Cash call a travesty: Katter Push to give $87,000 from Mar estate to state slammed
THE Public Trustee of Queensland has handed down a recommendation to absorb the legacy and life savings of outback Queensland marketgardener, the late Willie Mar.
In what has been labelled a heartbreaking travesty by Katter’s Australian Party Leader and Traeger MP Robbie Katter, ( pictured right) Mr Mar’s small estate of $87,000 is at risk of being absorbed by the state.
The Public Trustee has been unable to find any next of kin or family of the late Winton local and as such has recommended to the Supreme Court that his money be handed over to the State Government.
This is despite the Winton community banding together to maintain Mr Mar’s former market garden and shed in his honour.
Mr Katter is proposing the money be handed to the Winton Shire Council, or the local Friends of Willie Mar group, for the purpose of maintaining Mr Mar’s garden and shed as a historical relic for years to come.
“Willie was the last of our western Queensland marketgardeners. His and his father’s contribution to the town of Winton and the broader region is untold and even today their legacy lives on,” Mr Katter said.
“The Mars were loved by the Winton community; the younger Willie actually chose to move to Winton from mainland China back in the 1940s.
“You can only imagine the culture shock he experienced, but he became a local and the Winton community was better for having him and his father a part of it for so long.”
Mr Katter said Willie was well known for being generous and austere and would have worked hard for every single dollar sitting in his bank account.
Mr Mar, also known by his
Chinese name Mar Yen Shoo, moved to Winton to follow in his father’s footsteps in 1947. When Chinese-australian Mr Mar died in 2007, he left behind the legacy of himself and his father in Winton.
He also left behind a depleted garden, a dilapidated shed and an old ute.
Mr Mar’s ute itself is a unique historical relic as many Winton locals still recall the “ruckus” that was caused by his car, and his use of it.