Anzac Day commemorated in Australia and around the world
Source: AAP
Across Australia, tens of thousands of people gathered outside in the cold, early hours of Thursday morning to commemorate the sacrifices made by past and present Australian and New Zealand soldiers and their families.
In addition to Australia, dawn services were held around the world, including but not limited to New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Gallipoli in Turkey.
These marked the 109th anniversary of the landing on the beaches of Gallipoli by soldiers from the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.
Canberra saw 32,000 people pay their respects at the Australian War Memorial at 5.30am, despite temperatures below zero degrees making it the coldest Anzac day in three years.
Governor-General David Hurley lays a wreath at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. Photo: AAP
In Melbourne, 40,000 people similarly converged on the Shrine of Remembrance, where ‘peacekeeping’ was the theme of the dawn service in recognition of the 70,000 Australians who served as peacekeepers across the country and as a reminder of the active role played by those in service across humanitarian zones.
Hundreds gathered in Brisbane as early as 3.30am, with up to 15,000 people attending Anzac Square in the city’s CBD by the end of the dawn service.
Currumbin Palm Beach RSL president Michael Humphreys told AAP while remembering those who serve and have served, the message this year was about the trials experienced by modern service people.
“I did shift the emphasis more to not what happened in war but what happens to our people who prepare for war,” he said.
What a special Anzac Day dawn service at the Shrine of Remembrance #AnzacDay2024 #melbourne 🇦🇺 pic.twitter.com/KDQSS8jgwd
— Sophie Elsworth (@sophieelsworth) April 25, 2024
More than 1000 people gathered at the South Australian National War Memorial in Adelaide’s CBD, and Sydney saw more than 10,000 people attend the dawn service at Hyde Park.
Source: AAP
Across the country, thousands also took part in marches, which were originally done by veterans to honour lost friends and publicly express comradeship, but now have extended to include family members to assist their elderly attendees or represent relatives.
Not everyone commemorated the day on home soil.
About 1800 were expected to make the trip to Gallipoli, and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese attended dawn service at Papua New Guinea’s Isuvara Memorial after walking the Kokoda Track with PNG counterpart James Marape.
The prime ministers commemorated Anzac Day together. Photo: X/@AlboMP
“Anzac Day has never asked us to exalt in the glories of war,” Albanese said.
“Anzac Day asks us to stand against the erosion of time, and to hold on to their names, to hold on to their deeds.”
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, who attended dawn service at Brisbane’s Bray Park-Strathpine RSL, acknowledged “the deeds of all Australians who have served in wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations”.
“We remember them so we don’t forget who we are: A people who choose courage over cowardice, camaraderie over tribalism, endeavour over indolence, gratitude over resentment and national pride over national aversion,” he said.
Anzac Day upsets
The day of remembrance was not without trials or controversies.
In New Zealand, extreme winds of more than 100km/h forced Wellington to close its dawn service to the public, with only some dignitaries and officials allowed to attend.
The event was relocated to inside the National War Memorial’s Hall of Memories.
Outside the National War Memorial, about a dozen people staged an anti-war protest, holding up a banner reading ‘‘No NZ complicity in war and genocide: Free Palestine’’.
New Zealand also had some poor luck with the Gallipoli dawn service.
Several pieces of luggage didn’t make it through flood-hit Dubai, meaning the country’s 40-member travelling defence contingent was forced into a clothes swap and to ditch plans to perform music at Gallipoli.
However, a slice of Anzac spirit helped smooth proceedings, with the Australian Defence Force loaning the New Zealand Defence Force a bugle for The Last Post.
Australian and New Zealand soldiers took part in a dawn service ceremony in Turkey.
“We are short of band equipment and ceremonial uniforms, including lemon squeezer hats, but contingent members who don’t have ceremonial roles have generously given their uniform items to those that do,” NZDF Gallipoli lead John McLeod told AAP.
“It has been a case of coming up with solutions to each problem and the contingent have done this really well collectively.
“Morale is high and we have a very positive attitude towards making the commemorations a fitting tribute to those who have walked this ground before us.”
In Australia, Randwick Greens councillor Rafaela Pandolfini was accused of politicising Sydney’s Coogee dawn service by wearing a keffiyeh at the event, where she laid down flowers.
The patterned scarf is traditionally worn in various forms throughout the Middle East and North Africa, but is currently strongly associated with solidarity with the Palestinian people.
Rafaela Pandolfini (right) attended the Coogee dawn service wearing a keffiyeh. Photo: Facebook/Randwick City Council
Pandolfini has yet to comment on the reaction, but reposted several messages to her Instagram stories on Thursday, including a reminder to not forget the Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander people who served in Australia’s military as far back as 1899, despite not being granted Australian citizenship until 1948.
A number of pro-Palestine protests planned around Melbourne for Anzac Day also sparked some online backlash and prompted Victoria Police to boost patrols, although similar protests held throughout Australia in recent months have been peaceful.
-with AAP
