Andreia Jones-Viegas remembers her husband at the Memory Lines sculpture.

Place of reflection for mourners

By Kerri Carr

A park has been dedicated to remember all Australian workers who have lost their lives at work or a work injury has led to their death.

The land, located in Little Pier Street, between the Sydney Entertainment Centre and the Sydney Novotel, is to be known as Reflection Park.

It was dedicated on International Day of Mourning, April 28, with a naming stone unveiled by Premier Bob Carr.

The area of land has significance: the very site of the Industrial Revolution in Australia. It was the place where millwright John Dickson chose to build the country's first steam powered mill in 1813.

"It is fair to say that the industry of Sydney started from, and then surrounded this spot," the program for the International Day of Mourning Memorial Service said.

Following the dedication, mourners then moved over towards the Memory Lines sculpture, unveiled at last year's memorial service, and located within Reflection Park, for this year's service.

Among the speakers were Andreia Jones-Viegas, who spoken in memory of her husband Glen.

Ms Jones-Viegas said Reflection Park would "be a place to bring my children, to remember their dad, in addition to the cemetery".

She said he died about six months ago when he "cut through a live wire that was meant to be turned off at the power board".

Ms Jones-Viegas said her husband had missed his son's first soccer game and his daughter's first birthday.

"We know he did not mean to miss out on all these events."

"How many more daddies are going to be killed at work?" she asked.

"I don't want Glen's death to be a statistic, I want it to be a wake-up call."

She spoke about her fears for proposed changes to federal legislation by the Howard Government.

"Restricting right of entry will lead to more deaths," Ms Jones-Viegas said.

"We need to prevent deaths, not count them."

Workers' Memorial Foundation, a committee of union, employer and Government groups, hope to develop the park further over the next five years to create "a place of beauty, historical enrichment and promotion of safety in the workplace".

Andreia Jones-Viegas (left) remembers her husband at the Memory Lines sculpture. The dedication stone for Reflection Park (above).

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