News-Info-Alerts

Re: Australia Builds $2 Million POW Memorial

To: ALL

From: Andi Wolos & Bob Necci

(POW-MIA InterNetwork)

Date: November 26, 2002

"Vale pays tribute to Ballarat for PoW memorial
By CATHERINE BEST

VETERANS Affairs Minister Danna Vale inspected the site of Ballarat's $2 million Prisoner of War Memorial yesterday.

The memorial, to be built in the Ballarat Botanical Gardens, was made possible through a $1.1 million donation from Tattersall's last month and a $200,000 Federal Government grant.

The memorial will be the first of its kind outside Canberra and will pay tribute to almost 35,000 Australians held in enemy camps during four separate conflicts.

The minister inspected a model of the memorial which will include a black granite wall inscribed with the names of 34,737 Australian PoWs.

Ms Vale said the Federal Government's contribution was a "$200,000 salute" to the Ballarat community, which had campaigned heavily for the memorial.

"This very important memorial was a grass roots response from the community of Ballarat ... it's saluting our soldiers, our sailors, our airmen and women."

She said the memorial, which has been in the pipeline for more than seven years, was a symbol of Australian freedom and democracy.

"You only ever get prosperity when you have peace and Australia has had peace (on our shores) for 100 years now and really we owe it to the veterans. "They've brought us peace with their lives and even with their imprisonment.

"It's important to remember and just treasure the democracy we have and not take it for granted," she said.

Former Veterans Affairs Minister Bruce Scott got the appeal off to a flying start in 1999 with an initial $50,000 grant. That was followed in July this year with a subsequent $150,000 from the Federal Government.

Local sculptor Peter Blizzard designed the memorial which is due to be completed by next April."