The Hon Ron Mark, Minister of Defence and Minister for Veterans
Major General John Boswell, Chief of Army
Mr Allen Cumpston, Deputy High Commissioner of Australia
Members of Parliament
My council colleagues
Veterans, servicemen and women, past and present
The Christchurch Cadet Corps, and St John Cadets
Representatives of the Girls and Boys Brigades
Citizens of Christchurch gathered here today
On behalf of the city of Christchurch, it is a privilege to welcome you to this ANZAC day citizens service.
Thank you to the Very Reverend Lawrence Kimberly, Dean of ChristChurch Cathedral, for welcoming us to this special place.
Forged on a distant battlefield, the relationship between Australia and New Zealand, what we call the ANZAC spirit, lives on today. Courage, loyalty, selflessness, honour, sacrifice and comradeship are our shares values.
More than a century on, our peacekeepers overseas embody the same ANZAC spirit, as do our young cadets, including our St John volunteers present today.
Every town and city in New Zealand has a memorial that honours those who never came home.
As I have said before on these occasions, we do not glorify war with these memorials, we commemorate the lives that were lost, and we honour the values they fought for.
Today, this morning, we are gathered here to remember all those who have served their country, and all those serving today.
And as I said this morning, 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 connected 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 was forged and it is this that we recall and honour today with our commitment to the peaceful resolution of conflict wherever it occurs.
Major General John Boswell, Chief of Army
Mr Allen Cumpston, Deputy High Commissioner of Australia
Members of Parliament
My council colleagues
Veterans, servicemen and women, past and present
The Christchurch Cadet Corps, and St John Cadets
Representatives of the Girls and Boys Brigades
Citizens of Christchurch gathered here today
On behalf of the city of Christchurch, it is a privilege to welcome you to this ANZAC day citizens service.
Thank you to the Very Reverend Lawrence Kimberly, Dean of ChristChurch Cathedral, for welcoming us to this special place.
Forged on a distant battlefield, the relationship between Australia and New Zealand, what we call the ANZAC spirit, lives on today. Courage, loyalty, selflessness, honour, sacrifice and comradeship are our shares values.
More than a century on, our peacekeepers overseas embody the same ANZAC spirit, as do our young cadets, including our St John volunteers present today.
Every town and city in New Zealand has a memorial that honours those who never came home.
As I have said before on these occasions, we do not glorify war with these memorials, we commemorate the lives that were lost, and we honour the values they fought for.
Today, this morning, we are gathered here to remember all those who have served their country, and all those serving today.
And as I said this morning, 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 connected 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 was forged and it is this that we recall and honour today with our commitment to the peaceful resolution of conflict wherever it occurs.