On the verge of relinquishing his position at the helm of the Australian War Memorial, Michael speaks to Dr Brendan Nelson AO, former Liberal member for Bradfield & minister in the Howard Government who is also the former Australian Ambassador to Belgium, NATO & the European Union. 

 

Dr Nelson has led the Memorial through the centenary of the First World War including completion of the renovated First World War galleries; 128,500 attendees at the 2015 Anzac Centenary Dawn Service and a breathtaking display of 62,000 knitted poppies on the Memorial grounds for the centenary of the armistice.

 

Recognising the need to make the Memorial relevant and meaningful to the 100,000 young veterans our nation has created over the past twenty years, Dr Nelson introduced the Afghanistan exhibition, subsequently expanded to fill every available space.

 

With Council Chairman, Mr Kerry Stokes AC, he successfully advocated on behalf of that generation for a major investment by government in creating additional gallery space for their stories to be told.

 

Planning for this $500 million investment over a decade is now well advanced with construction beginning in 2020.