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

Remarkably, there are 140 widows of those who served in Gallipoli still surviving. It is quite remarkable. The Prime Minister and I wrote to those 140 ladies last year, inviting them to come to Gallipoli at the invitation of the Australian government and to also bring a carer with them at the government's expense. Remarkably and, I think, fantastically, some 15 of those ladies have indicated to date that they would like to come. We will of course work with them to conduct health checks to ensure that they are actually fit and able to travel to Gallipoli. I think it is just fantastic. The names of those ladies will be announced later in the year. I take this opportunity again to say that they will be part of an official delegation from this nation, which is very limited. It includes the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, me and the shadow minister.