Memorial Square, Shires Tribute

A plaque on the southern side of the Memorial Square commemorates two historic speeches given on consecutive nights in Colac, beginning on September 5, 1914 with the then Federal opposition leader, Andrew Fisher, and followed the next night by Prime Minister Joseph Cook. The two speeches declared Australia's commitment to follow Britain into World War I, with Fisher declaring 'Australia will stand by the mother country to our last man and our last shilling' and Cook's famous reiteration that 'If the old country is at war, so are we.'