What should happen to the bones of Ned Kelly?
What has been reported to be the skull of Ned Kelly has been finally
returned to Forensic Services Victoria and the State Coroner has
formally opened an inquiry into the remains of the legendary
bushranger.
There is intense interest throughout Australia and beyond in how we as a
nation are prepared to recognise the gravesite of Ned Kelly, and those other
men and women who were executed and then finally buried in the grounds
of Pentridge Prison.
As reported in The Herald newspaper on April 12th 1929, the human remains
of Ned Kelly rested peacefully at the Old Melbourne Gaol for 50 years after
his hanging, but were moved after being disturbed during construction work
of the Melbourne Working Men’s College, now R.M.I.T. University.
One of the private developers of the site of the former Pentridge Prison site
was quoted in the media recently as saying that I should “mind my own
business” with respect to the gravesite and human remains of executed
prisoners like Ned Kelly buried there.
My question is “whose business is it to protect the gravesites and the human
remains of those who have been executed by the State of Victoria?”
Should it be the exclusive business of the private commercial developers of
the site?
Is there a role for the Victorian Government with respect to determining how
these grave sites should be protected and recognised?
Is it instead the business of the whole community, not just the private
commercial developers whose main focus is to make profits from their
business enterprises?
On the day that the Pentridge prison closed on 1st May 1997, the Victorian
Government announced, through the then Minister for Prisons, that a
memorial would be built on the site of the gravesites, recognising those who
were buried on that site. As the lead headline, it was reported on the front
page of the Herald Sun newspaper, on 2nd May 1997.
That article reported on the fact that the then Prisons Minister, Bill McGrath,
agreed to this at a meeting with myself, and the Corrective Services
Commissioner and the Director of Prisons that was held on March 19, 1997.
The Commissioner for Corrective Services indicated that the memorial
would be a tombstone or cross on the site of the gravesite and that the
memorial would be inscribed with the names of people executed from 1855
until 1967, when Ronald Ryan became the last person to go to the gallows in
Australia.
This is a matter of intense interest to all Australians, and not the private
business of the present owners of the site.
In fact, there is also great international interest in how the gravesite of Ned
Kelly should be recognised. Earlier this year I have been interviewed by
overseas media outlets including the BBC, the London Times and radio
stations in Ireland, France and New Zealand about Ned’s remains.
As a former chaplain to Pentridge Prison and the priest who assisted the
family of Ronald Ryan to exhume his human remains last year, so that they
could finally place their father’s remains next to those of his wife and their
mother, Dorothy, I believe that most people would recognise that it is my
business.
If family members of any of those executed at the Melbourne Gaol and
buried in the former Pentridge Prison can assist to identify conclusively the
human remains of those buried there, then they too should be able to seek
exhumation of those remains, as the family of Ronald Ryan successfully did
last year. Recently, a grand niece of Ned Kelly who does not wish to be
identified, confirmed her willingness to assist in this way by providing
samples for possible DNA identification.
The Pentridge Prison site closed in May 1997 and the private developers
have been in possession of the property for more than ten years. Since that
time the gravesites have been neglected and it would appear that the present
owners do not want the public reminded that it is place of burial for more
than forty executed prisoners.
They have indicated that a memorial rose garden will be eventually placed
adjacent to the site of the gravesites. This is a minimalist response, which
gives no guarantee that the grave site would be recognised by more than a
few rose bushes nearby.
Furthermore, it is not what the Victorian Government announced would be
done at the time of the closure of Pentridge Prison in May 1997.
It is for this reason that I will continue to make representations to the
Victorian Government to ensure that they continue to exercise surveillance
over the gravesites of those whom they executed. In addition, I believe that
the Victorian Government should fulfil the commitment made 12 years ago
now: to erect a memorial over the gravesites, recognising each of those men
and women who were executed and finally buried in those grounds.
To recognise the human remains of those who were executed and finally
buried in the grounds of Pentridge Prison is not to make heroes of them. In
fact, to the contrary, it recognises that they were convicted criminals and
were executed by the State of Victoria.
But the punishment should end there and not continue in perpetuity by
imposing an ongoing punishment on their family members who have never
been able to visit their gravesite and to have their burial ground
acknowledged.
By selling the former Pentridge Prison site more than ten years ago now, the
Victorian Government has not extinguished its responsibility to ensure that
the gravesites of those they executed are recognised and protected.
Peter Norden, A.O.
MELBOURNE LAW SCHOOL
Peter Norden is the former chaplain to the Victorian Prison system and
currently a Vice Chancellor’s Fellow in the Melbourne Law School.