Kevin Andrews (Menzies, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I was dismayed to read this article in the Melbourne Herald Sun this morning, entitled 'Anzac days axed in tiers of frustration'. It said:

ANZAC Day commemorations are being cancelled across Melbourne and major regional events are in limbo as RSL sub-branches across Victoria anxiously wait for state government COVID permits.

Of all our national days, Anzac Day is the most sacred. It's one on which, for over a century, people in villages, towns and cities across Australia have marched and come together at cenotaphs to commemorate those who died—those who gave their lives on the cliffs of Gallipoli, in the muddy trenches of the Western Front, in the swamp infested areas of Asia, in the searing hot deserts of Africa, in the skies and on the seas, including the nurses who were executed off Singapore. They deserve the commemoration that they've had each year, and I call upon the state government in Victoria, instead of hindering this process, to actually help the RSLs to be able to put on these marches and events. RSLs are voluntary organisations. Many of those running them these days are in their 70s and 80s. Please, Premier Andrews, help these RSLs to put on the commemorations for their local communities. Don't stand in the way. If 50,000 people can go to the MCG or 29,000 to Marvel Stadium, surely a few thousand people can gather at cenotaphs throughout Victoria to commemorate Anzac Day.