Conscripting war memorial into the political sphere is out of order

Just as the people in the electorate of Cook vote in Saturday’s byelection comes another reminder that Scott Morrison, the MHR who represented them for 17 years, has further tarnished his reputation as prime minister.

Former prime minister Scott Morrison Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

A scathing auditor-general’s report into the $500 million upgrade of the Australian War Memorial has revealed how Morrison announced the controversial project before a business case for it was put together, conflicts of interest over key contracts and large cost blowouts. It also found that an extra $50 million for the project was formally approved by the Morrison government before the 2022 election but also days before it was formally asked for the funds. The auditor-general also said documents sent to various veterans’ affairs ministers about the project were “insufficient” and documentation was “insufficiently detailed to support the minister in carrying out their duties” under the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act.

The AWM project has been mired in controversy since it was announced by Morrison as prime minister on November 1, 2018. There have been concerns about the size of the project, which would include an 80 per cent increase in exhibition space and an underground car park, with some critics claiming the changes would turn the memorial – opened by John Curtin in 1941 - into a kind of theme park. The award-winning Anzac Hall, just two decades old, is being demolished as part of the upgrade which is due to be completed by mid-2028.

The watchdog’s latest findings add to Morrison’s singular legacy as the national leader who tarnished his prime ministerial office with a seeming addiction to rorting the system: He led a government infamous for so-called sports rorts, car park rorts, and the Female Facilities and Water Safety Stream Program, all pork barrels that targeted public grants at marginal seats the Coalition was hoping to win or retain.

Subsequent to losing office, he was exposed secretly advising Governor-General David Hurley to appoint him to five ministries during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In his final days as an MP, he sat slumped and mainly mute on the furthest parliamentary bench from the stage he once occupied until he announced his resignation earlier this year, a cast-off reminder of a time of bluster and conceit.

The auditor-general’s findings have exposed a lack of probity and the need for transparency that has been missing in action at the AWM. The auditor-general made five recommendations, including that the AWM strengthen the ethical conduct of its procurement activity and ensure appropriate records to document value for money. Director Matt Anderson said the memorial would accept all five of the auditor’s recommendations. He could hardly do otherwise.

Neither is it possible to ignore the questions surrounding the AWM over those years with the juxtaposition of Morrison’s handling of the redevelopment with the support of the then-chair of the AWM council, media mogul Kerry Stokes, a trenchant backer of disgraced Victoria Cross recipient and war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith, who also shares a penchant for confusing tradition with self-interest.

The auditor-general details such shameless spending and waste of taxpayers money that the only possible conclusion is that the AWM project was bare-faced pork-barrelling at its most outrageous.

As a national war memorial and museum dedicated to all Australians who died during wars, the AWM should be completely above politics. Many Australians regard it as the “soul of the nation”. Until now, no politician or political party has ever dared sully the reputation of the AWM by subverting an institution honouring the lives of the fallen to their own political ends.

Morrison’s scoundrel-like campaign to retain political office and conscript public affection for the AWM into his ranks surely represents a new career low.

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