the morning after the day before

(An address to the ANZAC Parade in Charleville, QLD, 2005)

90 years ago a group of Young NZ and Australian men faced a dawn that would change their respective nations. In blood they gave birth to a tradition that has been at the very heart of the psyches of the two nations ever since.

For a few years in the 60s and 70s the power of the ANZAC tradition looked a little shaky. Those of us who dwelt in the luxurious peace that our servicemen and women had won for us – often at the cost of their lives, decided we hated war. What we forgot was that those who paid the ultimate sacrifice, and those whose lives were changed for ever, hated war as well. None but those who are insane like war. By the sacrifice you service men and women made and continue to make our lives were set free. By the standards of bravery you exemplified we were enabled to be a generation that never had to serve. Slowly, as a product of the peace won for us by those who have served, I learned how important this day and the tradition it serves is for us, and for the generations that come after us. For those of us who haven’t served, let us commit to tell our children of the sacrifice that our men and women have made. Lest we forget, indeed.

The tradition goes on. So too does the bravery and the payment of all degrees of sacrifice. For those who have served in the New Zealand and Australian armed services, for those whose lives have been changed for ever by the horror of war, for those whose lives have been lost, not forgetting most recently those who died in the Kanimbla Sea King tragedy, serving the suffering people of Indonesia, we give our thanks. For those who currently serve in theatres of war or the threat of war, or natural disaster, we give our thanks. I personally pay tribute to the chaplains who seek to bring light amidst the darkness that is the inevitable corollary of war. We give you thanks.

May the Anzac tradition continue until the reign of God breathes peace and justice into all lives. Australian and New Zealand service men and women, we the civilian people of Australia and New Zealand salute you. Lest we forget.