The Hon Danna Vale MP
Minister for Veterans' Affairs
Minister Assisting The Minister For Defence

The Central Australia - The War Years web site is a project supported by the Federal Government's commemorative program Saluting Their Service. Through photographs, film, audio clips, and extracts from letters, diaries and other sources, this web site provides a unique insight into what life was like in Central Australia during World War II.

I congratulate the Alice Springs RSL for producing an innovative and educational resource that will become an enduring record of the service and sacrifice of Australian men and women in Central Australia during the war years.

Chief Minister of the Northern Territory Clare Martin
Minister for Arts and Museums
Minister for Territory Development

Central Australia's experience of World War II is unique and still relatively unknown. The Central Australia - The War Years website allows visitors to explore the significiant military role of Central Australia during the war years. It also graphically describes the impact of the war on the people of Central Australia by drawing on the experiences, told in their own words, of women, children, Indigenous people and both civilian and defence personnel.

The online museum is a truly community project involving cooperation with local cultural orgainsations, educators and residents. The Northern Territory Government has supported the project through its Regional Museums Grant Support Program and the Year of the Outback funding program.

I congratulate the Alice Springs RSL for developing this engaging website. The stories it tells and the images it projects will provide a lasting memorial to the contributions of the people of Central Australia to the war effort, and of the impact of the war years on their lives.