Repairs begin for headstones vandalised in Toowoomba Cemetery
Repairs have begun on nearly 150 headstones that were vandalised in Toowoomba nine months ago.
Heavy stone monuments have been craned out in pieces from the Toowoomba Cemetery, while smashed marble plaques have been delicately plucked up and stored in boxes ready for repair.
They are the first steps in a long recovery process involving tradespeople in Toowoomba and Brisbane, which could cost families about $300,000.
Two boys have been dealt with under the Youth Justice Act over the matter from August last year.
Community group Headstone Healing Project has been driving the collaborative restoration process.
"When something like this comes along, you realise that all of the less-than-wonderful things that happen in the community can be quickly overcome by an act of kindness," spokesperson Greg Johnson said.
"This issue belongs to all Toowoomba people and it's our responsibility to make sure this cemetery is back to where it was."
In a cost of living crisis, the group had helped to offset the costs for people who could not afford to repair their loved one's memorials.
Mr Johnson said about $12,000 had been raised so far.
Stonemason Michael Wagner was one of the first people to discover the damaged graves when he came to visit his father's memorial.
Operating a business across the road from the cemetery, he offered to volunteer his time to remove many of the damaged headstones.
"We like everybody else have relatives and friends in the cemetery that we don't expect to be vandalised," he said.
"For days after we had calls from clients trying to find out whether there was any damage to their memorials.
Mr Wagner said there was no rhyme or reason for the vandalism.
"It was just a few young people … they made some senseless mistakes," he said.
"For people who are thinking about doing something silly, don't do it in a cemetery."
The damaged memorials will be sent to TAFE Queensland's stonemason students for repair.
TAFE Queensland's Stephen Gates said the college was honoured to be involved in the project.
"Any chance we get to combine hands-on training with helping Queensland communities is one we will gladly take," Mr Gates said.
He said it would give the apprentice stonemasons valuable experience and restore "the dignity of the owners of these tombstones".
Mr Wagner hoped many of the original stone structures could be repaired and preserved.
"In some cases, if inscription tablets or headstones are beyond repair, we'll look at replacing the tablet or doing a marker stone," he said.
Many of the sites will also be reinforced to make sure they are more resistant to damage.
"Back in the 1800s, in an area like Toowoomba, there wasn't the belief that people would knock over headstones," he said.
"Now we have Australian standards set up for the upkeep, installation, and the construction of monuments.
"It's never going to prevent [them] being knocked over, but it helps in a safety situation."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ABC News
2 hours ago
- ABC News
A third of cases involving use of force by ACT police were escalated by officers, ombudsman finds
A third of cases involving the use of force by police in the ACT involved situations being unnecessarily escalated by the "unprofessional behaviour" of officers, a report has found. The ACT Ombudsman analysed more than 6,200 use-of-force reports and 200 clips of body-worn camera vision and CCTV recorded between January 2019 and December 2023. Officers drew, aimed or discharged a taser more than 1,600 times during that period. A firearm was used in almost 320 incidents, and a baton was used almost 260 times. Ombudsman Iain Anderson said the investigation had uncovered cases where the police response had "unnecessarily inflamed situations", resulting in poor outcomes. "While we have seen some excellent conduct by officers, handling difficult interactions with care and respect, we are concerned at the unprofessional conduct, offensive and abusive language, and unnecessary aggression displayed by some officers, the seniority of whom does not appear to have been a determining factor," he said in the report. Mr Anderson said while force was sometimes necessary to uphold safety, misusing it eroded community trust. "It also has the potential to disproportionately impact vulnerable members of the ACT community, including young people, First Nations people and those experiencing mental health challenges," he said. About 17 per cent of use-of-force cases involved a mental health incident and 10 per cent involved an intoxicated person. Police officers reported experiencing injuries in 21 per cent of confrontations, ranging from minor injuries, like bruises or scratches, to major injuries including serious head knocks or broken bones. In one case highlighted by the ombudsman, police stopped a suspected drink driver, threw him to the ground, handcuffed him and left him face down in the gutter. The matter was heard in the ACT Magistrates Court in 2022, where Magistrate James Lawton took aim at the officers' unlawful use of force. "Removing the defendant from his car without giving him opportunity to comply and then throwing him to the ground were outrageous," he said. "The actions of these officers [were] deplorable and should be denounced. "A strong message must be sent that this behaviour will not be tolerated." In another case criticised by the ombudsman, police arrested a heavily intoxicated 16-year-old boy who had fallen off a bench with his pants tangled around his ankles. The teenager had sworn repeatedly at police but had not displayed physical aggression before he was grabbed, rolled over and handcuffed, the report found. As the situation escalated, the boy spat at police and was pepper sprayed. He was denied his request to have his eyes washed out, with an officer telling him "No! Don't f***ing spit at us, c***." The ombudsman made 13 recommendations to improve the use of force in the ACT. They include better equipping officers to engage with intoxicated people and those experiencing a mental health crisis. The Ombudsman has also called for extra safeguards around the way young people are handcuffed. Other recommendations relate to improving the use of body-worn cameras. "By not reliably collecting audio and visual [body-worn camera] evidence, ACT Policing is failing to comply with the law and undermining the legislative intent of promoting accountability and protecting the safety of both police officers and members of the community," the ombudsman's report said. ACT Policing has fully accepted two of the report's recommendations, partially accepted eight and not accepted three. In a letter of response to the ombudsman, ACT Chief Police Officer Scott Lee said the investigation overlooked the many times officers were able to de-escalate situations without needing to use force. He said in most cases, force is used reasonably and proportionately. "Where you identified officer conduct lacking and not appropriately dealt with, I would like to assure you that ACT Policing members are held to account." Deputy Commissioner Lee said behaviour in the report would be reviewed, noting several cases had already been referred to the Professional Standards Unit. Sanctions for officers found to have engaged in misconduct range from verbal counselling to criminal charges. In September 2024, ACT Policing announced the establishment of an Operations Safety Practices Committee, to "further enhance rigour around the use of force by members".
