Northern Grampians Shire Council welcomed the Honorable Shaun Leane MP, Minister for Veterans Affairs and Local Government to inspect the WWII memorial restoration during his visit to Stawell today. The Victorian Government provided council with $36,370 in total funding for the restoration work through the Restoring Community War Memorials and Avenues of Honour Grant Program.
The war memorial is located in Main Street, Stawell and is an important ceremonial site for Veterans' events and a landmark for war historians and veterans' families.
The restoration was funded by two separate grants:
- $26,370 to clean Stawell's WWI memorial, regild lettering and replace the cracked surrounds with heritage-style paving.
- $10,000 to restore lettering and install floodlights and an interpretive panel at the WWII, Korean and Vietnam war memorial.
Welcoming Minister Leane and his representatives to the memorial visit were:
- NGSC Mayor, Cr Tony Driscoll, CEO Ms Liana Thompson and council staff connected to the project
- Past President of Stawell RSL Geoff Reading and RSL member Russell Smith
Northern Grampians Shire Council Mayor, Cr Tony Driscoll delivered an Acknowledgment of Country and spoke to the gathering about the importance of maintaining memorials for the community.
"We are very thankful to the Victorian Government for their investment in restoring our Stawell war memorials," said Cr Driscoll.
"The memorials have tremendous importance to our community as a place of remembrance.
"It is wonderful to see them beautifully restored now to fittingly continue our acknowledgement of the legacy of our war veterans and the sacrifices of our fallen."
Shaun Leane MP, Victorian Minister for Veterans Affairs Attributable Quote:
"The Stawell war memorial is of great importance to the local community and I'm proud the restoration will allow for the site to be a place of reflection for many years to come."
