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Australian War Memorial

November

Visitors viewing Lindy Lee’s Ouroboros at night.

National Gallery handed $15m in biggest-ever donation

Kerry Stokes’ $15 million donation is about one-quarter of what the Canberra institution needs to raise for a new sculpture garden.

  • Michael Bailey

July

This letter advising a Sydney woman of her brother’s death on the battlefields of World War I is in a bundle of correspondence and ephemera in Davidson Auctions’ Arts, War and Social History VI auction on July 22, 2024.

The horror of war in a century-old letter

A letter from the WWI front line and a book of poetry by a famous Sydney eccentric will be auctioned in a sale of arts, war and social history.

  • Elizabeth Fortescue

May

The Reserve Bank of Australia headquarters in Sydney is under renovation.

RBA’s asbestos-ridden HQ shouldn’t be sold, MPs say

The cost of renovating the RBA’s Martin Place headquarters has blown out fourfold to $1.1 billion, but forging ahead with the refurb is still the cheapest option.

  • Michael Read

June 2023

Whispers swirl that Bret Walker SC is considering representing Ben Roberts-Smith.

Bret Walker looking at Roberts-Smith appeal

The star silk reportedly charges $30,000 a day and is one of Australia’s most formidable barristers.

  • Myriam Robin and Mark Di Stefano
Ben Roberts-Smith outside court in 2021.

The reckoning from Roberts-Smith’s disgrace is still to come

Politicians who are happy to send troops to fight and exploit jingoist sentiment never know what to do with the ugly outcomes.

  • Updated
  • Laura Tingle
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Defence Minister Richard Marles remains tight-lipped over the Ben Roberts-Smith judgment.

‘Too early to strip Roberts-Smith of Victoria Cross, war medals’

The government believes it would take a criminal finding against Ben Roberts-Smith to strip him of his medals.

  • Phillip Coorey

April 2023

National Gallery of Australia

Arts funding must recognise culture as a necessity, not a luxury

Governments need to commit to adequate funding, now and in the future, while institutions need to be realistic in their ambitions.

  • John McDonald

January 2023

Jan

Letters: Let’s declare independence

Royal family and Australian independence; Chinese ambassador’s attack on Japan; sanctions on wine; the trouble with air travel; Labor’s safeguard mechanism and offsets; anti-Voice sentiment; AWM reversal.

October 2022

Chair of the Council of the AWM Dr Brendan Nelson and Minister for Veterans’ Affairs and Minister for Defence Personnel Matt Keogh in discussion after a press conference at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra on Thursday 29 September 2022. fedpol Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

Labor pushed War Memorial on frontier war recognition

The Coalition has objected to moves by the Australian War Memorial to document massacres and violence against Indigenous communities.

  • Tom McIlroy

August 2021

US Senator Bob Menendez has introduced a resolution that enhances the significance of ANZUS.

US senators look to strengthen ANZUS alliance

A bipartisan caucus has introduced a formal resolution aimed at highlighting the ANZUS Treaty ahead of its 70th anniversary.

  • Matthew Cranston

July 2021

Prime Minister Scott Morrison with chairman of the Australian War Memorial Kerry Stokes at the announcement of the upgrade.

Veterans Minister endorses Kerry Stokes War Memorial reappointment

Andrew Gee sought a briefing on a $500 million redevelopment plan days after joining federal cabinet.

  • Updated
  • Tom McIlroy
Author Christine Helliwell with veteran Jack Tredrea.

The hidden history of a WWII Australian operation in Borneo

Christine Helliwell had been researching the Dayak peoples of Borneo when she learned of an astonishing link with Australia.

  • Christine Helliwell

June 2021

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese  face off in question time.

As the region unites on China, cracks appear at home

When Labor blames the government for the mouse plague, almost everything is political fair game. Including bipartisanship on China.

  • Phillip Coorey

May 2021

The new look proposed for the Australian War Memorial.

Mateship, patriotism on show in controversial War Memorial rebuild

A public consultation about the $500 million redevelopment plan received a record number of submissions.

  • Tom McIlroy

April 2021

Anzac Day march in Sydney on Sunday.

Thousands turn out to Anzac Day dawn services

Driveway services were held for a second year in Perth but around the rest of the country thousands of onlookers attended scaled-back ceremonies.

  • Max Mason
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Portrait of Matt Anderson, Director of the Australian War Memorial, in Canberra on Tuesday 24 November 2020. fedpol Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

Afghanistan withdrawal sees Anzac memorials updated around the country

Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced this month about 80 remaining Australian troops will come home by September

  • Tom McIlroy
Australia’s neat war graves contrast with the chaos in which its soldiers died.

How Anzac got lost in a cult of veneration

Politicians who wrap themselves in the flag of a generation of fallen have separated Anzac from the realities of modern Australia and the context of why these wars were fought.

  • James Curran
Benjamin Ball of Melbourne was one of many musicians, young and old, who woke before dawn on Anzac Day last year to play the Last Post and Reveille (or Rouse) in their driveways.

Rediscover the legacy of the Anzacs

From Darwin to Canberra and Phillip Island south of Melbourne, Australia has plenty of places to immerse in our military history.

  • Fiona Carruthers

February 2021

Prime minister Scott Morrison with chairman of the Australian war memorial Kerry Stokes at an announcement of plans to upgrade the Australian war memorial. Photo: Sitthixay Ditthavong

Bipartisan support frays for $500m War Memorial plan

Labor MPs on a key parliamentary committee have called for changes to major expansion plans for the historic memorial.

  • Tom McIlroy
The Australian War Memorial

‘Adverse impact’: government warned on War Memorial redevelopment

Internal documents show officials warned that the $500 million expansion plan would see adverse impacts on the iconic building’s heritage value.

  • Tom McIlroy

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/australian-war-memorial-1m25