Australia news live: political leaders condemn ‘disrespectful' booing of Welcome to Country at Melbourne Anzac Day dawn service

The Guardian

24-04-2025

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The minister for veterans' affairs, Matt Keogh, says booing heard at a dawn service in Melbourne was 'concerning'.
Speaking to Sky News earlier, Keogh said that it wasn't 'mandatory' for people to attend services, but if they did, they needed to be respectful.
These are days of commemoration, they're days of peaceful respect…
It's expected that people who do attend Anzac day ceremonies do so respectfully and it's concerning that some people didn't show due respect to that service.
Liberal MP Keith Wolahan, who has previously served in the ADF, told Sky News he didn't want to give the person responsible for the booing 'any more air time'.
I don't think that person deserves any more airtime than they've been given already … It's one person, one person out of a nation that gathered [en] mass to acknowledge this day. This day isn't about that person, it's about those who served and sacrificed. Share Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature Sarah Basford Canales
Peter Dutton has travelled to Samford for a second Anzac day event in his electorate today.
We're still in Dickson but the town in the mountains north-west of Brisbane hugs the electorate's border with Blair, held by Labor's Shayne Neumann on a 5.23% two-party preferred margin.
The opposition leader is joined again by his wife, Kirilly, sitting in the front row. He's expected to lay a wreath but make no remarks. Share
Joyce says there will be 'no cuts' to the department of veterans' affairs under the Coalition's commitment to cut 41,000 public servants from Canberra over the next five years. He says, 'I can promise you that when there will not be cuts in DVA'.
The Coaltion has said there will be no forced redundancies, and will look at natural attrition (where you don't refill a role when a worker leaves) and hiring freezes. Joyce says:
You look for people in retirement, and you do the cogent work of seeing if there can be any greater efficacy in the delivery, in the delivery of the taxpayers money by public servants. Now if, quite obviously, the…reduction in their frontline service means harm to somebody else, then it doesn't pass the test, does it?
Joyce admits mistakes were made in the past, over a lack of staff in the department of veterans' affairs and the culture within the department of defence – both issues which were brought up by the royal commission.
Joyce says he won't engage in a debate on the issue on Anzac day, and would talk more about those issues at a later time, but said he wouldn't 'start making excuses' about the problems that the royal commission identified.
I'm not going to start making excuses, nor… participate in a parochial debate on ANZAC Day. I'm quite happy to have it on another but let's just go with the process of if you make a mistake, you fix it up. And we have offered bipartisan support in making sure that this issue is fixed up. Share
Barnaby Joyce calls booing an 'utter disgrace'
Shadow veterans' affairs minister Barnaby Joyce has also spoken to RN Breakfast, and calls the booing in Melbourne an 'utter disgrace'.
Joyce calls the dawn service one of the 'most sacred' ceremonies in Australia:
… Australians are pretty easy going. We don't like to yak … on or carry on, but [it is] the most sacred day for us as a day and the dawn service is probably our most sacred ceremony. And any person who desecrates that in any way, shape or form, is a complete and utter disgrace. Share Luca Ittimani
RSL Victoria condemns 'completely disrespectful' behaviour during Melbourne dawn service
RSL Victoria has joined Victoria's premier and the federal government in condemning the 'completely disrespectful' behaviour.
The boos and yells recurred throughout a welcome to country delivered by Bunurong elder Uncle Mark Brown at the 5:30 am service at the city's Shrine of Remembrance. RSL Victoria's branch president, Robert Webster, said:
The actions of that very small minority were completely disrespectful to veterans and the spirit of Anzac Day. In response to that, the applause of everybody else attending drowned it out and showed the respect befitting of the occasion.
Melbourne man Dave said other attendees at the service rebuked the hecklers, telling 3AW:
The service was amazing this morning [but] those guys that were booing this morning and their partners, some of them ... it was really disappointing to hear it. but to hear the people turn to him and tell him that wasn't the place or the time to do it is what I was really proud of. Share
Matt Keogh claims he knows identity of person who led booing at dawn service
Veterans' affairs minister Matt Keogh says the booing heard in Melbourne was 'disgraceful', and it's understood that it was led by a neo-Nazi.
Politicians have all come out this morning condemning the behaviour. Keogh told ABC RN Breakfast:
What we saw occur there is frankly disgraceful. We know now that that booing was led by someone who's a known neo-Nazi. And 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.
Asked how he knows a neo-Nazi was involved, Keogh says:
I've seen the public reporting of at least one of the names of one of the people that was involved in that and that person is known publicly for their engagement as in neo-Nazi activity in Australia. Share
Earlier, we heard reports that boos were heard in a crowd at the Melbourne dawn service, during the welcome to country.
