WA news LIVE: Tens of thousands pay respect at Kings Park Anzac Day dawn service
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10.05am
Tens of thousands pay respect at Kings Park Anzac Day dawn service
By Jesinta Burton
Tens of thousands of people have filled Kings Park at dawn to commemorate Anzac Day 110 years after the Gallipoli campaign.
The crowd brimming with veterans, dignitaries and their families surrounded the Cenotaph in the State War Memorial, the site of the state's largest service.
The sombre atmosphere was disrupted by a heckler yelling obscenities across the crowd, who was hushed by surrounding attendees.
Several speakers used the service to pay tribute to Arthur Leggett – WA's last remaining World War II prisoner of war – who died earlier this month at the age of 106.
Premier Roger Cook, Veterans Affairs Minister Paul Papalia and Opposition Leader Basil Zempilas joined defence personnel to pay their respects by laying wreaths at the memorial.
They were joined by Senator Michaelia Cash and One Nation Leader Pauline Hanson, who made a surprise appearance.
The conclusion of the service was marked by the roar of the RAAF flyover.
There are more than 100 Anzac Day events scheduled to take place at RSL sub-branches across the state, including a march throughout the CBD.
10.05am
Across the nation and around the world
Here's what's making headlines today:
White supremacist Jacob Hersant has led a small group of men in a coordinated stunt aimed at disrupting Melbourne's flagship Anzac Day dawn service.
The man who allegedly murdered Central Coast teenager Audrey Griffin was spared jail and placed on a supervision order months before police say he killed the 19-year-old, despite his lengthy history of violent offending and breaching restraining orders.
Surging numbers of working holidaymakers must be drastically curtailed for Opposition Leader Peter Dutton to achieve his promise of driving down overall migration as the number of backpackers with working visas hits 225,000 for the first time.
US President Donald Trump offered rare criticism of Vladimir Putin on Thursday (Washington time), urging the Russian leader to 'STOP!' after a deadly barrage of attacks on Kyiv, Ukraine's capital.
Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin Atlantic, sharply criticised President Donald Trump's 'erratic' trade policies on Wednesday, saying that they risk 'doing so much damage around the world' and that most Americans do not support them.
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He abandoned his idealism when confronted by the reality of World War II. 'He realised that a leader has to lead for his times. He had to bend his interests from the domestic sphere to the international.' Curtin famously wrote that, after Britain's 'impregnable fortress' of Singapore fell to the Japanese in just a few days, Australia looked to America as its great and powerful friend. 'Albanese can't repeat that,' observes Dean, 'because there's no one else to turn to.' 'A modern John Curtin,' says the head of the National Security College at ANU, Rory Medcalf, 'would take account of the strategic risk facing the unique multicultural democratic experiment of Australia. He'd unite the community and bring the trade unions, industry, the states and territories together in a national effort. 'It's certainly not about beating the drums of war, but we do need a much more open conversation about national preparedness. Australia might be directly involved in war, but, even if we aren't, we will be affected indirectly [by war to our north] because of risks to our fuel security, risks to the normal functioning of the economy and risks to the cohesion of our society. Is there scope to use national cabinet' – which includes the states and territories – 'to talk about these issues?' And the defence budget? Albanese is dismissive of calls to peg spending by set percentages of GDP. Apply that to any other area of the budget and you'd be laughed out of the room. The prime minister prefers to decide on capability that's needed, then to fund it accordingly. How big a gun do you need, then find money to pay for it. Medcalf endorses this approach of deciding capability before funding, but says that risk should come before both. 'And if you look at risk first, it will push spending well above 2 per cent of GDP and much closer to 3 or 4 per cent.' Regardless of what the Americans say or do. Do they turn out to be dependable but demanding? Or uselessly absent? 'Australia will need to spend more either way,' says Medcalf. 'The only future where we don't need to increase our security investment is one where we accept greatly reduced sovereignty in a China-dominated region.'