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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Stephanie Convery and Natasha May (earlier)

Senator claims authorities advised she was ‘potentially a target’ for abuse – as it happened

Australia ANZAC Day Anthony Albanese Mark Evans Canberra
Senator Lidia Thorpe has opened up on her altercation outside a Melbourne strip club last week.
Senator Lidia Thorpe has opened up on her altercation outside a Melbourne strip club last week. Photograph: Martin Ollman/Getty Images

What we learned; Tuesday 25 April

And that’s where we’ll leave you this Anzac Day. Here’s what we learned:

We’ll be back with you bright and early tomorrow morning. Look after yourselves.

Updated

Collingwood take the Anzac Day AFL match

And Collingwood have won the Anzac Day AFL match at the MCG, coming back from 28 points down at three-quarter time to beat Essendon by 13 points, with the last goal kicked at the final siren.

Final scores: Collingwood 90 (13 goals, 12 behinds) to Essendon 77 (11 goals, 11 behinds).

Updated

A man has died after being caught up in a collision at the Olympic Dam mining site in South Australia, AAP reports.

The man, 25, from Two Wells, which is north of Adelaide, died at the scene about 5.30am on Tuesday, SA police said.

“The crash occurred within the boundaries of the mines,” they said in a statement. Police described the man as a pedestrian and did not provide further details of the collision.

The BHP-owned Olympic Dam mines copper and other minerals, about 550km from Adelaide. Major crash investigators are making inquiries and SafeWork SA has been notified as police prepare a report for the coroner.

Updated

Father Bob Maguire to receive state funeral

An offer of a state funeral made to the family of Father Bob Maguire, who died last week at age 88, has been accepted.

The details - including the date and location for the service - have yet to be announced, but the Victorian government has confirmed the beloved social justice advocate and Catholic priest will be honoured at a state funeral.

Victorian premier Daniel Andrews said:

Victorians will be invited to celebrate the life of Father Bob Maguire at a state funeral, honouring the people’s priest’s generosity, kindness, humour and service to the state.

Arrangements are currently being made with Maguire’s family and his foundation.

Lidia Thorpe says police warned her she is a potential target for abuse

Independent senator Lidia Thorpe claims she had been told by federal police to take care when she goes out in public, alleging in a new interview that authorities had said she was “potentially a target” for abuse.

The senator has opened up on her controversial altercation outside a Melbourne strip club last week, making further claims that provocation by a man was the cause of the highly-publicised incident.

Thorpe spoke to activist and YouTuber Tom Tanuki about the incident. In an hour-long interview published on Tuesday, she said she had rarely gone out in public in recent times, before attending a friend’s birthday party at the Melbourne club.

Thorpe said in the interview she had concerns about her safety when going out in public:

I have been advised a number of times by the Australian Federal Police that I need to watch where I go, that I’m potentially a target.

Thorpe claimed that a man “started verbally attacking me” once her group was outside the venue. She alleged the man had been “quite derogatory at me”:

This person could not help himself but to have a shot at me.

Thorpe said she described the man as “small penis” because she alleged the man had waited until she was outside the venue and with “all [his] mates” to criticise her. In a message to media outlets and politicians she characterised as critics of hers, Thorpe said “they need to know I’m not going away”:

I do want to bring this nation together, and sometimes that involves some really hard truths about what has happened and what continues to happen in this country to First Nations people.

Updated

Football update, third quarter

OK, so it pains me to inform you that the score at three-quarter time at the Anzac Day AFL game – Collingwood v Essendon – has Essendon in the lead by 28 points.

The Bombers are at 74 (11 goals, 8 points) while the Pies are sitting on 46 (6 goals, 10 behinds).

Updated

Poor crocodile: my colleague Khaled Al Khawaldeh has this story about a mysteriously decapitated 4m saltie in Far North Queensland. A little warning, the pics are quite graphic in this one.

Indigenous veterans commemoration service concludes

Our correspondent at the Redfern commemoration of Indigenous veterans has captured the final moments of the ceremony:

Updated

The aristocrat living in the Australian city of Wangaratta

The only Australian to play an official role in the coronation of King Charles III lives in the small Victorian town of Wangaratta – but most in the town have never heard of him.

Simon Abney-Hastings, the 15th Earl of Loudon, is one of 13 people appointed to play a ceremonial role at the 6 May ceremony.

In a statement provided to some media outlets, his private secretary, Terence Guthridge, said Abney-Hastings was “delighted” to have been invited to be the bearer of the great golden spurs, a part of the ceremony dating back to the coronation of Richard I (Richard the Lionheart), in 1189.

The mayor of the rural city of Wangaratta, Dean Rees, learned of Abney-Hastings only recently from media reports. Journalists from Melbourne have been scouting around the town trying to catch a glimpse of the royal, and his face was on the front page of the local independent newspaper, the Wangaratta Chronicle, on Friday.

Rees told Guardian Australia:

We certainly did not know that we had an earl – what is he, the 15th Earl of Loudon? He keeps a very low profile.

Read the full story here:

Updated

Linda Burney and Tanya Plibersek are laying wreaths as part of the Indigenous veterans Anzac Day events in Redfern park.

Updated

Football update

An important football update: Collingwood leads by two points at half time against Essendon at the MCG, with the score currently 37 (5 goals, 7 behind) to 35 (5 goals, 5 behinds).

Updated

Indigenous affairs minister urges Anzac crowd not to forget precolonial frontier wars

Linda Burney, the federal minister for Indigenous affairs, has addressed the crowd gathered at Redfern Park in an Anzac Day ceremony commemorating Indigenous veterans. She urged Australians not to forget the frontier wars committed against Indigenous communities during Britain’s colonisation:

I think the most important thing is that we come together, all of us, as people sharing this planet, to recognise what is a very significant day. It is a day where we remind ourselves of the men and women that went to other places to fight war on behalf of this country.

But it would be wrong for me not to also recognise the frontier wars that have been part of the story of this country, because they were going to tell the truth. That is a part of the truth of our shared history in this country.

It gives me great honour to be here … as someone who shares a history of this as well. But most importantly, thank you all for coming along today to pay homage to recognise and most importantly, to remember. Lest we forget.

