Andrew Nikolic (Bass, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am delighted to inform the House that residents of north-eastern Tasmania will have a permanent memorial in place for next year's centenary of Anzac Day, remembering the 457 veterans from their region who served in the Great War. The Scottsdale RSL Sub-Branch, in my electorate of Bass, has successfully applied for a grant of $25,000 under the government's Anzac Centenary Local Grants Program. What they are coming up with is a walk of honour at the Scottsdale cenotaph which will feature paving stones engraved with the name, rank and service number of World War I veterans who were born in the Dorset municipality.

The official records show that in Scottsdale alone, which had a population of just 1,653 souls in 1914, 139 people volunteered for war service and 29 gave their lives. I know their contribution was replicated in many towns and farming and mining hamlets in north-eastern Tasmania. The walk of honour will help current and future generations understand what residents of the Scottsdale area sacrificed in the Great War. I visited the site of the project recently and am confident it will be a fitting commemoration of the Anzac spirit in north-eastern Tasmania. The project has been three years in the making, and it is only proper that we acknowledge the work of the Scottsdale RSL President, my friend, Bruce Scott; Treasurer, Brian Medcraft; and Scottsdale RSL members for their passion and commitment for this important project.