Posted by Kevin Bates A tinge of sadness for me too as it is the first Anzac following our involvement in a war that we helped to start. Our military personnel seem to have conducted themselves with real balance and skill, but for many of us, they shouldn't have been there in the first place. This campaign for me is not one to be celebrated. John Howard used his Anzac speech to claim that this was a just campaign - not a claim that many Australians would embrace - using such a sacred or ritual occasion to further a political position was disappointing and unworthy. War is always a disaster for all concerned - no one really wins - but the heroism of so many of our servicemen and women is certainly something to be thankful for and proud of and I join in saluting their memory and their precious legacy. May their big hearts inspire a big-hearted Australia to move forward from here.
on April 25, 2003, 5:50 pm
Today's Anzac Day refreshes my love of our country and of the spirit that has forged it for so long. Today's event has been most moving - celebrating a new moment in which new peoples from so many cultures have taken ownership of this nation and are contributing to it - and indeed celebrating Anzac Day with all the enthusiasm of the migrants of an earlier era.
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