Bunurong elder Uncle Mark Brown was welcoming attendees.
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, responded to those reports on ABC radio this morning, saying, 'It's beyond disappointing'. Bunurong elder delivers the Welcome to C country during the Anzac Day dawn service at Melbourne's shrine of remembrance. Photograph: Diego Fedele/AAP Share
The minister for veterans' affairs, Matt Keogh, says booing heard at a dawn service in Melbourne was 'concerning'.
Speaking to Sky News earlier, Keogh said that it wasn't 'mandatory' for people to attend services, but if they did, they needed to be respectful.
These are days of commemoration, they're days of peaceful respect…
It's expected that people who do attend Anzac day ceremonies do so respectfully and it's concerning that some people didn't show due respect to that service.
Liberal MP Keith Wolahan, who has previously served in the ADF, told Sky News he didn't want to give the person responsible for the booing 'any more air time'.
I don't think that person deserves any more airtime than they've been given already … It's one person, one person out of a nation that gathered [en] mass to acknowledge this day. This day isn't about that person, it's about those who served and sacrificed. Share Luca Ittimani
'Anzac spirit lives on in today's soldiers,' major general tells Sydney crowd
Staying with Sydney's dawn service, the crowd heard from Major General Matt Burr, commander of the second division of Army reserves, commemorating the sacrifices of service men and women past and present:
Service before self is the straight line that runs through our history and binds us together …
I can tell you that the Anzac spirit lives on in today's soldiers, sailors and aviators. The second division is tasked with defending Australia, and we stand ready to do just that.
Burr said defence forces had displayed the 'Anzac legacy [of] courage, endurance and sacrifice' since world wars one and two in conflicts in the Malayan emergency, Korea, Vietnam, East Timor, Iraq, Afghanistan and peacekeeping missions:
It is something we see when we deal with adversity. Australians embrace nation before self and serve with dignity and pride when our country is most in need. Share Luca Ittimani
Thousands gather despite showers for Sydney's dawn service
Thousands gathered for an Anzac Day service before dawn in Sydney's Martin Place despite intermittent showers.
Veterans and members of the public wore raincoats and carried umbrellas at a 4:30am service bookended by rain to mark 110 years since Australian and New Zealand defence forces landed at Gallipoli.
The crowd stood in silence as defence personnel spoke and the Australian Army band played Abide With Me, God Save the King and the national anthems of New Zealand and Australia.
Labor frontbencher Tanya Plibersek and Liberal frontbencher Sussan Ley laid wreaths at Sydney's Cenotaph on behalf of the prime minister and opposition leader, who were each attending other events around the country this morning.
Also in attendance were New South Wales' premier, Chris Minns, the state opposition leader, Mark Speakman, and Sydney's lord mayor, Clover Moore. Share
Good morning,
Krishani Dhanji here with you, thanks to Martin Farrer for getting us started this morning.
The prime minister is in Canberra, while Peter Dutton is in Brisbane for Anzac day dawn ceremonies this morning, as we come to the pointy end of this election campaign.
We'll bring you all of that as it comes. Share
There are reports from Melbourne that some of the crowd at the dawn service at the Shrine of Remembrance were booing proceedings.
The Age and the Australian report that a group of men shouted over Bunurong elder Uncle Mark Brown as he welcomed attendees to his father's land.
The Australian heard shouts of 'this is our country' and 'we don't have to be welcomed'.
They also reportedly interrupted an address by the Victorian governor, Margaret Gardner, booing her Acknowledgement of Country. Share
Dawn services take place across Australia
Veterans and members of the public are attending services across the country. In Sydney: Veterans take shelter beneath a poncho as they participate in the annual Anzac Day dawn service at the Martin Place Cenotaph in Sydney. Photograph: Saeed Khan/AFP/Getty Images
In Melbourne: People gather to pay their respects during the Anzac Day dawn service at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne. Photograph: Martin Keep/AFP/Getty Images
And in Canberra: Members of the Catafalque party dismount during the Anzac Day dawn service at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP Share
Peter Dutton drags Coalition primary vote to lowest levels in YouGov poll
Though the campaigns are officially on pause this morning for Anzac Day events, we are now barely a week from election day – and the polls are continuing to look bad for the Coalition.
The Coalition's primary vote plunging to its lowest level in a leading poll as the election looms large, Australian Associated Press reports.
The Coalition's primary vote has dropped to 31%, down from 33% last week, the latest YouGov poll provided to AAP shows. Labor's primary vote is up 0.5% to 33.5%.
The lowest-ever primary vote the Coalition had received in YouGov polling is driven by the opposition leader's unpopularity, the organisation's director of public data, Paul Smith, says.
