The Hon. Ron Mark, Minister of Defence and Minister for Veterans
Hon Dr Megan Woods,
MPs Dr Duncan Webb, Poto Williams, Jo Hayes, Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi
Chief of Army – Major General John Boswell, and members of the defence forces
Police Commissioner Mike Bush and the NZ police
Deputy High Commissioner of Australia, Mr Andrew Cumpston
Crs Yani Johanson, Anne Galloway and Glenn Livingstone
The President and Members of the Christchurch Memorial RSA
Veterans and former servicemen/women
Citizens of Christchurch gathered here this morning
Welcome everyone to this year’s ANZAC day dawn service.
ANZAC Day is a day that we come together and reflect on the enormity of the sacrifice that was made over a century ago.
When we think of that war to end all wars as it was hoped to be, and think of the numbers killed, we are reminded again of the senselessness of war.
With the recent atrocity perpetrated on our city, we have all been given reason to pause and reflect on our history, and the need to find peaceful resolution to conflict - whether in our homes, our cities or nations.
It is extraordinary that modern day Turkey has found a way to allow us - Australians and New Zealanders - to acknowledge the emergence of our own sense of nationhood in ANZAC ceremonies every year on a former battleground now dedicated as a place of peace.
And today the flag of Turkey connects us to Gallipoli in a very special way.
The Gallipoli campaign may have represented defeat, and the toll that was exacted on both sides too high a price to pay, but it was on that peninsula that the ANZAC tradition of courage, sacrifice and comradeship was forged and it is this that we recall and honour today with our commitment to the peaceful resolution of conflict wherever it occurs.
No reira tena koutou, tena toutou, tena ra tatou katoa
Hon Dr Megan Woods,
MPs Dr Duncan Webb, Poto Williams, Jo Hayes, Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi
Chief of Army – Major General John Boswell, and members of the defence forces
Police Commissioner Mike Bush and the NZ police
Deputy High Commissioner of Australia, Mr Andrew Cumpston
Crs Yani Johanson, Anne Galloway and Glenn Livingstone
The President and Members of the Christchurch Memorial RSA
Veterans and former servicemen/women
Citizens of Christchurch gathered here this morning
Welcome everyone to this year’s ANZAC day dawn service.
ANZAC Day is a day that we come together and reflect on the enormity of the sacrifice that was made over a century ago.
When we think of that war to end all wars as it was hoped to be, and think of the numbers killed, we are reminded again of the senselessness of war.
With the recent atrocity perpetrated on our city, we have all been given reason to pause and reflect on our history, and the need to find peaceful resolution to conflict - whether in our homes, our cities or nations.
It is extraordinary that modern day Turkey has found a way to allow us - Australians and New Zealanders - to acknowledge the emergence of our own sense of nationhood in ANZAC ceremonies every year on a former battleground now dedicated as a place of peace.
And today the flag of Turkey connects us to Gallipoli in a very special way.
The Gallipoli campaign may have represented defeat, and the toll that was exacted on both sides too high a price to pay, but it was on that peninsula that the ANZAC tradition of courage, sacrifice and comradeship was forged and it is this that we recall and honour today with our commitment to the peaceful resolution of conflict wherever it occurs.
No reira tena koutou, tena toutou, tena ra tatou katoa