Updated

If you haven’t yet read this review from Nick Buckley of possibly the most bizarre Smashing Pumpkins gig in without a doubt the kitschiest tourist attraction in western Victoria, I highly recommend you do.

Today’s cartoon from Fiona Katauskas takes on the rental crisis.

Statue of governor Lachlan Macquarie vandalised before dawn service

A statue of Lachlan Macquarie in the Sydney suburb of Windsor has been vandalised apparently overnight, before this morning’s dawn service.

The statue of the fifth governor of colonial New South Wales was splashed with red paint and spraypainted with the words: “Here stands a mass murderer who ordered the genocide” and “no pride in genocide”.

According to the Australian Museum, Macquarie “effectively declared war on the Aboriginal peoples of New South Wales”:

He authorised a campaign of “terror” against those “hostile natives” who didn’t submit to colonial rule: permitting them to be killed, and their bodies hung up in the trees as grisly warnings, or taken hostages as “prisoners of war”.

The mayor of Hawkesbury, Sarah McMahon, has described the vandalism as “appalling”, telling News.com.au:

There’s a RAAF base nearby and we are a military community, our community is very angry about the level of damage and the completely inappropriate choice of day to do it.

I understand people have strong views and feelings on issues, but this is not the appropriate way to express that.

NSW police are investigating.

Updated

More from the Redfern veterans’ march:

Essingdon v Collingwood kicks off

The classic Anzac Day triumph by Collingwood – ahem – I mean, clash between Essendon and Collingwood kicked off at the MCG about 12 minutes ago.

I’m not going to bring you regular score updates this arvo but the Bombers are currently a goal ahead in a rather low-scoring first quarter.

Updated

My colleague Rafqa Touma is at the Redfern march to commemorate Indigenous veterans.

‘Urgent action’ needed to overhaul Sydney’s cemeteries

One in three Sydney cemetery workers has quit in the past year as government indecision and systemic bullying plague the troubled sector, a review has found.

An independent review of OneCrown, the organisation that runs Sydney’s crown cemeteries found urgent action was needed to address “considerable” gaps in its governance framework.

OneCrown launched by the Berejiklian government in 2021 in a bid to merge NSW’s five large crown cemetery operators and ward off financial collapse. But indecision on the project’s future has left each operator having to maintain separate finance, HR, and payroll systems, heightened staff uncertainty and halted key investment decisions, according to the review.

The review said:

Delay will further inhibit the ability of OneCrown to realise its strategic objectives and potentially increase the risk that the Crown may not be able to adequately provide for the burial needs of residents of Sydney and surrounding areas into the future.

There are key investment and organisational decisions that cannot be taken in the absence of a government decision.

The operators – northern metropolitan cemeteries, Rookwood general cemeteries, Rookwood necropolis and southern metropolitan cemeteries – held collective debts of more than $300m in 2021.

Since then, OneCrown has taken numerous steps to amalgamate operations, including moving investment funds to other government entities and creating a single strategy.

- AAP

Updated

Thanks for your attention today! Stephanie Convery has the blog.

Tanya Plibersek: First Nations diggers were not treated the same as other soldiers

The minister for the environment, Tanya Plibersek, has also addressed the crowd at Redfern.

She gave a shoutout to the federal minister for Indigenous affairs, Linda Burney, and the NSW state minister for Aboriginal affairs and treaty, David Harris. Both are in the audience at Redfern Community Centre today.

I want to today extend my respect to all the Indigenous service personnel who have served, and their families who’ve made such sacrifices as well.

When you hear their stories, you hear the same … moments of great courage, the same bursts of terror, the same intense camaraderie and the same periods of boredom broken by the same wicked humour. You find the same complex feelings of pain and trauma and loss.

[But] the experience of First Nations diggers wasn’t the same as other soldiers. Not really, because … when soldiers came home historically they were not treated the same. Other soldiers weren’t turned away from the local pub. Other soldiers weren’t denied settlement assistance because of their skin colour. Other soldiers weren’t robbed of their proper pensions or left out at the national census.

It was to our great shame should that was true until well after the second world war. When Indigenous soldiers were asked to sacrifice so much and receive so little in return.

But one of the thing that makes me proud is that there is a generation of fighters of activists who have changed that story. In the last parliament, we saw five amazing speeches from five new Indigenous MPs in the Australian Labor party.

Updated

NSW governor: absence of same recognition to Indigenous veterans is effectively ‘a denial of their service’

The governor of NSW, Margaret Beazley, has just addressed the crowd gathered outside Redfern community centre in commemoration of Indigenous veterans on Anzac Day:

The coloured diggers march commemoration service is about pride and honor.

There hasn’t been a single external war in which Australia has engaged in which our First Australians have not offered their service. But there are stories of unequal treatment at their return. The absence of the same recognition as their comrades … [amounts] in effect to a denial of their service.

That this happened must remain part of our national consciousness. Without that national consciousness, we’re never going to be able to deal with ourselves as a people together.

Updated

Peter Dutton calls for better recognition of Vietnam and Korean war veterans

The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, says the service of Australians in both the Vietnam and Korean wars deserve better recognition.

This year marks 50 years since the end of Australia’s involvement in Vietnam and 70 years since the end of the Korean war. Dutton has made a video paying tribute to the Australians who severed in those conflicts this Anzac Day:

To this day, the Korean war can appear as a mere blip on the historical radar, receiving less attention than it should given the proximate storm of the second world war.

To this day, narratives of shame and controversy continue to colour the Vietnam War. Such was the enduring influence of the anti-war sentiment and protests at the time.

But our veterans deserve much better. Our long dead deserve much better. In the case of Korea and Vietnam, let us never forget this: Australians fought in foreign lands to defend those who desired self-determination and liberty.

Updated

The minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney, and chef Kylie Kwong are among the crowd at the commemorations for First Nations veterans in Sydney:

Updated

Assistant veterans affairs minister begins Anzac dawn service address

The assistant minister for veterans affairs, Matt Thistlethwaite, has stepped up in to deliver the first commemorative address at the Villers-Bretonneux Anzac dawn service.

Thistlethwaite begins sharing his personal connection to the village:

In 1918 at home in Botany in Sydney, Jesse Hickson received a knock on the door. The clergyman delivered the news that every parent of the time dreaded – Jesse’s son had been killed in action in the great war.

