Page 3757 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 26 August 2009
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the long neglect by building a memorial to this territory’s own veterans and it has been wonderful to see that memorial embraced so enthusiastically by the community of ex-service men and women who call Canberra home as well as by visiting veterans and their families.
Indeed, earlier this year, the government was pleased to host a reception at the Assembly for the 2009 national congress of the Vietnam Veterans Association of Australia. Our ACT memorial just outside the Assembly, on Ainslie Avenue, was the congress’s venue of choice for the commemorative service on the evening of that reception. Our memorial has an added dimension, a virtual dimension—a website containing a database of names and information about the people being honoured by the memorial. The database contains the details of more than 3,000 Canberrans to date, 182 of whom lost their lives in service to their country. New names can be contributed via the website or through the ACT Heritage Library.
The dedication of the ACT memorial started something. The year after its dedication, the Chief Minister had the honour of dedicating another memorial, the first to officially recognise the service of Canberra’s naval veterans. The anchor memorial in Woden’s Edison Park honours the men and women of Canberra and the surrounding region who have served in the Australian navy and is a tribute to their sacrifice and service. The anchor memorial also helps raise awareness of Canberra’s important but little-recognised place in Australian maritime and military history.
So important does this government regard our community’s debt to service men and women that responsibility for veterans matters rests with the Chief Minister. There can be no greater signal of the importance of veterans affairs. It is to the Chief Minister that this city’s veterans turn when they have issues needing resolution that are within the province of the territory. The Chief Minister has been pleased, I know, over the years to make representations to the commonwealth on behalf of local veterans, including a submission to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs inquiry into older people and the law.
It has been the Labor government that has been able to respond to requests for assistance or resources. The government has been honoured to be able to help the Vietnam veterans when they were seeking a clubhouse. A former ACT government depot in the Belconnen suburb of Page was made available and is being transformed by vets into something incredibly special and socially valuable.
The Labor government is always happy to entertain proposals for initiatives or events that promote the wellbeing or recognition of veterans. For example, last financial year, through the community initiatives fund, we provided a grant to the Battle of Britain Committee for a Battle of Britain commemorative ceremony. Another grant from the same fund was provided to Canberra Legacy for the 2008 army in concert. Canberra Legacy also received a grant in 2008-09 from the community support fund for a charity concert. The community support fund also provided a grant to the Australian Peacekeeping Memorial Project Committee for a national peacekeeping memorial. And other ongoing assistance is provided on an individual level by the government.
Canberra’s veterans may be exempted from housing bonds and be eligible for housing assistance under the Housing Assistance Act. Veterans are one of the target groups
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