Thursday, 14 November 2024

 Ann-Marie HERMANS (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (10:10): I would like to also remember our servicemen for Remembrance Day. At the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month each year we come together, and I had the great privilege of representing the people of the south-east at the war memorial cemetery. It was a wonderful thing to be able to attend the RSL Victoria state annual Remembrance Day service there. It was a very moving experience, and it was well attended. I also had the opportunity to represent the people of the south-east at the remembrance service at Dandenong’s Anzac Pillars of Freedom, which took place on the 11th of the 11th. It was hosted by the Dandenong–Cranbourne RSL sub-branch. It was a beautiful service. It included cadets, former soldiers, Vietnamese soldiers and military leaders. A lot of great poems were given by school students from the local communities, and all the communities that were able and invited came and placed wreaths. It was absolutely devastating to see the next day that these wreaths had been strewn across Dandenong. That is a genuine concern for the local people.