COUNCIL BACKS VERTICAL BURIALS

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MISSION Beach, Truus Biddlecombe is campaigning for a green cemetery. This is where you get buried vertically and have a tree planted in top of your noggin. The Cassowary Coast Regional Council is so far quite keen on the idea. Mission Beach people, when they depart this mortal coil, have the choice of being cremated in Innisfail or being buried in Tully. Tully and Mission Beach might only be 20 minutes apart, but they may as well be Venus and Mars. This is where cultures collide. It is where Bingil Bay moon people meet Tully River farmers and where the gold chain and white shoe brigade from North Mission and Wongaling collide with the singlet and bootwearing, down- to- earth, workaday types from Tully. Never the twain shall meet. As far as a lot of Mission Beach people are concerned, being planted in Tully is like being buried on a hostile planet. as Mr Funeral Director, but by and large Mission Beach is a hardworking community. Drive around and check out the housing. It’s modern and it’s growing. There’s not too many living in hammocks in the jungle. They’re out there, earning a quid.

Ms Biddlecombe, a terrier if ever there was one, says funeral parlours ( a quaint term, I know) are not just money- making businesses. She argues that they have a moral and ethical obligation to do what the public asks, within reason of course. Ms Biddlecombe says the green funerals will be so popular, if they get the green light from council, that they will become another feather in Mission Beach’s tourism cap. “People will want to come here to be buried,” she said, confidently. You can imagine the catchphrases. Mission Beach – You’ll Never Want to Leave. Stand Your Ground at Mission Beach. Be Upstanding at Mission Beach. The Missionary Position. I’m Still Standing, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah