Alan Griffin (Bruce, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Veterans' Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

And to the very point we are talking about here. I apologise to the House. Because I was so excited to get up and answer this question I did not get the right bit of paper with the specific details about what has happened with War Memorial funding over the last few years, but I can tell you that the effect of your efficiency dividend over the last few years is more than what has occurred with our efficiency dividend in the last two years.

Let us go back to the last post. It was a choice made by the memorial council, and I have to say it is a choice that I support because I support their right to make those decisions. Let us not forget that sponsorship is not a new thing at the memorial. There are a range of galleries and other activities—conferences et cetera—at the memorial that are also sponsored. As I and I am sure many others are aware, the eternal flame is also sponsored. The eternal flame has been sponsored since 1988. The last sponsorship of the eternal flame was established in 2005. Who was in government then? For those who have not been to the War Memorial—and, by the sound of it, there are quite a few of you—there is a plaque beside the eternal flame that makes that clear.

The ceremony will continue to be held in a dignified manner—of that there is no question. I have complete confidence in the War Memorial director and council to do that properly. The fact of the matter is that it is in line with what occurred under the previous government, of which many of you were in fact members.

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