A commemorative plaque on the southern side of the Memorial Square remembers two historic speeches given on consecutive nights in Colac. The two speeches declared Australia would join Britain to fight in World War I. On 5 September 1914 the Leader of the Opposition, Andrew Fisher said "...Australia will stand by the mother country to our last man and our last shilling". The next night, the Prime Minister Joseph Cook said that "...If the old country is at war, so are we".