The day before Australia Day , January 26 , once more Townsville's Victory Fountain , launched in 1995 to mark the 50th anniversary of Victory in the Pacific , had rubbish floating about in the memorial , see above , and he said it was working erratically .
A similar scene , above , was discovered on February 28 -discarded food and drink items visible in the bottom chamber along with what seemed to be a small butane gas bomb ; top chamber appeared to be crumbling in one area ; signs of leaking in several places .
Decidely off - putting was a large used band aid , above , stuck to the brickwork . Nearby in the grotty bus shelter , sporting much graffiti in which SUCK features in several messages , a McDonald's drink container in the roof , there was either a discarded large bandage or a knee guard under the seat .
And at the nearby old railway ticket office , well worth a visit, with its WWl memorial to railway staff , as usual , it required a good sweep , leaves and dust visible , bits of paper , the old wooden garden seats which been there for possibly decades had gone .
Both these memorials , the Shipping Reporter again reminded us , are on Townsville's Civic Pride Trail. In addition , the Australian War Memorial , Townsville City Council and local military organisations had been made aware of the shameful neglect of these and other war memorials , in this a garrison city . Still , the city could not get its act together to look after the war memorials, part of the nation's shrines .
For some time , our reporter highlighted the fact that rust was showing through the large anchor off the aircraft carrier Coral Sea , a gift to Townsville by America , a reminder of the war link between the two countries . He also pointed out plaques with wartime details of port activity at the anchor site were illegible. In desperation , he invoked the name of Admiral Harry Harris (several times ) before the rust patches were painted over and the plaques made readable . There was even a threat that the Admiral , without him knowing , would send in the Marines if the civic authorities did not act to rectify the situation. Admiral Harris , Donald Trump's pick as US Ambassador to Australia , did not get a chance to come to Townsville and kick arse over war memorial neglect because he was recalled to put pressure on Kim Jong-un .
For at least a month , rust has been visible in a new spot on the anchor , near the ferry terminal , but it seems nobody in the media and authority in Townsville has noticed . Dream and dither on .
