THE region received a special guest last weekend with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visiting several Ballarat locations on Sunday.<\/p>\n
In town as the first Prime Minister to attend the anniversary of the Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial, Mr Albanese addressed the crowd for the occasion\u2019s 20-year milestone.<\/p>\n
He said the site plays an important role in acknowledging the country\u2019s military history.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a great memorial because it is an opportunity for families and friends of those people [imprisoned during war] to come and to pay tribute and to pay their respects,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI congratulate all those who\u2019ve been associated with keeping their memories going for 20 years now and it was a great opportunity for me to be here.<\/p>\n
Mr Albanese also acknowledged Ballarat East\u2019s Samantha Murphy, who went missing on Sunday last week, and thanked the community for their efforts in searching for her.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy thoughts are with the family and friends of Samantha Murphy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has been, I\u2019m sure, such a difficult time and I thank all those people who are involved in the search and hope that it has a good outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Albanese was joined by Federal Member for Ballarat, Catherine King, who echoed his sentiments.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Ballarat community has been extraordinary, as they always are, from SES from VicPol to CFA to ordinary members of the community,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Following the memorial ceremony, Mr Albanese also visited the Australian Centre for Gold Rush Collections run by Sovereign Hill.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
THE region received a special guest last weekend with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visiting several Ballarat locations on Sunday. In town as the first Prime Minister to attend the anniversary of the Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial, Mr Albanese addressed the crowd for the occasion\u2019s 20-year milestone. He said the site plays an important role […]<\/p>\n