The role of Wattle Range Mayor Des Noll at the mid-morning service at the Millicent Cross of Sacrifice on Anzac Day on Thursday has been clarified by the Millicent RSL sub-branch.
In the past three years, Mayor Noll has delivered one speech but this has changed slightly in 2024 to two separate addresses.
Mayor Noll is pleased with the new arrangements with his first speech being the Acknowledgement of Country and the second being a tribute to a fallen serviceman whose name is on the Cross of Sacrifice.
An explanation about the local civic leader giving two speeches was provided on 5THE-FM by Millicent RSL president Chris Mathias.
“The Millicent RSL actually asked the mayor this year if he would move his Acknowledgement of Country recital from when he gives his speech halfway through the service to the beginning of the service,” Mr Mathias said.
“But the letter that went to the Mayor initially was missing a paragraph and created a bit of a misunderstanding.
“But for those out there who think the Millicent RSL is trying to dump the Acknowledgement of Country, we are definitely not. We are just trying to put it in a more respectful place at the beginning of the service so it does not appear as a tick in the box halfway through.”
