Griffith Council voted on the motion on Tuesday. Photo: Griffith City Council.
Griffith Council has voted against delaying the purchase of a cremator until the 2026-27 financial year, with one councillor also admitting a furnace could cost ratepayers more than the original estimate of $400,000.
The council previously gave itself the green light to buy a cremator to lease to the business Griffith Regional Funeral Services, which is establishing a crematorium in town.
Rival company Trenerry Funerals is also launching a privately-funded crematorium. Last week, its 14-tonne cremator was delivered to Griffith and its service is expected to be operational before the end of the year.
During a recent meeting of the council, Councillor Tony O’Grady proposed delaying the purchase of the ratepayer-funded cremator.
“I want to move that item to the 2026-27 budget,” he said.
“It allows us to even out our deficit. We currently have a bigger deficit for the 2025-26 budget.”
Cr Christine Stead supported the motion.
“There’s so much public perception out there at the moment,” she said.
“We haven’t even got a quote on the cremator … with the price of steel and tariffs [rising] etc … I think we should push it out one more year; this enables us to look at it and get some more quotes,” she said.
Mayor Doug Curran said a decision to delay the purchase of a cremator would also delay income for council.
“That $400,000 that we intend to purchase a cremator gets us lease income as well. By pushing it back 12 months … keeping in mind it’s a nine-month lead time from order to receival, it would push it back 21 months before we receive income.”
The first cremator to touch Griffith soil was purchased by Trenerry Funerals. Photo: Supplied.
Cr O’Grady’s motion was tied at four votes all. Alongside Cr Stead, councillors Groat and Dal Bon also voted for the delay. It was opposed by councillors Ellis, Testoni and Blumer and Mayor Curran, who used his casting vote as mayor to break the deadlock and defeat the motion.
When a vote is tied, the mayor can vote a second time to decide the outcome. This is not usually necessary given there are nine councillors, but Cr Anne Napoli did not attend Tuesday’s meeting.
This result means the cremator purchase will be listed as part of the 2025/26 draft budget, which is currently under public exhibition and awaiting community feedback. It will then need to be approved by a majority of councillors.
Trenerry Funerals director Daniel Calabro has previously said he thought there was “no way” a new cremator could be bought for less than $500,000, given the recent inflation in the United States, where most are sourced.
He also doubted there was enough demand in Griffith to sustain two crematorium services, estimating there would only be 50 in total in their first year.
Nevertheless, the Sikh community in Griffith has long pushed for the establishment of a crematorium in town, as its religion believes that the human body serves no purpose other than to house a soul. Sikhs therefore prefer the burning of dead bodies to burials.
The lack of a service currently in town means families must travel to Wagga for cremations.
Feedback on the draft 2025/26 budget can be provided on the Griffith Council have your say website.
