Rumours cloud Anzac arrangements

The November 2014 re-enactment of the departure of the first troop convoys to World War I should involve a minimum of 10-12 ships, say key stakeholders and experts.

Persistent rumours of the Federal Government’s plans for the event in recent months have suggested the number of ships involved could be fewer than five.

Thirty-six ships left Albany for the war in November 1914.

However, exact details will not be known until the Department of Veterans’ Affairs releases a report into that event and the Australia-wide commemorations.

The report, conducted by former defence force chief Angus Houston’s Anzac Centenary Advisory Board, is expected this month.

Outgoing Member for O’Connor Tony Crook said he had not seen the report and, with his investigations, was unable to dispel rumours he had heard the number of ships could be fewer than a handful. Mr Crook suggested the number should at the very least be 10.

“I’ve tried to get some information out of the minister’s office about the magnitude of what might be happening and I haven’t been able to ascertain what that might be,” he said.

“I would be disappointed if it was a mere token gesture, if we just had one or two I think that would be very disappointing.”

Federal shadow veteran’s affairs minister Michael Ronaldson, who visited Albany this week, said he had heard similar rumours and called on the Government to release the report as a matter of priority.

Former Albany Centenary of Anzac Alliance chairman Peter Aspinall said the originally mooted figure was in excess of 20 ships, involving the Australian Navy and other countries, but he had always been realistic that figure was unlikely to eventuate.

Mr Aspinall said 12 was an appropriate number because the ships could be arranged in King George Sound in four rows of three, similar to the 1914 line-up.

A spokeswoman for Veterans’ Affairs Minister Warren Snowdon said a date had not been set for the release of the report but it would be “soon”.