IN the same week as the 150th anniversary of the departure of the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition, the Bendigo Cemeteries Trust has confirmed it plans to submit a grant application to Heritage Victoria to try to gain funds to help restore the historic Burke and Wills monument. Just $20,000 is needed to restore the monument, established on a site in the Bendigo Cemetery, with much fanfare and fuss, in 1862.But perhaps the real question here is not whether the monument should be restored, but whether it was put in the ideal position in the first place.But for the actions of a friend of one of the failed explorers, who just happened to be strongly connected to the cemetery, there would have been no monument established there.This issue is not new to Bendigo, but the question needs to be answered once and for all as to whether we should relocate the monument to another site with better access, where it would be viewed by more people.The exploits of Burke and Wills have been well documented, but it seems there is not a high level of awareness of this region’s strong connection to the expedition and its tragic aftermath.But regardless of whether the Burke and Wills monument should be relocated, it should at least be restored. It would be a disgrace if something of such historical value was not restored, and $20,000 is a miserly sum.