Private Warwick Hickson was an organ builder who became a soldier in June 1916. He lived around the corner from the home my wife and I lived in when we married.

In 1917 he was here in France, an infantryman in the 20th Battalion. On 9 July 1918, he was killed in fighting outside Villers-Bretonneux. He was just 24 years old. One of 46,000 Australians to die on the western front.

His mates buried him outside of Villers-Bretonneux. A good many others were buried close by and we place a cross on the grave of each and every one.

Updated

Anzac ‘Soccer Ashes’ trophy found after 69 years

After vanishing 69 years ago, an Australian sporting treasure has been discovered in mint condition in a suburban garage.

The unlikely find of the Anzac “Soccer Ashes” trophy has sparked calls for the long-lost prize to be used for future trans-Tasman football clashes.

The small wooden trophy – housing a silver-plated razor case carried at Gallipoli – was contested by the Socceroos and New Zealand’s All Whites until it mysteriously disappeared in 1954.

Inside it are ashes of cigars smoked by the Socceroos captain Alex Gibb and the All Whites skipper George Campbell after the first trans-Tasman match on Australian soil in June 1923.

Relatives of the former Australian Soccer Football Association chair Sydney Storey found the item packed away in a garage while clearing out his estate.

Read the full story from AAP here:

French town Villers-Bretonneux remembers Anzacs in dawn service

As night turns to day on the European continent, an Anzac dawn service has also begun in northern France.

On 24 April 1918, as Germans troops advanced towards Amiens they seized the village of Villers-Bretonneux. However, that night, Australian soldiers counterattacked and encircled it, and by the evening of 25 April – Anzac Day – the Germans had been driven out.

Each year, the town remembers the role Australians played in protecting their home.

This year’s service at the Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux began with Cpl Tarryn Roach of the Royal Australian air force, a Worimi man from the Port Stephens, playing didgeridoo before the dawn.

Updated

The last post concludes service at Gallipoli

As rosy-fingered dawn rises at Gallipoli, the last post followed by the reveille has wrung out from the bugle, concluding the service.

Updated

Van driver has lucky escape after crash with train in Victoria

More than 100 passengers have survived a nasty train crash in regional Victoria, escaping without injuries.

Emergency services were called to a collision between a V/Line train and delivery van in Yarragon at 8.20am on Tuesday, AAP reports.

A Victoria police spokesperson said the driver of the van was lucky to escape with minor injuries and taken to hospital for assessment.

But the van sustained significant damage, its contents sprawled across the railway crossing.

Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the collision and have called on anyone who saw the smash or had footage of it to contact Crime Stoppers.

Updated

A march commemorating Indigenous veterans has begun down Sydney’s Redfern Street.

Updated

US woman allegedly caught with unregistered ‘gold-plated’ gun at Sydney airport

A US citizen has faced court on customs charges after allegedly being caught with an unregistered gold-plated handgun in her luggage at Sydney airport, AAP reports.

The woman, 28, was charged after Australian Border Force (ABF) officers allegedly found the undeclared 24-carat gold-plated handgun on Sunday, the agency said in a statement.

The gun was allegedly unregistered and authorities claim the woman, whom they say travelled from Los Angeles, did not hold an Australian permit for it.

ABF officers charged the woman with breaches of the Customs Act that carry a maximum term of 10 years in prison, the border protection agency said.

ABF commander Justin Bathurst said the agency’s team, helped by sophisticated detection technology, were able to stop the gun reaching the community:

We have seen just how good ABF officers are at targeting and stopping illegal, and highly dangerous, goods from crossing Australia’s border.

The traveller fronted Downing Centre local court on Monday and was granted bail, according to the ABF statement.

The ABF said the woman remained subject to visa cancellation and removal from Australia, depending on the outcome of the court proceedings.

The handgun allegedly found in the luggage of a traveller from the United States.
The handgun allegedly found in the luggage of a traveller from the United States. Photograph: Australian Border Force/AAP

Updated

‘Cruel’ if Labor restores single-parent payment only until children reach high school, advocates say

Advocates have warned the Albanese government against adopting a “half measure” of restoring single-parent payments only until children reach high school age.

The women’s economic equality taskforce recently recommended reversing a Gillard government-era decision that reduced the age of children whose parents qualify for single-parent payments from 16 to eight.

Under the current scheme, single parents, most of whom are women, receive about $961 a fortnight, but are shifted to jobseeker when their child turns eight, receiving about $176 less a fortnight.

The Albanese government has promised to support the most vulnerable and is understood to be preparing to raise the eligibility age, although the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has said it “can’t do everything at once”, hinting the changes may be phased in or the threshold restored to an intermediate age.

The chair of the taskforce, Sam Mostyn, has said such a move would see “families falling back into poverty”, while the chief executive of Single Mothers Australia, Terese Edwards, has said it would be “cruel and demeaning” to reduce payments once children reach 12 years old.

Read the full story here:

Updated

Gallipoli dawn service begins

The dawn service on Gallipoli Peninsula in Türkiye has begun. Initial welcomes have been made and the call to remembrance is in progress.

People rugged up before the dawn service at Anzac Cove on the Gallipoli Peninsula.
People rugged up before the dawn service at Anzac Cove on the Gallipoli Peninsula. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Updated

Marles plays down cuts to infantry fighting vehicles in defence overhaul

The defence minister, Richard Marles, has played down criticism over cuts to infantry fighting vehicles, insisting that the government wants to “reshape the army” to have a greater ability to project power.

The army had planned to acquire up to 450 infantry fighting vehicles, at a cost of up to $27bn, to replace Australia’s Vietnam war-era armoured personnel carriers.

But in line with a recommendation from yesterday’s defence strategic review, the government has cut this number to just 129 vehicles, enough for one mechanised battalion. Instead, the government plans to accelerate and expand numerous other projects, including a land-based anti-ship missile system and new landing craft for the army.

The shadow defence minister, Andrew Hastie, said yesterday the army would be “diminished by the review” because “without infantry fighting vehicles we go back to a light infantry army”.

When asked by 2GB to respond to this criticism, Marles said he wanted to acknowledge Hastie’s service as “a very brave soldier in his time in the defence force”. Marles also referenced Anzac Day, saying he was “obviously mindful of the day and the dignity of the day so I’m keen not to get into a contest”.

