Mortuary fight must continue: Ex-coroner

Tauranga's former coroner, Michael Cooney, one of New Zealand's longest-serving coroners and a partner in law firm Cooney Lees Morgan, firmly believes Tauranga should have its own mortuary and is urging the public to remain vocal on the issue.
Mr Cooney, who served as Tauranga's coroner for 30 years, said news the mortuary may now remain open and end up being operated as a partnership between private firms and Tauranga Moana iwi Ngai te Rangi, was an "interesting development" but he urged the public to continue their vocal outcry  because nothing was set in stone.
"Whether it actually comes to fruition or not is a matter of conjecture," Mr Cooney said.
"It shouldn't dissuade us from insisting a mortuary remain available in Tauranga. An outpouring of opposition has rightfully been expressed.
"It should not be up to iwi to provide a facility for which we as a community, should have provided by our DHB and/or justice department."
The city would be at a serious disadvantage if the closure  proceeded, Mr Cooney said.
Last month, the Bay of Plenty Times reported the hospital's mortuary was set to close, with bodies requiring a post-mortem examination having to be transported to Hamilton or Rotorua.
The Bay of Plenty District Health Board said the closure was because the mortuary did not meet the required standard, and the board did not have the $2 million needed to upgrade it.
 After a public outcry, including from Ngai te Rangi and Tauranga Moana's two other iwi, Ngati Ranginui and Ngati Pukenga, a meeting was held on Wednesday between health board and iwi representatives, police and the Ministry of Justice.
The closure of the mortuary has now been postponed and officials will  work together  during the next three months to ensure  services are retained in Tauranga.
Ngai te Rangi spokesperson Paora Stanley said Ngai te Rangi had been approached by two private companies,  whom he declined to name, about the possibility of forming a partnership to run the mortuary privately.
 Mr Stanley said it was too soon to say whether Ngati Ranginui and Ngati Pukenga could also be involved.
Any partnership would need to fit business, cultural and community models, and the proposal was in its very early stages, he said.
Mr Cooney said given the city's growth projections  and the expense to families in accompanying bodies out of town, the proposal to close the mortuary  needed to be "squarely rebutted".
"The wider community will be detrimentally effected and be put under extreme emotional stress."
A decision to do away with Tauranga's mortuary  had been proposed  to the community several years ago, he said. "It was rebutted then and should be rebutted again now."
Rotorua had no pathologists, Mr Cooney said.  Instead, they were  based in Tauranga and would, likewise, be hindered by travel.
"It's economic nonsense."
Mr Cooney said he was cynical of the timing of the announcement, which was made over Christmas.
The proposal to do away with  a growing city's mortuary was illogical  and would be another blow to the community, and a loss of local input,  after the centralisation of the coronal system.
 In 2007, Mr Cooney's part-time position was replaced by fulltime Bay of Plenty-wide coroner Wallace Bain, based in Rotorua.
Mr Bain attended Wednesday's meeting in support of keeping the Tauranga mortuary open.