Michael Ronaldson (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I welcome the government’s belated announcement this morning of some funding for the Australian War Memorial. It is regrettable that the government was dragged kicking and screaming into making that announcement and a lot of people around the country are wondering why it took them so long and why it was that the government was not prepared to move earlier on this matter, having been alerted to it by the Chairman of the Australian War Memorial Council, Peter Cosgrove, back in March of last year and then May of last year. In fact, the situation was so desperate in May last year that General Cosgrove, probably one of the best known and highly respected living Australians, had to ask for a meeting with the then Prime Minister to discuss the financial situation. In actual fact, remarkably, that meeting was never granted.