Ms SPENCE (Yuroke) — This year I had the honour of attending our local Anzac Day ceremony, held for the first time at the new war memorial in Craigieburn, Craigieburn Anzac Park. Around 2000 local residents turned out for this year’s ceremony, from hundreds of schoolchildren to representatives from a range of cultures and religions. In particular I wish to note the many local veterans who were in attendance and thank them for their service, including World War II veterans Bert Foster and Robert Stokes, and Vietnam veteran Alec Mead, who read the uniform resolution.

The new memorial is truly striking, measuring 4 metres tall, and it is surrounded by gardens as an accessible, permanent and public space for reflection and remembrance. The completion of this project is the product of years of dedication and hard work by the Craigieburn War Memorial and Remembrance Committee, led by Kevin O’Callaghan. Kevin works tirelessly to encourage public awareness of the sacrifices made by our servicemen and women. Our community owes him a debt of gratitude for his initiative, leadership and dedication in seeing this project through. I would also like to thank John Lynch, a member of the war memorial committee, for sharing with our community the story of his service with the Royal Australian Navy in my Anzac Day 2017 tribute notice.

The Andrews Labor government supported this new memorial with a $25 000 grant through the Victoria Remembers Grant program. I am also pleased that this year’s budget included a $2.8 million boost over four years to educate younger generations about Australia’s wartime history and to commemorate the sacrifices made by our veterans.