Anzac Centenary travelling exhibition from Australian War Memorial to go on tour

PRIME Minister Tony Abbott is set to launch the flagship display of the Anzac Centenary — a $35 million travelling exhibition from the Australian War Memorial.

Anzac treasures to go on tour

PRIME Minister Tony Abbott will today launch the flagship display of the Anzac Centenary — a $35 million travelling exhibition from the Australian War Memorial.

The interactive exhibit featuring some 200 items ranging from an artillery piece to Diggers’ diaries and other personal possessions will visit 23 locations in all States and Territories starting in Wodonga, Victoria in September and finishing in Sydney in April 2017.

Other locations are Launceston, Hobart, Ballarat, Bendigo, Wollongong, Melbourne, Adelaide, Tamworth, Toowoomba, Brisbane, Mackay, Cairns, Townsville, Darwin, Port Augusta, Perth, Bunbury, Kalgoorlie, Geelong, Orange and Newcastle.

The Spirit of Anzac Centenary Experience is the feature community event of the centenary and it was in danger of not proceeding due to a funding crisis in mid-2014 before the Commonwealth Bank and Telstra stepped in with $10 million each to save the day.

The Navy, Army and RAAF have also stumped up more than $5 million to support the large scale exhibition. The remainder comes from government.

The exhibition is part of the Anzac Centenary national program that aims to give all Australians the opportunity to honour the service and sacrifice of those who have worn an Australian uniform, including more than 102,000 who lost their lives in conflict.

Former deputy prime minister and Vietnam Veteran Tim Fischer is special envoy for the exhibition that follows a chronological timeline spanning from pre-war Australia to the present day, using a mix of visuals, artefacts, audio and film to engage visitors.

The travelling exhibition was originally quoted at $70 million or almost half of the $145 million taxpayer contribution to all Anzac centenary activities.

The $35 million “travelling war memorial” will be mounted in 1200 square metre fixed venues in locations within a two-hour drive of 80 per cent of the population.

“The Government is committed to ensuring that all Australians, particularly young Australians understand the service and sacrifice of the nation’s servicemen and servicewomen,” Mr Abbott said.

Veterans Affairs Minister Michael Ronaldson said both key sponsors had a long association with Australian troops.

“It was the Commonwealth Bank who managed the pay of soldiers on the frontline during the First World War and Telstra, then as the Postmaster-General’s Office, who managed the communications between the frontline and the home front,” Senator Ronaldson said.

In addition to the travelling exhibition’s central themes of commemoration, education and local community engagement, is the development of a community display at each of the regional sites.

Commonwealth Bank boss Ian Narev said his company was proud to be supporting the Spirit of Anzac Centenary Experience.

“Having been the country’s central bank during the First World War, the Commonwealth Bank was heavily involved with the war effort including making banking facilities available to soldiers, providing care packages to serving employees and, sadly, (dealing with the loss of) many employees who enlisted,” Mr Narev said.

Proud history ... Telstra CEO David Thodey is on board.

Telstra chief David Thodey said the company’s history dated back to the Postmaster-General’s Department which had more than 3800 employees serving in the Australian Imperial Forces during the First World War.

“Recruits were mainly technical staff — engineers and signalmen — who played a crucial role in building and supporting wartime communications,” he said.

The coffers remain open and depending on extra funding the exhibition could also visit other venues.

The centenary experience will be free to the public and ticketing will be handled online.

Bookings will be essential and more details are available at www.spiritofanzac.gov.au

Originally published as Anzac Centenary travelling exhibition from Australian War Memorial to go on tour