David Lange's family are surprised by the mysterious removal of the former Prime Minister's headstone. Composite photo / Google Maps / Anna Heath
The remains and headstone of David Lange have been removed in “mysterious” circumstances – shocking his brother and other family members more than 20 years after the ex-Prime Minister was laid to rest.
Lange, who served as Prime Minister from 1984-89, died on August 13, 2005, of renal failure and blood disease at the age of 63.
His ashes were buried at Waikaraka Park Cemetery with an understated headstone inscribed “David Lange 1942 – 2005”.
Widow Margaret Pope has confirmed she sought to have her late husband’s headstone taken from the Ōnehunga cemetery but is keeping quiet about where he now lies.
While it is unclear when the headstone and ashes were removed, an Auckland Council spokesperson confirmed it had been “removed by the family” with “nothing suspicious around it”.
The council told the Herald that ashes were removed “some time ago”, while the headstone was taken away “more recently”.
The gravesite of the former Labour Party leader received occasional tributes and flowers from the public as well as his family, with brother Peter Lange visiting “late last year” to pay his respects.
Peter said the headstone was at the lawn cemetery when he last visited.
“I visited the grave probably three months ago. I probably go twice a year or something like that.
“I remember thinking it was pretty close to the 20th anniversary of his death.
“It was a nice stone, actually. A lovely stone. It was very simple and uncomplicated and just very handsome.”
The artist and accomplished ceramicist was unaware that his sibling had been disinterred when the Herald contacted him, even visiting the graveyard to make sure for himself.
Peter, who was at David’s bedside when he died, said he was disappointed to learn that his older brother was no longer resting at the cemetery.
“I don’t know anything about it at all. It’s a bit upsetting,” he said.
“None of the other family know about it.”
He said his brother had wanted to be laid to rest near his home.
“I’d rather it didn’t [get removed] because that’s where he wanted to be. One of the reasons was you could see the … house [where] they used to live.
“It seemed to be acceptable to most of the family at the time, including Margaret, I would’ve thought.
“It’s a bit of a mystery.”
When contacted by the Herald about the family’s surprise, Pope said: “It’s just a grave marker. And really, it is my business and not the Herald’s.”
Peter remained disappointed by the whole situation, but said he had to respect the wishes of Pope, whom the family had lost touch with.
“She really did cut us off in a big way. And so we found it easier to just go along with that.
“I’ve talked to Naomi [David’s first wife] and I’ve talked to my other sister and we struck ourselves in sort of despair really. There’s nothing much we could do about it.
“It just seems like a not very well-mannered thing to do, not consulting anyone. I think it’s just the sort of person she is.”
Peter said there was still a dedicated public artwork, the David Lange Memorial in Ōtāhuhu, where the late Prime Minister was born.
“It’s a shame but no one is going to lose too much sleep over it. He has got that memorial in Ōtāhuhu, which is pretty impressive. It does commemorate his life to an extent.
“I don’t think Margaret will be able to take that away in a hurry.”
Peter said his brother would’ve seen the lighter side of the family drama: “David will probably be laughing from wherever he’s looking down.”
Pope said she has tried multiple times to remove David Lange’s name from Auckland Council’s online grave register.
“I’ve made about four attempts now ... It shows David as being buried there, and he’s not buried there, and I would very much like the council to take it off their records so that other records can be changed.”
She said the council has so far “ignored” her attempts.
“Some of them have been very helpful and say they’re going to do something about it, but then they don’t.”
When contacted by the Herald about Pope’s frustrations, Auckland Council general manager of parks and community facilities, Taryn Crewe, apologised and said the “error” has now been corrected.
“We unreservedly apologise for not having removed the former Prime Minister’s burial record from our database and for Ms Pope’s request to do so going unanswered.
“Ash burials include a headstone or plaque which are owned by the burial rights holder and the decision to remove these memorials sits with them. An application is made to the council for a removal permit and the burial rights holder (for example, the family) will commission a monumental mason to carry out the work.
“Unlike with body burials, which must follow a Ministry of Health guided disinterment process, the council approves and assists with the removal of ash remains.
“In this case, while the disinterment of ashes occurred some time ago, the removal of the memorial was more recent, and it is possible that this is why the online record wasn’t updated at the time of disinterment.
“However, we are not making any excuses for this error and we have now urgently removed the record.”
Peter said he wasn’t aware of the disinterment of David’s ashes and the subsequent removal of the headstone.
Crewe added: “A licence needs to be granted by the Ministry of Health (not Auckland Council) for a disinterment [of a body burial] under section 51 of the Burial and Cremation Act 1964. For more information about this please see the ... Health NZ guidelines for disinterment licence applications.
“Once a disinterment application has been granted by the Ministry of Health, the applicant would request a date from Auckland Council’s cemetery team for the disinterment.
“Disinterments are carried out by Auckland Council cemetery staff and a public health officer may request to be in attendance. They typically happen at dawn so not to be in open view of the public. Family are not permitted to be present once the ground is opened up, but they are welcome to have a prayer/blessing at gravesite before the disinterment begins.
“Cemetery staff will respectfully disinter the casket. Then, the casket is typically received by a funeral director to be transferred into a new casket (organised by the family). The remains will then usually be taken by the funeral director from the cemetery to a funeral home.
“Approximately 10 disinterments are carried out annually across the Auckland Council cemetery network.
“Auckland Council cemeteries disinterment costs are: Adult $6600, Child $3400.”