PM: Thank you very much to the War Memorial for having me here this morning. I'm joined today by our Minister for Veterans Affairs and for Defence Science and Personnel, Warren Snowdon. I'm also joined by ACT Senator Kate Lundy and by our two local members in the ACT, Andrew and Gai have both joined me, and I thank them for that.
I was very recently at the War Memorial, and when I came here I said that this is a sacred place for Australians. It's a place where we come to reflect on the high price of war. It's also a place where we come to reflect on some remarkable deeds of courage and valour. It's a sacred place for all Australians.
As Prime Minister, during the course of last year, I became concerned that we were not funding the War Memorial in a way which was sustainable over time. I asked the Minister, Warren Snowdon, working with our Finance Minister and working with the War Memorial itself and with the Department to review finances and to make sure that they were on a sustainable footing.
I'm very pleased that arising from that review I can today announce we will make available an additional $8 million each year for the War Memorial. This will add to its current resourcing mean, for the long term, the War Memorial is properly funded for the important work that it does.
The War Memorial and the nation is preparing for the centenary of ANZAC. We will have commemorations across the nation - indeed, around the world - as we move to the 100-year anniversary of 1915. It's not that long away in terms of preparation time, and this will be a major event for Australia.
I therefore announce today that I have asked Minister Warren Snowdon to become the Minister Assisting me with preparations for that centenary, for the ANZAC centenary.
This will be a major piece of work for the nation. We want this commemoration to be something of significance to every Australian. We will commemorate the centenary of ANZAC here in our own country, and obviously on the battlefields of the world, including Gallipoli.
In addition, I want the War Memorial to be able to revamp its exhibit which deals with the First World War. We walked through that exhibit today, and it has some very special reflections on the First World War, but to get ready for the centenary, I've determined to make available some additional assistance for the War Memorial so that it can improve that exhibit of the First World War. The Government will make available an additional $1.7 million for that purpose.
We've talked today about how many people come to this place. We've seen, as we've walked by, the number of poppies that families come and put next to the name of their loved one. We've talked about the 125,000 school children who come here each year. I expect that all of that will continue to grow, and particularly as we move towards commemorating the centenary of ANZAC the interest in this very sacred and special place will be heightened.
So, I'm glad we're able to work with the War Memorial to give them the resources they need to have this amazing place properly resourced every day, but particularly to make sure it is properly resourced as we work towards the centenary of ANZAC.
I will ask Warren Snowdon to make some comments.
MINISTER SNOWDON: Thanks, Julia.
Can I thank the Prime Minister for making this money available to the War Memorial. We have a job of work to do together across this country to celebrate the centenary of ANZAC, and that job of work requires us all to be focussed on getting the right outcomes, and I want to thank the Prime Minister for announcing my appointment assisting her on the centenary of ANZAC.
I also want to thank the Commission for the Centenary of ANZAC, which ably led by former Prime Ministers Malcolm Fraser and Bob Hawke, who'll be providing advice to the Government by the end of the month on what they think we should be doing to celebrate the centenary.
PM: We'll take any questions that relate to this announcement. On other issues of the day, I'll be press conferencing later in the day, so we won't deal with those questions at the War Memorial.
Any questions on the announcement I've made today?
JOURNALIST: How is this money going to be (inaudible)
PM: Well, we might actually ask if you would like to- we've got the expert.
GOWER: Thank you, Prime Minister.
We see the money going towards our operational costs, helping us to maintain our services, hopefully restore some of the services we have let lapse, and in particular enabling teams to be put together so that we can meet the very high expectations of the Australian people for the centenary of Gallipoli and all the other activities of the First World War.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, I have a question. It is on another topic, whether you'll allow a conscience vote on the Territories legislation. If that's an inappropriate question ask now, may I request that some of the media ask questions to you once you step outside this building?
PM: What we'll do is I'll be press conferencing mid-morning. We have the Malaysian Prime Minister visiting and I'll deal with issues of the day following that press conference.
Thank you.