But Marles added:

I’d simply say it’s only one category of fighting vehicle. What we are seeking to do is to reshape the army so that we have a greater ability to project. What we announced yesterday involved not just providing the army with longer range strike capability missiles, but also a greater capability to operate in a littoral environment – that is around coasts – which means we are trying to reimagine an army which is more mobile and can project. And that’s really in the context of a set of very challenging circumstances which we see in the world today.

Updated

‘We are all one’: Australians of different backgrounds attend Anzac march

For Phoebe Alexander, who is part of the Taiwanese diaspora community in Australia, attending Sydney’s Anzac Day March is “our way of being part of Australia”.

She is part of a volunteer group from the Global Federation of Chinese Business Women. The group are raising funds with the Rotary International BBQ in Sydney’s CBD as the Anzac march continues towards Hyde Park.

My father was part of the veterans from the second world war against the Japanese.

She says she hopes to see more Chinese people contribute to Anzac Day.

This is an important day for our association to help with the volunteering and to be part of Anzac Day. This is our way of being part of Australia.

She is glad to see people from different backgrounds applaud the March along Elizabeth St.

It’s wonderful because it reminds us we are all Australian. We are all one.

Updated

Marles says release of defence review before Anzac Day is coincidental

Richard Marles was also asked about the defence strategic review, given that the government chose to release it yesterday, the day before Anzac Day. At a few points in various interviews today Marles tried to avoid getting dragged into a political back and forth, saying he was “very mindful of the day”.

The 3AW host, Neil Mitchell, asked why the government had decided to release it yesterday. Marles replied:

We said quite a while ago, actually, that we were going to release the report in the first part of the year, and it was two months ago that I said it would be released in April. So, that it was going to happen in this week has been really on the cards for quite a while, and that’s the reason why.

Mitchell asked whether that meant the timing was “coincidental”.

Yeah, it is. And I think it’s possible to do that work on Monday and I’ll be doing it again tomorrow and through the week, whilst at the same time taking today to honour those who have engaged in the sacrifice of our nation.

Updated

‘That’s not what we’re seeking to do’: Marles responds to China’s ‘hype’ comment

On 3AW, Richard Marles pushed back at comments from China’s foreign ministry overnight that Australia should not “hype up the so-called China threat narrative”.

Asked for his reaction, the deputy prime minister said:

Well, obviously, that’s not what we’re seeking to do. As we spoke about Australia’s posture going forward and the mission of the Australian Defence Force in the future, at the heart of it is providing or making our contribution, along with our partners, to the collective security of our region, of the Indo-Pacific. And that’s really where Australia is coming from. What we want to do as a nation is to provide and to make our contribution to the collective security of our region, understanding that that’s really where the defence of Australia lies.

The interviewer, Neil Mitchell, asked Marles a very direct question:

Do Australians have to come to terms with the possibility of another war?

Marles replied:

I’m not going to speculate about that. I’m certainly not going to do it today. But even if you ask me that question tomorrow, I wouldn’t be speculating about that. I think really what we need to be doing is just making sure that we have a defence force which provides for the greatest strategic space for our country and which also provides for the collective security of our region. And our focus as a government is to achieve that.

(The then defence minister, Peter Dutton, attracted attention for saying on Anzac Day last year that “the only way you can preserve peace is to prepare for war”.)

Updated

In pictures – Brisbane’s Anzac Day parade

Veterans and serving members march in Brisbane today.
Veterans and serving members march in Brisbane today. Photograph: Dan Peled/Getty Images
A big turnout
A big turnout. Photograph: Darren England/AAP
Crowds at Brisbane Anzac Day
Members of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) are seen marching during the ANZAC Day March in Brisbane, Tuesday, April 25, 2023. (AAP Image/Darren England) NO ARCHIVING

Updated

Defence minister Richard Marles reflects on his grandfather’s service

The defence minister, Richard Marles, who attended the dawn service in Geelong, has done a round of radio interviews reflecting on Anzac Day.

Marles said his grandfather, Percy Pearce, was awarded a Military Cross for exemplary gallantry in the Battle of Pozieres in France in the first world war but never really spoke about the experience. Marles told 3AW:

I think he was greatly affected by the experience of being at Pozières. I knew my grandfather, he died when I was about 14.

I can absolutely remember watching the cricket with Grandpa. But it’s only later in life, really doing what I’m doing now, that I understand the meaning of what he did. He actually won a Military Cross at Pozières, which is a huge honour, but I, to be honest, had no appreciation of that growing up.

Last year I had the completely astonishing experience of being taken to the very spot where he won the Military Cross. He’s mentioned in Bean’s history of the first world war. And so it’s actually possible to locate where he was. And that was a hugely moving experience for me.

Updated

Sydney march moves to War Memorial

Updated

What is Anzac Day two-up all about?

Following on from that last post (no pun intended), you might ask: what is two-up?

As Bruce Moore, a history professor at the Australian National University, explained in the Conversation last year:

Two-up is an Australian gambling game in which two coins are placed on a small piece of wood called a “kip” and tossed into the air. Bets are laid as to whether both coins will fall with heads or tails uppermost. It is one of the core activities of Anzac Day celebrations - and a beloved tradition.

How did it become associated with Anzac Day?

From the very early period of the first world war, two-up assumed great importance among the Australian troops. Soldiers reported that two-up was played on the battlefield during the Gallipoli campaign, even when under shellfire. As the war dragged on, numerous stories were told about Australian soldiers’ obsession with playing it.

Moore explains that the game is associated with the Anzac qualities including mateship, larrikinism, anti-authoritarianism and egalitarianism:

Two-up was always illegal, because the game is an unregulated form of gambling (although from the 1980s it became legal in most Australian states on Anzac Day).

But in spite of the illegality, it was widely regarded as the fairest of gambling games, and at the time of the first world war the verbal command for the coins to be spun was not “come in spinner” (as it is now) but “fair go”.

Updated

Big lines at popular Sydney pubs for Anzac Day two-up

Sydneysiders like to play two-up on Anzac Day – and the Clovelly Hotel seems to be the place to be.

