The following formal submission have been made public
Submitter: Barbara PrestonAnzac Hall and Glazed Link
I oppose the proposed Anzac Hall and Glazed Link. I do on a number of grounds, many of which have been raised by others. In this submission I am concerned with the impact on children.
On pre-COVID figures, more than half of all Australian school students will visit Canberra on a school excursion during their school years. To qualify for a Commonwealth subsidy (through the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate - PACER), it is mandatory that students visit the AWM. In addition, many children visit the AWM with their families. How children (and young adults) experience the AWM effects their understandings of war and its impacts on people and societies. And through those young people’s understandings, over the years they will influence broader Australian understandings of and attitudes to war. The presentation by Cox AH& included an excerpt from Sonnet 8 in “Sonnets to the Unknown Soldier” by Douglas Stewart:
“…Pray that we have strength in the darkness. Pray that we hold
The light in our hearts that our children’s children may know it.”
It is what our children, and our children’s children, come to know and understand that concerns me.
There is limited time for an excursion to the AWM, and everyone, including children, have limited attention spans. The proposed redevelopment cannot help but “impact on the memorial and shrine components” of the AWM as a whole. With limited time it will be very difficult for teachers to encourage reflection and to educate about the social and cultural impacts of war when the students are straining at the leash to get to the shiny machines. In addition, the design that allows large war machinery (fighter planes, tanks, armoured vehicles) to dominate views from higher levels accentuates the excitement of such equipment, to the detriment of the development of understandings of how they have been used in wars, their impact on civilians and enemy combatants, as well as those who flew or drove in them. W e can expect future students to come away with a very different view of wars, their nature and impact, when their visit has been dominated by exciting war machines, rather than informed reflection and memorialisation.
The proposal as it stands undermines the NCA’s position that: “Substantial works of architecture, engineering and landscape within the Territory should be designed to contribute positively to the overall composition, symbolism and dignity of the National Capital.”
RECOMMENDATIONS:
1. That the proposed redevelopment be abandoned or significantly scaled down
2. That the layout of any redevelopment be structured so that war machinery does not dominate views from upper levels or from a distance. For example, rather than such machinery, the impact of war could be shown such as a bombed urban environment village or a defoliated forest, to provide a fuller picture of war and its impact
3. That the Mitchell annex be redeveloped with quality exhibition space and all public facilities (café, toilets, bookshop) so that the need to preserve and display war equipment and machinery is adequately met.
Barbara Preston
On pre-COVID figures, more than half of all Australian school students will visit Canberra on a school excursion during their school years. To qualify for a Commonwealth subsidy (through the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate - PACER), it is mandatory that students visit the AWM. In addition, many children visit the AWM with their families. How children (and young adults) experience the AWM effects their understandings of war and its impacts on people and societies. And through those young people’s understandings, over the years they will influence broader Australian understandings of and attitudes to war. The presentation by Cox AH& included an excerpt from Sonnet 8 in “Sonnets to the Unknown Soldier” by Douglas Stewart:
“…Pray that we have strength in the darkness. Pray that we hold
The light in our hearts that our children’s children may know it.”
It is what our children, and our children’s children, come to know and understand that concerns me.
There is limited time for an excursion to the AWM, and everyone, including children, have limited attention spans. The proposed redevelopment cannot help but “impact on the memorial and shrine components” of the AWM as a whole. With limited time it will be very difficult for teachers to encourage reflection and to educate about the social and cultural impacts of war when the students are straining at the leash to get to the shiny machines. In addition, the design that allows large war machinery (fighter planes, tanks, armoured vehicles) to dominate views from higher levels accentuates the excitement of such equipment, to the detriment of the development of understandings of how they have been used in wars, their impact on civilians and enemy combatants, as well as those who flew or drove in them. W e can expect future students to come away with a very different view of wars, their nature and impact, when their visit has been dominated by exciting war machines, rather than informed reflection and memorialisation.
The proposal as it stands undermines the NCA’s position that: “Substantial works of architecture, engineering and landscape within the Territory should be designed to contribute positively to the overall composition, symbolism and dignity of the National Capital.”
RECOMMENDATIONS:
1. That the proposed redevelopment be abandoned or significantly scaled down
2. That the layout of any redevelopment be structured so that war machinery does not dominate views from upper levels or from a distance. For example, rather than such machinery, the impact of war could be shown such as a bombed urban environment village or a defoliated forest, to provide a fuller picture of war and its impact
3. That the Mitchell annex be redeveloped with quality exhibition space and all public facilities (café, toilets, bookshop) so that the need to preserve and display war equipment and machinery is adequately met.
Barbara Preston