Question Time - Metropolitan Memorial Parks

27 May, 2026.

My question is directed to the Minister for Lands and Property. Did Roberta Ryan, the Metropolitan Memorial Parks board director, notify the Minister for Lands and Property and the Minister for Planning and Public Spaces of her fees and services rendered to Benima Pty Ltd, including preparing the Douglas Park Memorial Park social impact assessment? If so, what were the responses of the Minister for Lands and Property and the Minister for Planning and Public Spaces to Professor Ryan's interest in a State significant development?

Mr STEPHEN KAMPER (Rockdale—Minister for Lands and Property, Minister for Multiculturalism, Minister for Sport, and Minister for Jobs and Tourism): I thank the member for Wollondilly for her question. With her boots-on-the-ground style, she is a great local member and representative of Wollondilly. As the member may be aware, individuals who sit on boards normally undertake multiple roles or jobs. The board role is effectively a part-time position. I am advised that Metropolitan Memorial Parks [MMP] has in place a robust declaration of interest process that applies on appointment and on an ongoing basis. MMP advises that Professor Roberta Ryan notified the board at its meeting on 12 February 2025 that her company, Forward Thinking, was working on the Douglas Park Memorial Park social impact assessment. It was not deemed by the board to be a conflict of interest.

What we instead need to reinforce is that we are in desperate need of cemeteries. Successive government reports have highlighted that we are running out of burial space. The worst part is it has been a known problem for decades and nothing has been done. We need more land for cemeteries in Sydney. The exhaustion rate for some burial-reliant faiths remains at critical levels at existing Crown cemeteries, with some expected to run out of dedicated burial space in the coming year. Rookwood is set to run out of current dedicated space for Muslim, Chinese and Orthodox communities in the next year.

Macquarie Park will run out of current dedicated space for Jewish, Chinese and Catholic communities in the next year. Field of Mars and Woronora will run out of space for the Orthodox community in the next year. We need to get on with the job of delivering more burial space. For a long time we saw members of the previous Government arguing among themselves about cemeteries, just as they are now. They flip-flop all over the place on everything. Government members are making decisions to move forward and ensure that when people are at their most vulnerable, they know they will be able to find a place for their loved ones.

Видео Question Time - Metropolitan Memorial Parks канала Judy Hannan MP – Member for Wollondilly