$3m approved for Erebus memorial

WELLINGTON: A national memorial to victims of the 1979 Erebus plane crash is a step closer after the Cabinet yesterday approved funding of $3 million.

The funding has been welcomed by a group that has been pushing for a national memorial. Spokesman Richard Waugh said the families of the victims wanted something that was ‘‘elegant, accessible and not in a cemetery’’.

‘‘This will be a very special place, principally for families, where they can go for prayers, contemplation and reflection, and for all New Zealanders,’’ he said.

The Ministry for Culture and Heritage is calling for expressions of interest from architects, artists and landscape architects for the memorial to mark the crash on Mt Erebus, in the Antarctic.

The ministry’s acting chief executive, Renee Graham, said the memorial would honour the 257 passengers and crew who were on the flight and provide a place where people could come to pay their respects.

She said it was appropriate to commemorate the victims of one of this country’s most tragic events.

The memorial was likely to be located in Auckland, she said.

‘‘This will be well received by many family members of the Erebus victims and acknowledges the departure location of the flight.’’

Brodie Stubbs, the ministry’s manager of memorials and taonga, said the memorial would not be ready in time for the disaster’s 40th anniversary in November next year.

‘‘What we learnt with our involvement in the Canterbury earthquake memorial, particularly in relation to the involvement of family members, is that you can’t do it too quickly.

‘‘Our feeling is that trying to hit that symbolic target of the 40th anniversary would have been at the expense of good involvement and consultation with the families.’’

The process was almost as important at the final outcome, he said.

The aim was to have the memorial completed in May 2020.