The following formal submission have been made public
Submitter: Geoff ThompsonNew Southern Entrance
To the National Capital Authority Works Approval team.
I write in regards to the NCA's current consultation on the Australian War Memorial Main Works.
The NCA must ensure that all development within significant areas of the national capital is consistent with the National Capital Plan. This includes
"fitting sites, approaches and backdrops for national institutions and ceremonies".
The Australian War Memorial was established as "not a general museum portraying war, much less one glorifying it, but a memorial". The present Hall of Memory, Pool of Reflection, and Tomb of the Unknown Soldier provide spaces that are appropriate to memorialise the tragedy of war. The proposed redevelopment is inappropriate because it will change a memorial into a big museum that will glorify war.
I write in regards to the NCA's current consultation on the Australian War Memorial Main Works.
The NCA must ensure that all development within significant areas of the national capital is consistent with the National Capital Plan. This includes
"fitting sites, approaches and backdrops for national institutions and ceremonies".
The Australian War Memorial was established as "not a general museum portraying war, much less one glorifying it, but a memorial". The present Hall of Memory, Pool of Reflection, and Tomb of the Unknown Soldier provide spaces that are appropriate to memorialise the tragedy of war. The proposed redevelopment is inappropriate because it will change a memorial into a big museum that will glorify war.
Anzac Hall and Glazed Link
The New Anzac Hall and Glazed Link provide a large space which is simply unnecessary for a memorial. The question for the NCA is whether it is appropriate under the National Capital Plan for the Australian War Memorial to be transformed in this way. I think that it is not.