NATIONAL VIETNAM VETERAN MUSEUM – VCAT DECISION
A DISAPPOINTING DECISION BY VCAT
Photo: Artist’s impression of the proposed Museum.
“Over the last five years, the NVVM has spent considerable time and over $1m to design a museum which received unanimous local council approval.
We are extremely disappointed with the VCAT decision to reject our proposed development, but we do accept their decision in accordance with the rule of law.
We now need to consider the options available to us, but we do so acknowledging that time is of the essence as our Veterans age and pass as each year goes by.
We want to get this done so our Vietnam Veterans can see in their lifetime, suitable recognition for their service and sacrifice, which will leave a legacy for future generations.
The National Vietnam Veterans Museum has a collection of over 40,000 objects donated and collected from Veterans and their families over a period of 25 years and the collection needs to be housed in fit for purpose facilities to ensure its preservation and presentation to the public.
The Veterans and volunteers who have assembled and built this museum are a resilient bunch and whilst this may well be a speed bump it is by no means a roadblock.
In recent years there has been a growing movement to recognize and honour the service of Australian Vietnam Veterans and we can probably all agree, that in the fighting spirit of our Vietnam Veterans, we will endeavour to find a way to build our new museum.”
One thing I learned in studying Administrative Law is that if there is to be a cock-up it will occur in these tribunals like VCAT. Please know that they are NOT courts (they just think they are!) and cannot exercise judicial power. Unfortunately, the alternative is to take the matter to court, which requires resources (lot and lots!). How about an appeal to raise funds to fight this decision? I’m good for a few dollars if the call goes out.