NSW: Howard pays tribute to Australian war nurses

AAP General News (Australia)
04-22-1999
NSW: Howard pays tribute to Australian war nurses

SYDNEY, April 22 AAP - Prime Minister John Howard today paid tribute to the dedication of
Australian war nurses and announced a $500,000 grant towards a memorial.

In an address at the Anzac Memorial Museum in Sydney, Mr Howard said the $500,000
government contribution was for a special nurses memorial in Canberra.

The funding was on top of a $100,000 contribution already made towards the cost of
completing, erecting and dedicating the Australian Service Nurses National Memorial, he said.

He paid tribute to the band of women who he said had played an important role in a
relatively forgotten chapter of the history of Australia in war.

"Their contribution was selfless, their dedication was unlimited and the debt we owe to
them is equal to the debt we owe those people who were on the fighting front," he said.

"It is appropriate as we approach Anzac Day to honour those people who have made such a
remarkable contribution to producing the Australia of 1999, which is without peer a free and
open and democratic society."

The dedication of the memorial on Anzac Parade in Canberra was expected to occur by
October, he said.

AAP jo/tsm

KEYWORD: MEMORIAL

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