Australian politics and news live: Outrage as Anzac Day dawn services disrupted by protesters, hecklers

West Australian

24-04-2025

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Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has slammed 'disrespectful' protestors at Friday morning's Anzac day dawn service in Melbourne.
Ms Allan condemned the group that interrupted by screaming and shouting during Bunerong elder and senior cultural heritage officer Mark Brown's welcome to country.
'(It) runs counter to why we gather at the Shrine at dawn (with) hundreds of thousands people across the country simultaneously,' Ms Allan said on the ABC.
'They gather to never forget what war is like and why it is so important so we can gather peacefully today because of that sacrifice.'
Loud heckling and booing was heard on speakers as the protestors stood near the microphones, prior to the dawn service ceremony.
Multiple men could be heard yelling.
'Give us our country back,' one screamed and 'we don't have to be welcomed,' another could be heard yelling
Despite the abuse, Mr Brown persisted in delivering the heartfelt Welcome to Country, with the crowd responding with cheers of support.
One of the men who hurled abuse at Brown has been identified as a neo-nazi.
After the ceremony, he was seen being escorted from the Shrine of Remembrance by police.
Victoria Police confirmed they are aware of a small group disrupting the dawn service at the Shrine of Remembrance this morning.
'Police identified as 26-year-old man from Kensington male in relation to the behaviour. He has subsequently been interviewed for offensive behaviour and police will proceed via summons.
'The male has been directed to leave the Shrine of Remembrance.'
A solemn memorial has been marred by booing as a small cohort of hecklers interrupted a Welcome to Country ceremony at an Anzac Day dawn service.
Hushed whispers earlier filled the air as masses of people turned out under the cloak of pre-dawn darkness in Melbourne on Friday to commemorate those who paid the ultimate sacrifice.
Some 110 years since Australian and New Zealand soldiers rowed towards the desolate shores of Gallipoli at half light during World War I, tens of thousands of Victorians attended the Shrine of Remembrance for one message: lest we forget.
With the crescent moon still hanging overhead and the forecourt of the war memorial illuminated only by the deep red glow, attendees stood shoulder to shoulder in the chilly morning to mark Anzac Day.
But the peace was broken during Bunurong elder Mark Brown's Welcome to Country, when heckles and boos came from members of the crowd.
Read the full story here.
King Charles has sent a message to Australian veterans of WWII, in this 80th anniversary year of the war's end, thanking them for their selfless service.
'The passing of the years has in no way diminished the courageous deeds of those who sacrificed so much in the line of duty and in the pursuit of peace, freedom and justice,' the King says in the message released to coincide with Anzac Day.
'For many years now, you have carried the memory of that dreadful conflict, and the weight of grief for others who fell in your country's service.
'I am always deeply touched when I hear of the love and pride veterans feel for their fallen comrades and family members, and that there are few days in which they do not think of them.
'I know that it is no small burden to bear that the final resting places of the fallen are often so far from home.'
The King has called for everyone to remain vigilant in upholding the values our soldiers fought for during the Second World War.
'Like others of my generation, I owe my peaceful childhood to the steadfast efforts of those of your comrades, with yourselves, in overcoming tyranny. For this I feel the most profound gratitude,' he says.
The King also pays tribute to current serving personnel and all Australian and New Zealand veterans, who he says continue to enact the indomitable spirit of Anzac.
'It is my fervent hope that the years have brought you to a place of peace, and that peace shall remain with you always.'
The Nightly's Katina Curtis was on hand as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese solemnly as he gazed over the 25,000 people gathered for the national Anzac Day service.
They spilled off the new parade ground in front of the War Memorial and down Anzac Parade towards the shores of the lake and Parliament House.
'We who are gathered here think of those who went out to the battlefields of all wars, but did not return,' Mr Albanese said, giving the Anzac dedication.
'We feel them still near us in spirit. We wish to be worthy of their great sacrifice.'
Read the full story here.
Veterans Affairs Minister Matt Keogh says the disruption of the Anzac Day service in Melbourne is 'completely inappropriate and disgusting'.
He referred to reports that booing of Indigenous soldiers and a Welcome to Country were led by someone known to be involved in neo-Nazi activities.
'Frankly, when we come together to commemorate on Anzac Day, we're commemorating some of those soldiers who fell in a war that was fought against that sort of hateful ideology,' he tells Radio National.
'And so it was completely disrespectful, and is not something that's welcomed.'
Barnaby Joyce, the shadow minister for veterans affairs, says people who decide to make Anzac Day and the dawn service a platform for their protests should be held in 'total and utter contempt'.
'Any person who desecrates that in any way, shape or form is a complete and utter disgrace,' he tells Radio National, noting that Anzac Day is Australia's most sacred day.
As well as a Palestine protester in Canberra this morning, Melbourne's dawn service was also interrupted.
Members of a far-right group booed and heckled during the welcome to country for Victoria's main dawn service at the Shrine of Remembrance.
Onlookers said it was 'concerning' according to Sunrise as you could hear the group over the speakers, as they were standing near the microphones screaming things like 'it's Australia' and 'we're here for the Anzacs'.
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After the solemnity of the Last Post and minute's silence, the Canberra War Memorial service came to and end with a benediction, urging the crowd to 'be of good courage, hold fast to that which is good'.
In the moment of silence that followed, a lone voice on the parade ground shouted, 'Free Palestine.'
Someone called out, 'Kick a landmine.'
Another man in the crowd also called out, adding: 'f**k off'.
New Zealand high commissioner Andrew Needs and NSW Governor Margaret Beazley have laid wreaths as bagpipes played the Lament at the War Memorial in Canberra.
Deputy chief of Navy Read Admiral Matt Buckley tells the story of the Buck family who gave generations of service to Australia.
'Our history tells us much about who we are as a nation,' he says.
'It illustrates that a culture of service is and always has been the beating heart of our national identity,'
Opposition leader Peter Dutton has recounted the stories of two veterans in his message of remembrance this Anzac Day.
Mr Dutton singled out two men among so many who made victories in World War Two possible: Australians John Holmes and Thomas Derrick.
He honoured Brisbane-born Holmes, who enlisted in the air force and embarked on two tours of duty but died ages 23 on his 44th straight mission when his Lancaster bomber was hit by enemy fire.
'A world away, Thomas Derrick was preparing for his next deployment,' Mr Dutton said.
'The South Australian was a seasoned and decorated soldier. He'd been a Rat of Tobruk. He'd displayed gallantry in running through a barrage of grenades in Egypt and he'd received the Victoria Cross for clearing ten Japanese machine-gun posts in Papua New Guinea.'
Read the full story here.
The national dawn service has heard the haunting sounds of a didgeridoo reverberating off the amphitheatre of the new parade ground at the Australian War Memorial.
This is followed by the hymn O Valiant Hearts.
The Prime Minister read the Anzac Day dedication to make the hour in 1915 when 'ANZAC became one of the immortal names in history'.
'We who are gathered here think of those who went out to the battlefields of all wars, but did not return,' Mr Albanese says.
'We feel them still near us in spirit. We wish to be worthy of their great sacrifice.
'Let us therefore once more dedicate ourselves to the ideals for which they died.
'As the dawn is even now about to pierce the night so let their memory inspire us to work for the coming new light into the dark places of the world.'