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Proposed Gallipoli Theme Park Decried As Tacky

Mad, crazy, tacky, and a sick joke. And these are just some of the more family-friendly reactions to NSW MP Danna Vale's scheme for a Gallipoli theme park in Victoria.

Ms Vale's Gallipoli park proposal -- mooted for the Mornington Peninsular -- yesterday earned her widespread condemnation from the Opposition, colleagues, veterans and historians alike.

Talkback callers lampooned the park idea with one sarcastically proposing a tourist excursion complete with a bully beef lunch and donkey rides.

But the former veterans' affairs minister was having none of it, maintaining the resemblance between Gallipoli and the Mornington Peninsular was "uncanny".

Ms Vale said the idea of a Gallipoli-themed memorial park had been put to her by veterans and war widows unable to attend annual services in Turkey. "Being in a Gallipoli replica park would actually just assist the memory," she said.

Under Mrs Vale's proposal, a re-enactment of the World War I landing of Anzacs on the Turkish beach would be re-enacted on federal land, now reserved for a national park, 90 minutes' drive from Melbourne.