Despite assurances that the unsatisfactory situation has been acknowledged and that things have changed for the better , the cleaning and maintenance of Townsville war memorials continues to be neglected.
An example is the Victory in the Pacific Memorial Fountain , above , a few days ago, displaying a feeble fountain ( more like a bubble bath ) , rubbish floating about , more on the bottom , a dog turd up against the wall . The nearby rubbish bin was filled to overflow , the bus shelter plastered in ever more graffiti .
And a short distance away in the quaint ticket office in the old railway building, with its WW1 roll of honour for rail employees, leaves were scattered about the floor . A nearby plaque installed by the Queensland division of the Australian Railway Historical Society , honouring the men and women who ran and operated the Great Northern Railway from 1886 to 1980, is hard to read and requires a touch up . Both these sites are on the Townsville's Civic Pride Trail .
On this very day Magnetic Island ALP branch members ,deeply concerned about the neglect of the city's war memorials , going through various channels from the Australian War Memorial in Canberra to the Townsville City Council , calling for remedial action , received an official statement of sorts on the subject , which smacked of glib PR buck passing , not coordinated , prompt action .
It seemed to imply the matter was now in hand . Clearly not so . The WW1 ticket office was the responsibility of Queensland Rail ; the RSL supplied the Townsville Council with funds to look after the Victory in the Pacific Fountain ; other major memorials, such as the Coral Sea Battle , had been cleaned up ; various hard to read plaques would be looked at.
That this totally unsatisfactory situation has existed for so long in a garrison city where the memorials are part of the nation's shrines is deplorable . Missing in action in this sorry story is the local media who , somehow , have failed to notice an important local issue. The Victory in the Pacific Fountain , for example, is a short distance from the Townsville Bulletin and a TV station .
