Statement on Proposed Expansion of Australian War Memorial

Statement of the Council of the Military History Society of New South Wales on the proposed Australian War Memorial expansion, adopted at the Council’s meeting on 6 April 2019

We note that 83 familiar academics, bureaucrats, journalists, professionals, writers and activists signed an open letter dated 23 March 2019 expressing opposition to the Commonwealth Government’s plans to expand the Australian War Memorial for an estimated cost of $498 million.

Essentially, the Memorial argues that the redevelopment is necessary to (1) create more spaces where veterans and families can find a quiet moment to reflect, (2) plan for the entire precinct’s future including visitor parking, transport options, heritage significance, ceremonial areas and connection with Anzac Parade, (3) cater for visitors as diverse as veterans and families, school groups, national and international tourists, amateur and academic researchers, (4) create more gallery spaces for items from ongoing war, peacekeeping and humanitarian operations as well as those which may occur in future, including items too large to display in current galleries.

The open letter singles out reason (4). The Memorial maintains that its foundation mission is to commemorate all war, peacekeeping and humanitarian operations our defence personnel have engaged in. The open letter does not dispute this. However it asserts that “recent conflicts should be presented in proportion to their significance”. The signatories fail to explain how this is possible within the Memorial’s current constraints. The open letter does not address the Memorial’s claim that since galleries are now at capacity, display of items from more recent operations like Afghanistan and East Timor is under-represented, fragmented and in some cases accommodated in hallways or alongside amenities and staff access areas. We agree with the Memorial that these are not adequate settings to honour our veterans. We believe that it is incoherent, and inconsistent with the Memorial’s mission, to commemorate some of Australia’s military engagements respectfully while ceasing to do so at some arbitrary cut-off date simply for lack of gallery space.

We take issue with open letter’s misplaced and ad hominem criticisms of the Memorial’s current Director, Dr Brendan Nelson. The signatories accuse Dr Nelson of “excessive veneration of the Anzac story” which “denies the richness of our history”. Of course Dr Nelson should focus on the Anzac story since he is the Director of an institution which exists precisely for that purpose. Moreover, it is sheer hyperbole to suggest that any degree of veneration of this story on the part of Dr Nelson “denies the richness of our history”. The signatories use Dr Nelson as a proxy for the real target of their displeasure, the general Australian public, who do mostly venerate the Anzac story and have different views on what constitutes “the richness of our history”. Interest in Anzac and Armistice Day events continues to intensify across all age and ethnic groups.

The open letter purports to be concerned about the redevelopment’s cost, amounts spent on the Anzac Centenary and the Sir John Monash Centre in France, and funding shortfalls for other cultural institutions. This is anomalous given that the signatories are generally strong advocates of increased public funding for a range of cultural bodies and agencies. In this case they uncharacteristically oppose more funding and assert that the financing of cultural institutions is a zero sum game. Some budgets must be topped up with money withdrawn from others rather than an expanded funding envelope. A similar point can be made on their attempt to blame the Memorial for any deficiencies in spending on veteran welfare. We believe this quibbling over money only serves to disguise the real but unstated motive behind their attacks on the redevelopment. Just as Dr Nelson is a proxy for the general public, monetary gripes are a substitute for ideological aversion to the Anzac tradition and its prominent place in Australian life. Some of the signatories have long sought to diminish or discredit the Anzac story in books, articles and social media posts. The open letter is less than frank about this tendency which is so out of sync with national sentiment, as the major political parties know full well. 

R Muscat

D Weatherall

F Cairns

J Muscat

S Tan

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