ON April 25 2015 we will commemorate and acknowledge the entry of the Australian soldier into the Great War, firstly at Gallipoli and later to the Western Front.
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Our veterans of this disastrous war; 5000 of our best slaughtered in one day at Fromelles.
Of a population of five million 60,000 diggers and nurses paid the supreme sacrifice and hundreds of thousands returned home, bringing with them illnesses, disfigurement, disability and mental impairment. This staggering statistic describes the loss of the cream of Australia’s youth and the tragic consequences to our nation.
Tragically it was not the heroism on the battlefields, or the confrontation with possible death or the valour and the unimaginable horror that that united this young nation, but the collective loss.
Families were decimated, mothers lost sons and daughters, wives lost husbands, children lost fathers and sweethearts their true loves, and communities lost their finest.
Central to resolving this grief was the construction of evocative war memorials; in even the smallest country towns they are now an integral part of the Australian landscape.
The Soldiers Memorial Institute in Pall Mall Bendigo is an iconic monument in this plethora of memorials.
The Bendigo District RSL and the City of Greater Bendigo have for the past three years been planning a restoration of this important building and have been working with government at both a state and federal level to fund this restoration.
This magnificent memorial was built by public subscription and is now owned by Bendigo council and operated by the Bendigo RSL as a military museum. To date our requests for help have been largely ignored, with the best offer from governments including false promises and an invitation to join the queue in competing for funds with tennis courts, swimming pools, church precincts and traffic lights.
The funding made available to Regional Australia and Victoria is a pittance and a disgrace to the memory of those paid so much so we may live in peace and freedom.
In 2015 Anzac Day commemorative services our politicians will be up front to mouth their platitudes, lay their wreaths; will they be hanging the heads out of respect or in shame?
The war veteran community will be watching, noting, and remembering on these special occasions; those that put their money where their mouth is, and those who betrayed the Spirit of Anzac.
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