Remember the dead – but spend on the living

James Brown, the former army officer, Iraq veteran and author of the acclaimed book Anzac’s Long Shadow recently pointed out, every dollar spent commemorating a long-dead soldier was not spent on a needier, living veteran.

“We’re spending millions on monuments which catalogue every death in world war one yet until last year no one was tracking the number of returning modern veterans taking their own lives,” Brown said.

“There are direct opportunity costs: $88m from the defence budget spent on a museum in France is $88m not going towards weapons training or personnel costs.”

Let’s, by all means, remember the dead – but spend on the living.