Gai Brodtmann (Canberra, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last Thursday night after we had finished a sitting week where we had been locked up in this House all week, it was an absolute pleasure to get out into the sunshine, to get out into the gardens here in Canberra, and to unveil a beautiful piece of artwork that had been commissioned by the Australian Garden History Society, ACT Monaro Riverina Branch, as part of the Anzac Centenary Local Grants Program.

The project is of three panels and is called 'Planting Memories'. It brings remembrance of the men from the local region, the capital region, who served in France, back to Westbourne Woods down in Yarralumla. It does this through the eyes of Charles Weston and his staff, who planted the trees that now make up our wonderful Canberra environment and make it so distinctive and treasured. For those who do not know, Charles Weston was a horticulturalist. He was the man who essentially led the creation of the gardens here in our bush capital. He is an iconic figure here in Canberra.

The society searched records of the Australian War Memorial and the ACT memorial to establish that some 350 men from the capital region served in World War I. Many of these men were drawn to work in the region as the foundations of the new capital were being laid. Others came from the existing local community, including pastoral properties. I want to congratulate the society and the designer, Mariana Rollgejser, for a beautiful creation and encourage Canberrans to go and have a look. (Time expired)