announced it would sell properties to fund the national redress scheme for survivors of child sexual abuse.
RSL Tasmania state president Terry Roe said the audit had already revealed a number of the churches were home to war graves and memorabilia.
“We must, as a society, make sure we protect and preserve the sanctity of these graves,” he said.
“It is no different to those buried at Gallipoli and so on. Their families can no longer defend them, so it is the job of the RSL now.”
The search has uncovered servicemen buried at Pyengana, St Marys and St Helens. At the St Barnabas Church Cemetery at South Arm, Mr Roe said there was the grave of a World War II air force serviceman who was a prisoner of war.
There was also a former town crier buried at the site.
“Apart from service graves there are very significant graves of people that established those communities.”
At Kempton in the state’s South, someone from the First Fleet had been buried.
“We are doing a complete audit of all the cemeteries, not only the ones listed for sale,” Mr Roe said.
“It is the heritage and history of these towns. If they disappear, where do the school children go, where do historians go, where do families go to research the history of their communities?
“There needs to be a change to the burials act to strengthen it so when churches are sold into private ownership the new owners won’t be able to interfere with or disturb the graves.”
Mr Roe recently met with Premier Will Hodgman and Attorney-General Elise Archer to discuss the audit.
A state government review into the Burial and Cremations Act 2002 is currently underway and Mr Roe said RSL Tasmania was urging the Anglican Church to delay church sales until this was completed.
The church said it had already communicated with the state government about the potential risk to returned service men and women’s graves.
“The Anglican Church is also concerned and would like to see legal protection to war services graves,” a spokesperson said.
“We have indicated this to the government and are willing to work with them to get a solution to this issue.”
Melissa Mobbs
A journalist with more than a decade of experience, Melissa Mobbs currently works as the Deputy Editor for The Examiner Newspaper in Launceston, and has a strong background in reporting on crime and the justice system. Send tips to Melissa.Mobbs@examiner.com.au or on Twitter via @melissamobbs.
A journalist with more than a decade of experience, Melissa Mobbs currently works as the Deputy Editor for The Examiner Newspaper in Launceston, and has a strong background in reporting on crime and the justice system. Send tips to Melissa.Mobbs@examiner.com.au or on Twitter via @melissamobbs.