There is a queue stretching more than 100 metres down Clovelly Road of people waiting to play two-up.

Updated

‘It should be at least 14’: Victoria raising criminal age to 12 criticised by Indigenous leader

Last week the Victorian government decided to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 12, defying advice from the United Nations, human rights and children’s advocates and Indigenous organisations who have all pushed for it to be raised to 14.

Aunty Geraldine Atkinson, a Bangerang and Wiradjuri elder and co-chair of the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria, says the decision is “heartbreaking”.

I have very mixed emotions, I’m trying to focus on the positive that the increase is a slight improvement of the barbaric practice of sending 10-year-old children to prison, but 12 is not something to celebrate, it’s not a welcome move.

All the experts say it should be at least 14. First Peoples, we’ve been very consistent in saying it needs to be at least 14. We know too well the damage that is inflicted when our children are removed from community.

We have a Voice in Victoria and we’ve been using it – we’ve consistently and clearly urged the government to raise the age to at least 14 years of age. Instead they’ve gone with the worse standard permitted under international law.

The Age is today reporting that according to a senior government source who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the attorney-general Jaclyn Symes will tell her counterparts on Friday that Victoria will raise the age of criminal responsibility to 12, with a view to raising it to 14 in 2027.

Updated

Back in Sydney …

Roy Mundoy, who fought in Vietnam during his 38 years serving in the infantry, says:

It’s always good to see all the people turn out, especially young people.

Today is a very important day. It reminds us about all those people who went before us. They shouldn’t be forgotten.

He looks forward to bumping into friends from his time serving at the march in Sydney today. “When you’re in there you become great friends in the war, and after.”

Before arriving today, Mundoy received messages with news of the deaths of friends he served with.

We were always enjoying one another’s company. It’s sad when some people go. The only thing in life you can be sure of is you’re going to die.

Updated

Snowy Hydro 2.0 halted after fatal truck crash

Work has been halted on Australia’s largest renewable energy project after a fatal truck rollover, AAP reports.

A man aged in his 50s was behind the wheel of a Snowy 2.0 project truck when it rolled on Monday afternoon on the Snowy Mountains Highway at Dry Plain.

He was trapped inside the vehicle and died at the scene, police said.

Snowy Hydro chief executive Dennis Barnes described the incident as “incredibly distressing” and said the welfare of the project’s workers was the immediate priority.

This is a tragic event and we are supporting our Snowy 2.0 Principal Contractor, Future Generation Joint Venture, our teams and all those impacted in the community at this very sad and difficult time. Project operations have ceased until the night shift on Tuesday.

Federal ministers Chris Bowen and Katy Gallagher said the government expected the highest standards of safety on all worksites. They said in a joint statement:

Everyone deserves to come home safe from work. The government expects the highest standards of safety at Snowy 2.0 and all worksites and will engage closely with SHL and unions in the aftermath of this tragic incident.

Police have forensically examined the crash scene and are investigating the circumstances surrounding the crash.

Snowy Hydro 2.0 will connect two dams in southern NSW via 27km of tunnels and a new underground power station.

The $6bn project will effectively operate as a natural battery by using excess wind and solar energy to pump water uphill before releasing it during peak periods to provide power to the national electricity grid.

Concerns have been raised, however, about budget blowouts, environmental hiccups and workplace health and safety issues.

The construction site for Snowy 2.0 at Lobs Hole.
The construction site for Snowy 2.0 at Lobs Hole. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Updated

Pat Conroy ‘incredibly moved’ by commemorations in PNG

As mentioned earlier, the minister for defence industry and the Pacific, Pat Conroy, has attended the dawn service in Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea.

The service was held at the Bomana War Cemetery, which has more Australian war graves than any other cemetery in the world with more than 3,300 service personnel buried there.

Speaking to the Today Show, Conroy paid tribute to the Papuans who fought alongside Australians, and said “it was incredibly moving” see how close the relationship between the two countries still is.

Most people have heard of the fuzzy wuzzy angels. They transported Australian soldiers who were wounded. But Papuans New Guineans fought side by side. There are 40 buried here.

I had the privilege of meeting a 92-year-old veteran who joined up when he was 13 and lay a wreath … This small frail gentleman, who was still very mobile, I just … thinking about what I was doing when I was 13.

This gentleman joined up when he was 13 years old to fight alongside Australia in what was the battle for Australia and a battle for Papua New Guinea.

I had the privilege of going up to Kokoda last year for the 80th anniversary. To witness the landscape that Australians and Papua New Guineaians fought through was remarkable. It will live with me to the day I die.

Updated

Meanwhile in Sydney, the Anzac Day march is still going strong:

Updated

Anzac legacy ‘in who we are and who we aspire to be as Australians’, Hurley says

Speaking of the Anzac legacy, Hurley says Australians show its characteristics in times of war and natural disaster:

There is another intangible link. Australian servicemen and women are custodians of a legacy that began more than 100 years ago. Regardless of when or where service occurred, whether it was you who wore the uniform or a loved one, or if you simply acknowledge what service of others has meant our country, all Australians own and are part of the same legacy, the Anzac legacy.

Indeed, many of my soldiers before we deployed when talking with them, when you ask them what were they most concerned about, it wasn’t about them, it was about whether they would be good enough to uphold the legacy that had been passed to them.

Anzac Day brings that legacy into focus and the effect of that legacy goes beyond military service, though. It’s apparent in who we are and who we aspire to be as Australians.

We see the characteristics we ascribe to the Anzac legacy – mateship, sacrifice, courage and endurance – expressed across our communities. As a nation, we have seen examples of that legacy in the way we responded to cyclones, floods, the pandemic, fire and drought.

Updated

‘Each generation learns from those who have served before’: governor general

Hurley reflects on the intergenerational links which have always tied the country’s servicemen and women:

In the first platoon I commanded after graduation, my platoon sergeant and section commanders were all veterans of the Vietnam war. Like many others at the time, I was fortunate to be schooled by those with deep military and combat experience.

Each generation learns from those who have served before. Just as the Vietnam generation learned from those who served in the second world war, Korea and the Malay Peninsula.

We are also linked by the shared experience of serving together. Perhaps that emotion we refer to as mateship, marching with your mates is one of the most satisfying of life’s experiences.

