Friday, September 18, 2015

As a Vietnam veteran, I am angry at the disrespect shown to the memories of Australia’s war dead and I feel, on this occasion, that the work was of some ignorant, juvenile, bored graffiti artist and was not committed as an act of deliberate desecration to the memory of the men whose names appear on the Cenotaph.

However, what this act does indicate to me is that perhaps the Wodonga Cenotaph is now located in a position that no longer has the capacity to cater for the growing or changing demographics of the city of Wodonga.

The establishment of bus stops in both High and Hovell Streets, located on either side of the water tower, has created a busy thoroughfare for people of all ages waiting for and alighting from buses. On occasions I have witnessed people sitting on the base of the Cenotaph and on one occasion a stall awning was attached to the memorial.

These situations are creating an environment where idle people are obviously looking to get up to mischief. It is time, I feel, for the Wodonga community consisting of councillors, RSL members, state and federal members of Parliament and the general public to think outside the square and identify a location where the current Cenotaph can be relocated to allow people to pay their respects in a quiet and reflective environment.  

The current location is also too small for the Anzac Day dawn service and requires both High and Hovell Streets to be closed off to traffic.

Wodonga is no longer a small city and its growing population, along with the increasing popularity of Anzac Day, indicates that the people of Wodonga need something that provides more room and is more suitable to commemorative activities.

The Centenary of Anzac provides the perfect opportunity for this change to occur.  From 2014 to 2018 Australia will be commemorating numerous battles and conflicts in which our service personnel participated during WW1.

Grants will be available from both state and federal governments that could be utilised to obtain a better solution for the people of Wodonga in relation to the war memorial. A location such as the recently developed railway precinct could perhaps be a solution to the problem.  

I’M wondering if anyone else sees the need for a new political party at the moment? One run by the people of Australia ,not by large companies or foreign concerns.

I have been trying to gain support for what is currently titled the Australian Industrial Party. The ideals are based around making Australia a manufacturing giant again, seeing as we have readily available sources of most resources – I don't see the need to export the raw materials instead of creating the end product.

Moreover I think before we go trying to fix the problems in the rest of the world we need to address the situation here in Australia.

1. We have a ludicrous rate of unemployment for a country that thinks it is so wealthy, with a huge land mass and a tiny population.

2. Why are we accepting more immigrants (not talking about the refugees) when we know there are no jobs for them?

3. Our politicians are paid far too much.

I understand that one of the reasons for this was to stop them being bribed but so far it has not worked. As for how much to pay them, personally if I were to get elected to any position I would demand to be paid no more than $100,000 per-annum even the top job.