History buffs, you need to see this 📍🦘

Read more: https://flip.it/FnRmrK

#travel #oceania #australia #history #downunder #australianwarmemorial #canberra #australiancapitalterritory #act #wanderlust

So I walked down to the #AustralianWarMemorial today.

The overdevelopment is still underway but for me the feel of the place has changed.

Once, it was a memorial with a collection attached.

Now, to me, and I acknowledge that #YMMV it feels like a Museum with a memorial attached.

It’s not a change I was happy to see.

The War Memorial’s controversial transformation under the spotlight on FOUR CORNERS

https://tvblackbox.com.au/page/2025/03/10/the-war-memorials-controversial-transformation-under-the-spotlight-on-four-corners/?feed_id=207717

#ABC #AustralianWarMemorial #FourCorners #MarkWillacy

Because it's the sort of thing I should do every so often, I went to visit the #australianwarmemorial for the first time since ... COVID I think.

I have to say I was expecting to be disappointed, but I was ok with the new developments and found it to still be a somber and respectful place.

I'm not sure it'll look as good in 60 years as the old one did, though.

The Australian government is trying to stay clear of the issue, by saying that this was a civil, not a criminal case, and that criminal cases against ADF members who allegedly committed #WarCrimes a decade ago are beginning to make their way through the courts. #BenRobertsSmith's defenders (many of them powerful and influential figures) are emphasising the same distinction, effectively claiming that nothing at all needs to be done until a criminal case is brought and the truth established to a higher standard. BRS still has "a right to be considered innocent until proven guilty". And this civil case was not seeking to establish criminal guilt.

Let's consider that claim: that since BRS has not been proven guilty in a criminal case, but 'only' lost a civil case, it is not appropriate for, say, the #AustralianWarMemorial to remove the displays that celebrate BRS (such as his uniform and two large portraits of him), as some are now pushing for. That is, his defenders claim he ought to still be considered innocent of the crimes that a court of law just found to be true (at least true on the balance of probabilities).

There is much confusion about these matters. Here's how I understand it.