The mix of feelings I have today would be common to all veterans. The pleasure of seeing old friends and colleagues, pride in the job undertaken for Australia in difficult circumstances, and in the shared and private moments of reflection on our service and of those no longer with us.

Governor general David Hurley during Anzac Day commemorations at the Australian War Memorial.
Governor general David Hurley during Anzac Day commemorations at the Australian War Memorial. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Updated

Hurley pays tribute to those who have served in Vietnam and Somalia

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the end of Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam war. Today I particularly want to acknowledge the service of more than 60,000 Australians who served in that conflict. The 523 men who gave their lives in the service of our nation, the impact of that service and loss on their loved ones, and the physical and mental trauma that many carried and many still carry.

There is a second anniversary being marked today. Earlier, I had the great privilege of leading the contingent marching to mark the 30th anniversary of Australia’s commitment to Somalia.

Vietnam and Somalian operations were different in scale, duration and intensity, but they were very strongly linked. They were linked because it was Vietnam veterans who taught the Somalia generation of servicemen and women our military skills and what it means to wear your country’s uniform.

Updated

Governor general gives Anzac Day address in Canberra

The governor general, David Hurley, has stepped up to deliver his Anzac Day address in Canberra.

He acknowledges Ngunnawal elders “for looking after this country for us for generation after generation.”

He also acknowledges the guests in attendance at the national ceremony including US ambassador Caroline Kennedy, former prime minister Tony Abbott, defence force chief General Angus Campbell and Australian War Memorial council chair Kim Beazley.

Hurley says:

On Anzac Day, we come together to honour those who have served, those who continue to serve, and importantly, the families that support them. We reflect on their collective sacrifices and what their service has meant to this nation.

Updated

More scenes from the Sydney Anzac Day March:

If you haven’t read Aaron Smith’s piece on the growing calls for Australia’s frontier wars to be remembered on Anzac Day, Gimuy Walubara Yidinji elder Theresa Dewar has told him:

It is very important for us to meet on that day to remember what went on in the war that was in this country first.

It involved our ancestors, it involved the early settlers, and it was on both sides.

Read the full story here:

Pictures from Indigenous veterans’ ceremony in Canberra

Earlier this morning, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Veterans Association commemorative ceremony was held at the War Memorial in Canberra. Here are some of the images from that event:

Yolgnu and Wangurri man, Warrant Officer Class II Tommy Munyarryan.
Yolgnu and Wangurri man, Warrant Officer Class II Tommy Munyarryan. Photograph: Tracey Nearmy/Reuters
People attend the Anzac Day Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commemoration Ceremony.
Indigenous music is played at the ceremony. Photograph: Tracey Nearmy/Reuters
A serviceman wears his badges.
A serviceman wears his badges. Photograph: Tracey Nearmy/Reuters

Updated

The veterans’ march has started in Canberra, with the governor general marching for the first time in the event’s history.

The MC of the National Anzac Day ceremony tells the audience:

The reviewing officer for today’s march will be the governor general of the commonwealth of Australia, his excellency, General the honourable David Hurley. Now, in a first here at the memorial, the governor general will also march this morning alongside the many veterans who have gathered in Canberra to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Australian defence force operations in Somalia.

Updated

The Anzac Day march has begun in Sydney’s CBD. Here are some of the scenes:

Doctors v pharmacists: who benefits from Australia’s turf war over prescriptions?

The You Deserve More campaign from the Australian Medical Association has an alarming message: allowing pharmacists to prescribe a wider range of medicines is a threat to patient safety and undermines the health system.

Queensland now allows pharmacists to prescribe medicines for uncomplicated urinary tract infections after a successful pilot and other states including New South Wales and Victoria are developing their own pilots so pharmacists can administer medicines such as health and travel vaccinations and prescribe drugs for UTIs, skin ailments, ear infections and birth control.

Unique audio of first world war soldier speaks across the years

I also got the chance to speak with the Australian War Memorial this year about a really fascinating item in their collection – what is believed to be the oldest surviving recording in the world of an ordinary soldier in wartime.

Henry Miller Lanser, a 24-year-old Australian soldier, found himself far from his family in Sydney at Christmas 1914. His 1st Battalion had arrived in Egypt in early December for training at Mena military camp before deployment in the first months of the Great War.

There, Lanser found a way back home to Chatswood through a “talking-machine shop” in Cairo:

This is rather a novelty to come to Australia this way. But here I am, can’t see and can’t be seen, or welcomed in the usual way with a hug and a kiss.

You can listen to the full recording and read more here:

Updated

Anzac Day events in Sydney

Attendees from across the generations have gathered in Martin Place this morning:

Updated

Earthquake off Sumatra poses no tsunami threat to Australia, BoM says

You may have already seen there is breaking news of a magnitude 7.3 earthquake that has struck west of Indonesia’s Sumatra Island, triggering a tsunami warning.

The Bureau of Meteorology says the tsunami warning poses no threat to Australia.

Updated

Thousands at Sydney’s cenotaph

AAP have more details on the dawn service at Martin Place, where thousands of people packed into the centre of Sydney for what is NSW’s longest-running dawn service.

Governor Margaret Beazley and premier Chris Minns were among those to lay wreaths at the cenotaph in Martin Place before daylight.

First held unofficially in 1927 by a handful of returned soldiers and an elderly woman, the service is the forerunner to services run by 320 RSL sub-branches across the state.

Glenda Rixon wore the medals of her late father Henry “Harry” Rixon, a Korean War infantryman, and was touched that the 70th anniversary of the Korean armistice agreement was noted in the Martin Place service. She told AAP:

Usually they don’t say anything – it’s like it’s the forgotten war.

I’m really proud of my father, he passed away eight years ago. It’s a special day, we used to always watch him march.

He didn’t speak much about his 13 months abroad but she recalled the warmth and mutual understanding that flowed through Anzac Day reunions.

He’d say ‘we were like brothers’ ... they had to rely on each other.

Wreaths are laid at the cenotaph during the Anzac Day dawn service at Martin Place.
Wreaths are laid at the cenotaph during the Anzac Day dawn service at Martin Place. Photograph: Mark Evans/Getty Images

Updated

People gather in Sydney CBD for Anzac Day events

My colleague Rafqa Touma is on the ground in Martin Place where people in Sydney gathered for the dawn service and the Anzac march to Hyde Park, which will start at 9am AEST.

