Amongst other things, I am the patron of the ACT Victims of Crime Assistance League (VOCAL), a dedicated group of volunteers who, with no assistance from the ACT Government, help those victims of crime who fall through the cracks of the public service victims scheme.
A number of victims of sexual violence have contacted VOCAL and its stalwart service coordinator of 30 years, Marie-Noelle Cure, about significant problems with the design and, more importantly, the location of the memorial to be built in commemoration of those victims of the sadly prevalent and evil crimes against innocent children and vulnerable people.
The federal government is looking after this project and $7.9 million has been allocated. The original design had problems and so a new design has been sought.
It appears very little consultation has taken place and several members of the federal organising committee apparently are concerned. Submissions on the new design have been sought and close at the end of this week.
I am advised the design is not so important, but the location chosen by the government is. It’s by the lake in a hard-to-get-to place near the National Museum on Acton Peninsula. Unfortunately, this is out of the way, and the complainants would like a memorial somewhere in the Parliamentary Triangle, or in Kings Park, or anywhere more accessible. The other problem with the current site is that it is the site of a number of sexual assaults over the years and, when the old Canberra Hospital was operating, the site of several suicides. It was also very close to the old morgue. The complainants have a point there.
This is something our five federal reps need to get onto, and it is something especially Senator Pocock can take up, not being a member of the federal government. I have contacted his office to pass this all on. If anyone has a view, or is interested in helping out getting a better site for this important memorial, please contact Marie-Noelle Cure at VOCAL on 0439 959 410.
On another topic, I was pleased to see how well-managed and largely well-behaved and peaceful demonstrations for and against Chinese Premier Li last Sunday and Monday were. Apparently, on Sunday, there was one instance of a scuffle between Falun Gong supporters and pro-Chinese government demonstrators in relation to a sign; apart from that, the demonstrators seemed to respect each other. Indeed, on Monday, coming back from Civic, I saw a crowd of about 200 on the corner of Canberra Avenue outside the UK High Commission, all jumbled up together with the red flag of China, the Tibetan flag, and various Falun Gong flags and signs flying prominently in close proximity to each other. My congratulations to all concerned for showing respect for each other and the citizens of Canberra by holding peaceful demonstrations about difficult and emotive issues.
This seems in stark contrast with the sometimes vicious pro-Hamas Gaza demonstrations elsewhere in Australia. Our ignorant, naïve students and activists demonstrating in favour of Hamas could well take a leaf out of the books of the pro-CCP, Tibetan, and Falun Gong demonstrators.
