Distinguished
guests, ladies and gentlemen
This is a proud day for
the Savige family, a proud day for Legacy and a proud day for
Morwell.
It marks the final stage
of a long held plan to erect a memorial to honour SSS in his place
of birth. There are many fine SSS memorials throughout Australia but
this one is special.
Stan Savige was born 120
years ago in the residence at the rear of his father’s butcher’s
shop in Tarwin Street, just a stone’s throw from where we are today.
A man of humble beginnings, Stan Savige rose to high office in
public life.
I am a member of Advance
Morwell, a community based organisation representing business
operators and residents of Morwell.
Over seven years ago,
LCC accepted an Advance Morwell recommendation that a suitable
memorial be placed in the Morwell CBD to honour Sir Stanley Savige
in the town of his birth.
A project group was
formed under the chairmanship of Cr Darrell White with
representatives from Latrobe Valley Legacy, Morwell, Moe and
Traralgon RSL Sub-Branches, Morwell Historical Society and Advance
Morwell.
Funds were raised from a
public subscription campaign and contributions from Latrobe City
Council, RSL sub branches, the Dept of Veterans’ Affairs and Advance
Morwell. Four years ago, a bronze bust of Sir Stanley was unveiled
at a well attended public ceremony. Fashioned by local sculptor Glen
Davies, the bust shows him as Legatee Stan to mark his role as the
founder of Legacy.
It is pleasing to see
that many people who attended that ceremony are here today. A warm
welcome to you all.
On that day, I mentioned
that further work was needed to complete Stage 2 of the memorial
project.
This involved placement
of signage naming LEGACY PLACE together with a bronze plaque
describing the achievements of Sir Stanley.
The project group was
delighted to receive further financial assistance from Latrobe City
Council and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs to enable this work
to be undertaken.
We are gathered here
today to unveil this final stage of the Savige memorial project. I
wish to especially thank Melissa Ellis, Latrobe City Landscape
Officer for her creative use of the Legacy torch in the signage
framework.
This community project
has extended over seven years and in this time it has raised
community awareness of Sir Stanley Savige and his outstanding
service to Australia as an Army officer and to Legacy.
I wish to thank Latrobe
City Council for their generous sponsorship, members of the project
group for their involvement and support and all those who helped to
create this memorial in honour of Sir Stanley Savige.
Through his vision and
compassion in founding Legacy in 1923, a caring organisation that
has continued for nearly 90 years, Sir Stanley Savige warrants high
honour as a great humanitarian and great Australian.
He was a hero in every
meaning of the word and we are proud that he was born in our town.
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