Major General Matt Burr delivered a powerful commemoration address, encouraging new Australians and first-time dawn service attendees to seek out veterans and share in their stories.
People faced wet weather to attend the Anzac Day Dawn service at the Cenotaph in Martin Place in Sydney. Source: AAP / Bianca de Marchi
“Our women and men in uniform are just like you in many ways; from all backgrounds, from all across our communities,” Burr said.
Continuing tradition, NSW Premier Chris Minns recited Australian writer and World War One veteran Sydney Elliott Napier’s poem Salute.
NSW Premier Chris Minns read the poem Salute by Sydney Napier at the Sydney dawn service. Source: AAP / Monique Harmer
Among the crowd was Gwen Cherne and her children Emily and Lachlan, who know first-hand what those who have fought for the nation have sacrificed.
Cherne lost her husband, Peter, to suicide in 2017 after a distinguished, nearly 20-year stint in the military.
Wreaths are laid at the Cenotaph during the Anzac Day dawn service in Martin Place, Sydney. Source: AAP / Bianca de Marchi
Now serving as Veteran Family Advocate Commissioner, she focuses on supporting the loved ones of those who have served.
“I know the sacrifice and how much (Anzac Day) means, not only to the serving men and women, but also to the families who pick up pieces, who bear the burdens, who hold the home front and make sure our society doesn’t crack.”
Rain didn’t deter those that showed up to the Cenotaph in Martin Place, Sydney for an Anzac Day dawn service. Source: AAP / Bianca de Marchi
Cherne said she found the large crowd in the Sydney city centre inspiring.
Thousands of people later lined city centre streets for the annual march of Australian Defence Force (ADF) members and veterans, with more than 8,000 marching from Martin Place to the Anzac Memorial in Hyde Park.
Thousands of people lined the streets to pay tribute to veterans during the Anzac Day parade in Sydney. Source: AAP / Rick Rycroft
Honouring Indigenous Australians
“As Indigenous Australians were not of European descent, they were exempt from military service during the time of World War One,” Allie said.
Aboriginal Elder Harry Allie touched on Indigenous Australians’ history within the defence force. Source: AAP / Dean Lewins
“[But] it has been estimated that up to 1,000, perhaps more, Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people came forward to enlist … it is not known what motivated Indigenous Australians to enlist but loyalty and patriotism without doubt played a part,” Allie said.
Federal leaders pause campaign to reflect
The prime minister read a dedication at the Canberra service, saying the 25,000 who gathered before dawn ought to think of those who went to battle but did not come home.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese gave the dedication at the Anzac Day dawn service at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. Source: AAP / Lukas Coch
“As we gather around cenotaphs or watch the parades, we reflect on all who have served in our name and all who serve now,” Albanese said.
For most of the service, it was only the sounds of bird calls emanating around the memorial that could be heard among the bugle calls and bagpipe laments.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese paused his election campaign to attend the dawn service at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. Source: AAP / Lukas Coch
Opposition leader Peter Dutton marked the day in his Queensland electorate of Dickson, attending a dawn service at the Pine Rivers RSL in the city’s north.
He laid a wreath and paid tribute to the one million Australians who have served. Dutton later attended a second service at Samford, also in his electorate.
Peter Dutton and his wife Kirilly attended an Anzac Day dawn service ceremony in Queensland. Source: AAP / Mick Tsikas
Welcome to Country interrupted at Melbourne service
With the crescent moon still hanging overhead and the forecourt of the war memorial illuminated only by the deep red glow, attendees stood shoulder to shoulder in the chilly morning to mark Anzac Day.
Thousands of people attended an Anzac Day dawn service in Melbourne. Source: AAP / Diego Fedele
But the peace was broken during Bunurong Elder Mark Brown’s Welcome to Country, .
Albanese said there was “no place in Australia” for what had occurred.
Bunurong Elder Uncle Mark delivers the Welcome to Country during the Anzac Day dawn service at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne. Source: AAP / Diego Fedele
“A neo-Nazi disrupting Anzac Day is abhorrent, un-Australian, and disgraceful. The people responsible must face the full force of the law.”
“Our greatest Australians are the Anzacs and I absolutely condemn any action from neo-Nazis or those people who would seek to disrupt Anzac Day services.”
This year marks the 110th anniversary of Australian and New Zealand soldiers landing before dawn on Turkish shores at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915, alongside British, French and Indian troops. Source: AAP / Diego Fedele
Veterans’ Affairs Minister Matt Keogh described the booing as “concerning” and urged attendees to uphold the spirit of respectful commemoration.
“It’s expected that people who do attend Anzac Day ceremonies do so respectfully, and it’s concerning that some people didn’t show due respect to that service.”
For Sarah Byres and her son Matthew, the Melbourne dawn ceremony was their first at the shrine with her late father’s war medals proudly worn on their chests.
People pay their respects at the eternal flame during the dawn service at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne. Source: AAP / Ye Myo Khant / SOPA Images / Sipa USA
Her father served in the Navy as a 17-year-old across multiple conflicts, including in Malta, Italy and the D-Day landings, facing bombings and surviving raining bullets.
“He was under 21, but he could go and fight.”
Dawn service attendees gathered at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne. Source: AAP / Diego Fedele
Burial at sea marks solemn Gold Coast service
Several thousand people attended the service near the NSW border.
People gathered during an Anzac Day dawn service at Currumbin on the Gold Coast. Source: AAP / Jono Searle
Inflatable rescue boats were on hand during the burial at sea, a tribute during which the ashes of recently passed service men and women are laid to rest.
Children from the local surf lifesaving club stood with a choir as the Australian and New Zealand national anthems culminated the service.
Surf boats helped carry out a burial at sea during an Anzac Day dawn service at Currumbin on the Gold Coast. Source: AAP / Jono Searle
A legacy forged at Gallipoli
Defence personnel, contemporary veterans, and their families can also contact national support services provider Soldier On during office hours 1300 620 380.