ABC News
3 hours ago
- ABC News
Department of Justice investigation into public servant's hiring of 17yo relative deemed 'inadequate'
An investigation into allegations a senior public servant hired a family member and allowed them to skip the queue for government-funded housing was "wholly inadequate", according to the man tasked with overseeing WA's corruption watchdog. In an episode that raised questions about how serious corruption and misconduct allegations are handled in the state, the employee's teenage relative was given a three-bedroom home in regional WA, seemingly bypassing a waiting list. But, as outlined in the report tabled in parliament by the Parliamentary Inspector of the Corruption and Crime Commission Matthew Zilko, those allegations were "simply never investigated" and so no-one involved had been subject to a finding of serious misconduct. The report said the allegation of wrongdoing first came to light from an anonymous report in July 2023, which said a "very senior public servant on a regional placement" within Department of Justice, had appointed a 17-year-old family member "to an administrative position without declaring a conflict of interest". Neither the public servant nor their relative was identified in the report. That initial three-month appointment was extended twice before the recent high school graduate was made permanent, according to the report. The Corruption and Crime Commission (CCC) was notified and formed a "reasonable suspicion of serious misconduct", Mr Zilko said, but allowed the department to investigate the allegation itself because it said it had already begun its own investigation. But Mr Zilko said once that probe was completed, it was so substandard it suggested the Justice Department had "insufficient regard" for its legal obligations. In part that was because the department's investigation also uncovered that the public servant had allocated the relative a three-bedroom government-funded home which "was ordinarily reserved for families", seemingly skipping a waiting list for that housing, according to the report. Despite those allegations, Mr Zilko's report said the department's investigation was "limited" because it treated the issue as a "disciplinary matter" focused only on the public servant not declaring a conflict of interest. "Most damningly, whether through inexperience, incompetence or obtuseness, the department never addressed the allegation that [the public servant] had acted corruptly," he wrote. Shadow Corrective Services Minister Adam Hort said the department's actions did not pass the pub test. "These are such serious allegations that the community would expect that at the very least there would be a thorough investigation, if not significant consequences for the person at the end of that investigation," he said. The Justice department declined to comment on whether the senior employee was still employed by the department or if their relative remained in the government house. In response to the parliamentary inspector, Justice Director General Kylie Maj conceded "the investigation wasn't conducted as well as it might have been", according to the report, but declined to reopen the case because of the department's interpretation of public sector rules. Ms Maj said she was convinced improvements underway to the department's internal disciplinary process meant "if a similar situation were to arise in the future, the investigation would be handled in a much more satisfactory manner", the report notes. "That is reassuring, of course, but it does not address the current problem of [the senior employee's] behaviour not being properly investigated and [their relative] remaining in accommodation subsidised by the taxpayer which was intended for families on the housing waiting list." A Justice department spokesperson did not answer a question about what changes had been made, only saying it takes allegations of misconduct "seriously" and it was confident future investigations would be handled appropriately. A spokesperson for the Public Sector Commission, which is responsible for misconduct prevention and education, said the commission had accepted the inspector's recommendation to write to the heads of all government authorities "reminding them of their obligations … and the importance of ensuring allegations of misconduct are investigated properly". Corrective Services Minister Paul Papalia said he had "requested the department provide ongoing updates regarding implementation" of changes made to address the issues raised in the report. The situation also raised questions about how the CCC handled allegations which warranted investigation, but which it does not have capacity for. The parliamentary inspector said the issue had been a "longstanding concern" because the legislation only worked if government departments took their obligations "seriously". "Unfortunately, this is not always the case," he wrote. In this instance, he criticised the watchdog for not stepping in and overruling the department's decision. "The commissioner advised that, having weighed current investigative workloads, resourcing constraints and the strategic prioritisation of serious misconduct allegations, he had decided not to investigate this allegation," Mr Zilko wrote. "I accept that the commission's resources are not limitless, and it is generally entitled to determine its own priorities. "Nevertheless, the department's abject failure to investigate the allegation referred to it still troubled me." That failure also troubled the Shadow Attorney-General, Nick Goiran, who echoed the parliamentary inspector's recommendations. "If the CCC were doing the job the way that they should be, it wouldn't come to this," he said. "But in the absence of them doing that, in the absence of them then changing their approach after it's been drawn to their attention, what else can the parliamentary inspector do but publish a report like this and say we then need to beef up the legislation?" He called on Parliament's Joint Standing Committee on the CCC to consider Mr Zilko's recommendations as its first matter of business. It is understood that committee will meet for the first time next week. A spokesperson for Attorney General Tony Buti said he would "review the report and consider its findings". The Corruption and Crime Commission declined to comment.
ABC News
3 hours ago
- ABC News
Erin Patterson to return to stand in mushroom murder trial
Accused triple murderer Erin Patterson will return to the witness box when her trial resumes today. She's told the jury she had a good relationship with her in-laws, denying the prosecution's argument that she held other beliefs about them in private.
