Anzac Day: Monash Centre to broaden Anzac tale

The Sir John Monash Centre will better recognise the achievements and sacrifices of soldiers on the Western Front.

Veterans Affairs Minister Darren Chester. Picture: Kym Smith

Veterans Affairs Minister Darren Chester says the Sir John Monash Centre being officially opened tomorrow by Malcolm Turnbull will help better recognise the achievements and sacrifices of Australian soldiers on the Western Front in World War I.

Mr Chester, who is in Villers-Bretonneux for the centenary of the April 25, 1918, battle, yesterday inspected the new centre for the first time and spoke to Australian visitors, saying it was a highly emotional experience.

He told The Australian the new centre would become the “centrepiece of Australia’s remembrance trail on the Western Front” and help broaden the Anzac story beyond its focus on the Gallipoli campaign.

“It is a high-quality interactive centre that encourages us all to walk a mile in the boots of the ­Anzacs,” Mr Chester said.

“Everyone I spoke to was highly complimentary of the design and the contents of the new centre. It’s quite an emotional experience as it uses the latest technology to tell a 100-year-old story.

“Despite the special place that Gallipoli will always hold in our nation’s history, Australia’s greatest achievements and our greatest losses of the First World War were on the Western Front in France and in Belgium.”

Mr Chester yesterday met Australian descendants of those who served on the Western Front, saying the centre would help elevate the role played by Australian soldiers in France and Belgium during the Great War.

“This story I think deserves to be better known, both at home in Australia and in Europe,” he said.