Our sister site, Defending Country, has looked closely at the War Memorial’s most recent Corporate and Strategic Plans – so you don’t have to. Part 1: Word Play; Part 2: Don’t Mention the War.
Part 1:
Here is Corporate Plan 24-28 under the heading ‘Purpose’ (page 4): ‘To commemorate the sacrifice of those Australians who have died in war or on operational service and those who have served our nation in times of conflict’. That’s just as it was in Corporate Plan 23-27 under the same heading ‘Purpose’ (page 5): ‘To commemorate the sacrifice of those Australians who have died in war or on operational service and those who have served our nation in times of conflict’.
But here are the words under ‘Our Purpose’ in Strategic Plan 23-28 (page 6): ‘To commemorate the sacrifice of those Australians who have died in war or on operational service and those who have served our nation’. (Strategic Plans are not a requirement of the PGPA Act.)
Note the difference: ‘in times of conflict’ in the two editions of the Corporate Plan; ‘in times of conflict’ missing from the Strategic Plan. Under the same ‘Purpose’ heading. Inconsistency.
Part 2:
‘Australia’s frontier violence’ – after clinging for a while to the first pillar of that glossy 2023-2028 Strategic Plan – slipped again from view in the Memorial’s 2024-2028 Corporate Plan.
The evidence in Corporate Plan 24-28 suggests there is very little interest in Australia’s frontier violence at the Memorial in 2024.
We will print any response the Memorial wishes to make to this post, taking account of our Moderation policy.
Defending Country supports the efforts of anyone associated with the Memorial, from the Council Chair and the refreshed Council down, to properly recognise and commemorate the Australian (Frontier) Wars.
16 September 2024