She’s spoken to Diane Wilson and Tammie West who have been at Martin Place since the 4:30am dawn service. West said:

I’ve never seen that many people in a Martin Place dawn service. That tradition and the importance of the day is being reflected through many.

Updated

Release of defence strategic review on Monday not tied to Anzac Day, minister says

Keogh says the timing of the releasing the defence strategic review yesterday was about getting it out before the budget, not a deliberate move on the government’s part to link it to Anzac Day.

Patricia Karvelas:

There was the release of the strategic review on the eve of Anzac Day. Was that a deliberate decision by the government to try to link these two issues?

Keogh:

The timing was really about – as we said – that we’re committed to releasing this before we got to the budget, which is only a few weeks away now.

Updated

Minister stresses importance of ‘shared humanity’ in war commemorations

Keogh says the humanity of all sides in a conflict has to be front of mind when any government makes decisions about national security:

Certainly, I think one of the great things about the way in which we’re able to commemorate Anzac Day in Turkey, for example, which was the country we were in conflict, that are now friends with and they support us and being able to hold these commemorations, highlights the way in which these commemorations are focused on the shared humanity that we have.

That at the end of the day, no matter what side people found themselves on, they were doing the service of their nation, and they are human, they are people and they have families and they have made that sacrifice on behalf of their nation and they’ve come to foreign shores, recognising that humanity is a critical part about these commemorations.

I think that is something that has always got to be front of mind, for any government in any decisions that they need to make in any area of national security. Making sure that we think about those things and how they’re going to impact on our nation and that’s why you would have seen in the defence strategic review of statecraft is such a fundamental part of our what we need to do as a nation.

People pay their respects during the Anzac Day dawn service at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne.
People pay their respects during the Anzac Day dawn service at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne. Photograph: William West/AFP/Getty Images

Updated

Government needs to do more to help veterans, minister says

Matt Keogh is asked about the ex-servicemen who come back to Australia broken and the thousands who are currently homeless are facing homelessness.

Certainly we have a possibility to look after our veterans whether they’ve served overseas, whether they come with injury or mental illness from from that, or service in Australia.

We’re doing everything we can to do that. But there’s absolutely more to do and I acknowledge that of course and the apology that I delivered last year to our veterans’ community for not governments of all sides, not living up to that obligation in various ways.

And that’s why we’re trying to do better with processing through the claims backlog. That’s why we’ve brought on additional staff at the Department of Veterans Affairs. It’s why we are now looking at reforming the legislation that underpins our veterans entitlement system and that’s why we’ve brought forward legislation like the housing Australia future funding, as part of that will include funding, not just to provide housing to our veteran community where they need it but also the wraparound support that they need to get them into more permanent accommodation as well.

Updated

More than 1,600 Australians attend Gallipoli dawn service at Anzac Cove

Pent-up interest in attending the dawn service at Gallipoli has led to the biggest crowd of Australians at the ceremony since the Anzac centenary, according to Matt Keogh, the minister for veterans affairs and defence personnel.

Keogh, in Gallipoli along with more than 1,600 Australians, told ABC Radio:

It’s great to see that not only do we have more than three times as many people that were able to attend last year, as we were sort of coming out of Covid - but in fact, it’s the biggest numbers we’ve seen since the centenary of Anzac.

…There’s an element of people who were very interested to be able to come over the last few years and haven’t been able to attend and so there’s a bit of pent-up interest there.

I think what we really see is that people have seen the service that’s been rendered by our defence force personnel – not just way back in the first world war – but all the way through to recent conflicts as well as the assistance is provided through peacekeeping and humanitarian effort. And so people are interested in supporting our defence force and recognising that sacrifice.

Also from people I’ve been speaking to here, Australians who are trying to connect with their own family history, and they’ve got going great-great-uncles or relatives that did fought here or fought in other places, connected to the first world war in particular that wanted to come and show their respects and to commemorate that service and reconnect with that family history of their own.

Updated

End of Korean War in focus as Victorians mark Anzac Day

Tens of thousands have gathered across Victoria for Anzac Day dawn services, with a special focus on commemorating the sacrifice of Australians during the Korean War, AAP reports.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the end of the Korean War – often referred to as the forgotten war – where over 17,000 Australians served and more than 300 were killed.

The Shrine of Remembrance during the Anzac Day dawn service in Melbourne on Tuesday.
The Shrine of Remembrance during the Anzac Day dawn service in Melbourne on Tuesday. Photograph: Diego Fedele/AAP

Master of ceremonies at the Melbourne dawn service Justin Smith said the Korean War would only be forgotten if Australians let that happen.

And with Australians continuing to serve in the DMZ (demilitarised zone) between North and South Korea - still the deadliest strip of land in the world - the conflict has not ended.

Lieutenant Governor James Angus said the service was an opportunity to make amends to those who served and died in Korea after they had been largely overlooked. He told the crowd:

Every Anzac Day is both historic and tragic. Historic because each year marks the anniversary of another war, another battle. Tragic because of the terrible price paid by young Australians … to create our history.

Lieutenant Governor of Victoria, Professor James Angus AO delivers the governor’s address during the Anzac Day dawn service at the Shrine of Remembrance, Melbourne.
Lieutenant Governor of Victoria, Professor James Angus AO delivers the governor’s address during the Anzac Day dawn service at the Shrine of Remembrance, Melbourne. Photograph: Diego Fedele/AAP

Updated

Symbolic sea burial held at Gold Coast dawn service

At the Anzac Day dawn service at Currumbin on the Gold Coast, the local surf life-saving club held a symbolic burial at sea.

Each year the club launches surf boats to spread the ashes of servicemen and women who have passed within the past year.

An estimated 20,000 people gathered this year at the picturesque Elephant Rock and extended south down the Currumbin beach.

