SPEECH BY THE PRIME MINISTER, THE HON P J KEATING MP
AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL CAPITAL APPEAL
THURSDAY, 25 AUGUST 1994
When I launched the ' Australia Remembers' program here only last week I
expressed my affection for this place and my high regard for the work that is
done here.
For a long time now the Memorial has been the most visited museum or
gallery in Australia. Attendances this year are booming. I understand that
more than 900,000 people will visit this year. They come, I think, as Manning
Clark once put it, ' to understand what it means to be Australian'.
This Memorial is a great national institution which touches the lives of millions
of Australians and we want to see it continue to grow.
It must never get out of touch with the times, or grow inward looking and
parochial. The message of the Memorial must remain powerful and persuasive from one
generation to the next. Therefore its galleries are bound to need regular
renovation and renewal.
I am pleased to say that over the last decade the Commonwealth government
has played its part in seeing that we meet this responsibility.
The Memorial has a professional and well-qualified staff and a collection that
is well-housed, well-documented and secure.
But a much greater challenge now presents itself. Over the next decade all
of the Memorial's major galleries will be renewed in order to tell their stories
coherently and comprehensively in a language that today's visitors and
tomorrow's will understand.
The Memorial has embarked on an exciting and ambitious program and today
I announce the launch of a Capital Appeal which aims to raise the necessary
million over the next three to five years.
The Commonwealth Government has given the lead gift of $ 2.5 million to
renew the Pacific War Gallery. We announced this in the May Budget.
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In addition the Budget also allowed for an increase of $ 2 million annually to
the Memorial's base funding.
This injection of funds will guarantee that the building is sound, that there is
an adequate and qualified staff for the tasks ahead, and that the collection is
properly managed and developed.
A great deal of work has gone into the preparations for the launch of this
appeal. In each state and territory the Memorial has established advisory groups
made up of business and community leaders. These men and women are
giving their time freely and generously and I thank them for that.
The first stage of the appeal is aimed at corporate Australia. Only in the
second stage will the general public be called on for donations. I have no
doubt that both stages will meet with a generous response.
In launching the appeal today I also invite state governments to demonstrate
their support perhaps by collectively matching the Commonwealth's gift of
million.
While we cherish what has been achieved at the Memorial, we cannot fail to
see what needs to be done.
This Pacific War Gallery is a perfect example of the story half told.
It was at Milne Bay and on the Kokoda Track that Australian troops turned
back the Japanese. It was in the Pacific War that the battle for Australia was
won. The story of those battles and the spirit of the Australians who were engaged
in them must be told here at the Australian War Memorial and with
government and public support it will be.
I congratulate the Council, the Director and his staff for deciding to embark
upon the challenge of renewal, and all those who have worked so hard to
establish this Capital Appeal.
I sincerely hope that state governments, business and the community at large
, will respond: and I am confident that they will because each year, by coming
here in such numbers, they prove their affection for the Memorial and their
respect for the Australian men and women whose great sacrifice is honoured
here. It is a great national cause, and it is with pleasure that I now launch it.
CANBERRA August 1994