$8.3m to upgrade Anzac experience at Sir John Monash Centre is money well spent, says minister

Australia’s ‘bucket list’ Anzac experience on the former front line at Villers-Bretonneux is getting an $8m cash boost – with controversy about its cost all in the past.

The Federal Government is providing an $8.3 million funding boost for technology upgrades, maintenance and enhancements at the high-tec Sir John Monash Centre in France.

The interactive museum outside Villers-Bretonneux, which tells the story of the Anzac experience on the Western Front, was opened in April 2018 at an initial cost of $100m.

The six-year funding commitment was announced by Assistant Minister for Veterans’ Affairs Matt Thistlethwaite on Sunday, as he explored the centre after attending the Legacy Centenary Torch Relay launch event.

Aiming for an upgrade ... Matt Thistlethwaite.

“It’s unbelievable,” he said of the exhibits. “The interactive nature of it really puts you in the picture (to) experience as close as possible what it was like for these young Australians in the trenches.”

The tec-heavy nature of the experience necessitates money for upgrades to software and hardware, he added.

The story of Australians’ struggle on the Western Front is reaching a new international audience previously unaware of the Anzac tradition, as increasing numbers of foreign visitors go to the Sir John Monash Centre post-Covid.

Tourists are increasingly visiting key Australian-related WWI sites in France – in particular the hub of the Remembrance Trail, the Sir John Monash Centre. Picture: Supplied.

While the cost of the centre was criticised in some quarters in its early years, Mr Thistlethwaite stressed it has “wholehearted” multi-partisan support in parliament.

“It is money well spent from my view, because it really does give people a greater appreciation of the sacrifice of Australian troops and what they went through here – and just how important that was to changing the course of the war. And that is something we should all have pride in.”

‘Greater appreciation of the sacrifice’ ... Matt Thistlethwaite in a reflective moment at Pozieres British Cemetery during the launch of the Legacy Centenary Torch Relay 2023, presented by Defence Health, on Sunday. Credit: Callum Smith

Acknowledging that the exhibits had “really blown my mind”, Mr Thistlethwaite said a visit to the centre, at the imposing Australian National Memorial on the former front lines, “should be on everyone’s bucket list”.

For those less able to travel overseas, the government could consider bringing some of its technology and tools to the Australian War Memorial in Canberra and other venues around the country, giving people, “particularly school students, the opportunity to experience it on a mass scale”.