Australians and New Zealanders commemorate war dead on Anzac Day
MELBOURNE Australia AP Hundreds of thousands of people gathered across Australia and New Zealand on Friday for dawn services and street marches to commemorate their war dead on Anzac Day Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and opposition leader Peter Dutton took a day off campaigning ahead of general elections on May as a mark of respect At least two Australian services were disrupted by protests April is the date in when the newly formed Australia and New Zealand Army Corps landed on the beaches of Gallipoli in northwest Turkey in an ill-fated campaign that was the soldiers first combat of World War I New Zealand prime minister commemorates Anzac Day in Turkey New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon traveled to Gallipoli to commemorate the th anniversary of the landing day King Charles III who is the head of state of New Zealand sent a message thanking that country s World War II veterans for their system as the th anniversary of the end of that conflict nears The New Zealand goverment was aware of surviving veterans in that country the news website Stuff declared Albanese attended a dawn facility at the Australian War Memorial in the national capital Canberra Each year we renew our vow to keep the flame of memory burning so brightly that its glow touches the next generation and the generation after that Albanese informed a gathering of people Dutton laid a wreath at a dawn provision in his hometown Brisbane Hecklers disrupt dawn services in Melbourne and Perth A small group of hecklers disrupted a dawn facility at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne with boos and jeers The booing began when a local Indigenous man Mark Brown started the system with a so-called Welcome to Country a ceremony in which Indigenous Australians welcome visitors to their traditional land The interruptions continued at any mention of Indigenous soldiers Hecklers yelled this is our country and we don t have to be welcomed echoing a slogan of the minor party Trumpet of Patriots The party s extensive advertising is funded by mining magnate Clive Palmer and is inspired by U S President Donald Trump s policies The hecklers were drowned out by the applause of others who urged Brown to continue Veteran Affairs Minister Matt Keogh announced the booing was led by someone who s a known neo-Nazi We re commemorating specific of those soldiers who fell in a war that was fought against that sort of hateful ideology and so it was fully disrespectful and it s not something that is welcome at Anzac Day commemorations ever Keogh advised Australian Broadcasting Corp Police declared a -year-old man had been directed to leave the institution The man had been interviewed over an allegation of offensive behavior and would be issued a summons to appear in court a police report revealed A heckler also disrupted the Welcome to Country at the main dawn organization in the Western Australia state capital Perth Western Australia Premier Roger Cook condemned the interruption as totally disrespectful and disgusting This is a solemn occasion It s one where we should come together as a public and for someone to use it to make a political point and in that disrespectful way is really quite unacceptable Cook disclosed Source
