The eroding of respect for the Shrine of Remembrance should be of concern to all Victorians.
In recent times, we have seen the Shrine steps used for Covid-related protests, the grounds promoted by Melbourne City Council as an “official celebration zone” for the New Year’s Eve fireworks and now promotion of catered events on site involving alcohol consumption.
While each of these needs to be viewed separately, all three have the same concerning basis – an eroding of respect.
The Shrine’s own website states: “The Shrine of Remembrance was built to provide a place to grieve and remember Victorians killed in the First World War (1914-18). It now provides a place of remembrance for Australian service and sacrifice in all wars since Australia’s Federation in 1901”.
These words say it all, yet sadly we have lost our way.
Year-round it’s a location we all come to, to remember those loved ones who gave their lives for our country. Often, their resting places are in foreign lands.
Is this the location to be promoted as an “official celebration zone” for the New Year’s fireworks? I think not. Melbourne City Council should concede its major error of judgement in promoting the site for that purpose.
The decision to strike a deal with a catering and events company also warrants examination and querying. The question to be answered is why?
The reason is the Shrine last year posted a net operating loss of $4.14m, a rise on the previous year’s loss of $3.27m.
To support this reasoning, in its 2023-24 annual report, the Shrine expressed concern about its ability to maintain current operations as a result of rising costs.
Would the Shrine Trustees have considered this commercial deal if it was properly funded by the State? Knowing it would be controversial, I very much doubt it.
It is simply wrong that we have a State Government that has wasted tens of billions on project blow outs and mismanagement, but cannot find a couple of million to fund our state’s most sacred site to keep it that way.
Shrine chief executive, Dean Lee, was quoted as stating that all public entities were facing escalating costs, which required routine and ongoing reviews of their operating activities.
He is correct, but it should not apply to this most sacred of sites. The Shrine should not be forced to strike deals many see as inappropriate to keep itself afloat due to lack of State Government support.
Our Premier, Veterans Minister and Treasurer should step up and do the right thing.
Perhaps the most concerning comment was attributed to a spokesperson of the company that won the events contract, who stated it would result in “elevating customer experience”.
The Shrine of Remembrance should never be viewed as a “customer experience”.
Our Diggers would be appalled.
Tim Bull is Victorian Shadow Minister for Veterans.

January 31, 2025