'The public have clearly made a decision that they don't want Peter Dutton as prime minister,' he told AAP. 'The Coalition is going backwards at a rate of knots.'
The YouGov polling shows Labor leading the Coalition by 53.5% to 46.5% on a two-party preferred basis.
Labor's support is higher than its 2022 federal election result of 52.1%, while the coalition's is 4.7% lower than it achieved at that election.
Anthony Albanese (50%) has also extended his lead over Dutton (35 %) as preferred prime minister.
Dutton's net satisfaction rating dipped to minus 18 from minus 10 last week while Albanese's was down slightly to minus seven from minus six. Share
Here are some images from the dawn services attended by the prime minister and opposition leader. As a reminder, Peter Dutton is in his electorate of Dickson in Queensland, while Anthony Albanese is at the War Memorial in Canberra: Peter Dutton at an Anzac Day dawn service ceremony at the Norths Leagues Club in Kallangur. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP Anthony Albanese speaks during the Anzac Day dawn service at the Australian War Memorial. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP Share
Paul Daley on Anzac Day's increasing Christian elements
While Australia becomes increasingly secular, today's Anzac services will be steeped in religious imagery and terminology, writes Paul Daley.
He argues that the 'abundance of Christianity in Anzac Day services stands to emotionally and culturally isolate more and more people':
The Australian War Memorial's Anzac dawn service is popularly revered as a solemn and respectful commemoration of Australia's participation in the Gallipoli invasion in 1915 – an event many still (fallaciously, I've long argued) cling to as the birth of the Australian nation.
But not everyone believes the ceremony ought continue to include elements of traditional Christian worship as it conventionally has, and as it did last year and doubtless will again this year. Last year, again, there were Christian hymns. The Lord's Prayer. A presiding Christian chaplain.
Read his full piece here: Share Emily Wind
The opposition leader has issued a statement to mark Anzac Day as 'one of the most significant, solemn and sacred days' on the Australian national calendar.
Peter Dutton said that on this particular Anzac Day, 'we will especially feel the weight of history'.
2025 marks 80 years since the end of the second world war. That global conflagration engulfed almost every continent and almost every country. Barely a city or town, a suburb or street, a community or citizen was unscathed in some way by the catastrophe of that all-encompassing conflict.
On this 80-year anniversary, Dutton expressed his gratitude 'to the one million Australians who served and served with great honour':
We honour the 39,000 Australians who gave their lives. They experienced the horror of war to defeat tyranny and restore peace.
As the custodians of that peace, it's our duty to deter tyranny and prevent catastrophic war. In that duty, may we never waver in effort, energy and endeavour – spurred on by the souls we commemorate on Anzac Day. Lest we forget. Share
The prime minister attended the service at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.
Anthony Albanese said this morning it was important to take time out of the flurry of campaigning to honour Australia's defence forces, 110 years after the Gallipoli landings.
'As we gather around cenotaphs or watch the parades, we reflect on all who have served in our name and all who serve now,' Albanese said.
'We contemplate the debt we owe them – those who finally came home, their hearts reshaped by all they had seen and those who tragically never did.
'Anzac Day asks us to stand against the erosion of time. So 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.' Share Sarah Basford Canales
Peter Dutton attends dawn service in his electorate of Dickson
It was an early morning for media following Peter Dutton on his campaign bus.
The opposition leader is in his own electorate of Dickson, north of Brisbane, visiting the Norths Leagues & Services Club in Kallangur for an Anzac dawn service.
It's a dreary morning for the solemn event, with the rain proving relentless.
Dutton was joined by his wife, Kirilly, in the front row under a marquee sheltered from the rain. Share Martin Farrer
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I'm Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it'll be Krishani Dhanji with the main action.
The leaders of the major parties have paused their campaigns this morning to attend Anzac Day dawn services. The prime minister has been at the service at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, while the opposition leader was at an event in Brisbane in his own electorate. Albanese said the memory of the fallen must be kept alive while Dutton said it was Australians' 'duty to deter tyranny and prevent catastrophic war'. More coming up.
Our top story this Anzac Day morning is that the defence department has issued a 'respectful request' to veterans such as the shadow defence minister, Andrew Hastie, and others who are standing as election candidates to stop using pictures of themselves in military uniform on their campaign material.
Another of our top stories is the Coalition pledging that if they got into government they would abandon a longstanding Howard-era target for a two-thirds share for skilled migrants in an effort to slash permanent migration by 25%, or 45,000 people, next year.
They need to make an impact, because a poll out today shows its primary vote has slipped to 31% with Labor up to 33.5%. Labor is leading by 53.5% to 46.5% on a two-party preferred basis, matching strong numbers in other recent polls. Share