National recognition planned for Ballarat POW Memorial - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) Steps are about to be taken so Ballarat's Prisoner of War (POW) Memorial is nationally recognised. Veterans Affairs Minister Alan Griffin was in Ballarat, in central Victoria, yesterday, and he announced the Federal Government would introduce legislation allowing memorials outside Canberra to get national recognition. Mr Griffin also announced a $160,000 funding package to help with the memorial's upkeep. The Minister says he is confident both houses will pass legislation giving the memorial the recognition it deserves. "This is something we announced years ago and reiterated before the last election. It was part of our stated policy," he said. "As far as I'm concerned we have a mandate to proceed. Obviously I'm very confident of numbers in the House of Representatives and I'd be very surprised if it didn't sail through the Senate as well." One of the memorial's trustees, Bill Bahr, says national recognition could encourage more people to visit the memorial. "We would have over 1,000 people a week that would come to this memorial already," he said. "Having national recognition will put it on a register and that register is then available to all Australians and everyone who lives in the world, so we're hoping to get more people here." National servicemen memorial Meanwhile, the Minister Assisting the Premier on Veterans Affairs, Tony Robinson, has unveiled a memorial to national servicemen in Ballarat. The bluestone memorial in Sturt Street was installed to commemorate the service of all conscripts, particularly those called up between 1951 and 1972. Mr Robinson says the national servicemen played an important role for Australia and deserve full recognition. "Not withstanding the fact that conscription was rejected twice by the Australian public through the First World War, it did come into effect in the Second World War and then again through the '50s and '60s and it's worth remembering some 19,000 Nashos served in Vietnam of whom more than 200 were killed and more than 1,200 were wounded," he said.
I took a great set of lovely photos on my Niece's camera when I was there last year. Her grandfather was a Changi POW. Simply - she deleted them by mistake. Will take some more next time I get there.
