Eight Tasmanian students have had their trip to World War I battlefields in Europe called off at the last minute over safety fears linked to conflict in the Middle East.
The Year 9 students were due to fly out on Wednesday as part of the 2026 Frank MacDonald Memorial Prize.
The 10-day study tour of Western Front sites in Belgium and France was timed to coincide with Anzac Day.
Education Minister Jo Palmer confirmed the postponement in state parliament on Wednesday, answering on behalf of the premier after questioning from Labor MLC Luke Edmunds.
Palmer said the government had carried out a risk assessment that took recent global events into account.
“The Tasmanian government has made the difficult decision to postpone the 2026 international study tour,” she said.
Travel ratings for Belgium and France remained stable, but Palmer said instability in the Middle East had created “unacceptable uncertainty” around flight paths and transit security.
“Obviously, the safety of our young recipients and the staff that would be travelling with them are our priority,” she said.
The students selected for this year’s prize are Charlie Blundell, Charlie Johnson, Elsie Oldfield, Henry Smith, Jackson Kennedy, Maeve Kok-Connors, Molly Oldfield and Tilly Blake.
Teachers Andrew French and Claire Bugg were also set to travel, along with tour leader Brielle Quigley.
The group had spent six months preparing, attending monthly meetings from November and visiting the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.
Palmer said the tour had not been scrapped.
“This is a postponement rather than a cancellation,” she said.
“We remain committed to finding an alternative opportunity for this cohort of students.”
She said running the tour in 2027 was one option.
The prize honours Frank MacDonald MM, Tasmania’s last surviving World War I veteran, who died in 2003 aged 107.
Born in Ulverstone in 1896, he served with the 40th Infantry Battalion and was awarded the Military Medal for repairing signal lines under heavy fire on the Western Front in northern France and Belgium.
The Department of Premier and Cabinet (DPAC) and the Department for Education, Children and Young People will stay in contact with families over the coming year.
Responsibility for the prize is shifting to the education department as part of machinery of government changes announced earlier this month.