Club members hold oars for a symbolic burial at sea during the Anzac Day Dawn Service at Currumbin, Gold Coast.
Local surf life-saving club members hold oars for a symbolic burial at sea during the Anzac Day Dawn Service at Currumbin, Gold Coast. Photograph: Jono Searle/EPA
Club members hold oars for a symbolic burial at sea during the Anzac Day Dawn Service at Currumbin, Gold Coast.
Club members hold oars for a symbolic burial at sea during the Anzac Day Dawn Service at Currumbin, Gold Coast. Photograph: Jono Searle/EPA
Observers stand on the beach at Elephant Rock during the Anzac Day Dawn Service at Currumbin.
Observers stand on the beach at Elephant Rock during the Anzac Day dawn service at Currumbin. Photograph: Jono Searle/EPA

Updated

Former US navy vice admiral William Hilarides will lead the short sharp review of the combat service fleet flagged yesterday.

Asked whether an American leading the review means Australia is looking towards even closer ties between the navies of our two countries, Conroy says:

Our two countries already work closely together. William has had a long association with Australia. He’s the chair of our naval expert advisory panel that’s already providing advice on our naval acquisitions, and even when he was a serving officer in the US navy, he provided a critical role, he played a critical role in supporting our efforts, for example, he was instrumental in improving the Collins Class submarine to make it the best diesel-powered submarine in the world.

…We do have Australians involved with that review. It will be a short, sharp review, just to check that we got the right structure of our surface fleet to complement the acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines.

Updated

Pat Conroy says Pacific a priority area in defence strategic review

Pat Conroy will today speak with his ministerial counterparts in Papua New Guinea, which comes the day after the Australian government released the defence strategic review.

The bilateral security treaty which prime ministers James Marape and Anthony Albanese agreed to sign in January will be the subject of Conroy’s bilateral talks today.

Conroy says:

I have already engaged with my counterparts before the announcement of the defence strategic review [DSR] and one of the six priority areas the DSR was increasing our engagement particularly the Pacific.

Papua New Guinea is one of our dearest friends and closest neighbours. When I was here in January with Prime Minister Albanese, Prime Minister Albanese and Prime Minister Marape committed to signing a bilateral security treaty. That will be the subject of my conversation today with my ministerial counterparts.

The security of the Pacific has to be driven by Pacific nations and where there’s a gap, in one nation’s security, the obligation is on the rest of the Pacific to step up and it’s Australia’s position and that’s reflected in the defence strategic review.

You can’t but think about and be reminded about our close proximity at events like this where in world war two we stood soldier-to-shoulder to save not just Australia, but Papua New Guinea, and the DSR signals further regional engagement as we step up for a safe, secure and prosperous Pacific.

Australian defence industry minister Pat Conroy.
Australian defence industry minister Pat Conroy. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Updated

Pat Conroy attends dawn service in PNG

The minister for defence industry and the Pacific, Pat Conroy, has attended the dawn service in Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea.

Conroy said it was “incredibly moving” to attend the service at the Bomana War Cemetery, which has more Australian war graves than any other cemetery in the world with more than 3,300 service personnel buried there.

He tells ABC News Breakfast:

Across the three war cemeteries in Papua New Guinea, there are around 8,000 Australians who made the ultimate sacrifice and are buried there. So nearly 8% of all Australian’s war dead are buried in Papua New Guinea, showing the ferocity of the fighting and how critical this theatre was to the battle for Australia during world war two.

Updated

Albanese delivers commemorative Anzac Day address

Anthony Albanese has delivered his first commemorative Anzac Day address as prime minister. He told the dawn service in Canberra:

Every loss, every death at Gallipoli, was like a sapling torn out of the earth, leaving a hole where a tree should have eventually stood.

While so much has changed in warfare since, the great character of Australians at war has not, yet it must be acknowledged that we have not always honoured those who have fought in our name as well as we should.

Likewise, we must acknowledge the truth that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who donned the khaki fought harder for Australia than Australia was sometimes willing to fight for them.

Yet we learn and we keep stuck taking steps forward together.

Australians have gone overseas for us. They have gone because there is so much to fight for and what we have created as Australians and nurtured over generations is something we must never take for granted.

Updated

Good morning! Natasha May reporting for blog duty.

Updated

New Zealanders remember Anzac sacrifices

First light in New Zealand has brought new reflections on the sacrifices of armed forces, past and present, on Anzac Day.

Across the country, thousands have spent their morning at dozens of dawn services, from Kaitaia in the north to Invercargill in the frosty south.

Prime minister Chris Hipkins, commemorating his first Anzac Day as New Zealand’s leader, spent his morning at his local dawn service in Wellington’s north. He said he would keep his two grandfathers in his thoughts:

My mum’s dad was a signalman in the air force. And my dad’s dad had a very long period away from home from Greece to Italy to J Force [the NZ forces in occupied Japan] during the second world war. The lifelong impact that had on both of my grandfathers is something that I’ve never underestimated. I think about them on Anzac Day.

I think a lot of Kiwis will feel the same. They’ll be thinking about their grandparents or great grandparents and the enormous sacrifices that they made for us to enjoy the freedoms that we do on a day-to-day basis.

New Zealand prime minister Chris Hipkins (left) mingles at the Upper Hutt Cosmopolitan Club after attending the dawn service on Tuesday.
New Zealand prime minister Chris Hipkins (left) mingles at the Upper Hutt Cosmopolitan Club after attending the dawn service on Tuesday. Photograph: Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images

Serving New Zealand defence force personnel will also mark the day in a number of stations around the globe. In Lebanon and South Sudan, New Zealanders are serving on UN missions, and will commemorate with Australian colleagues. Dozens of New Zealanders serving in the UK helping to train Ukraine forces will also mark the day.

There will also be NZDF commemorations in the Middle East, Japan, Korea, and, of course, Turkey.

Defence minister Andrew Little and NZDF Chief Air Marshal Kevin Short are leading a delegation to Gallipoli, where New Zealand and Australian forces landed 108 years ago.

Aucklanders attend the Anzac Day dawn service at Auckland Museum on Tuesday.
Aucklanders attend the Anzac Day dawn service at Auckland Museum on Tuesday. Photograph: Fiona Goodall/Getty Images for Auckland War Memorial Museum

Updated

Thousands gather for Anzac Day dawn services

Thousands have gathered to commemorate the contribution of Australian defence personnel at Anzac Day dawn services across the country, AAP reports.

Events have been held in major cities, suburban centres and country towns honouring men and women who served in past conflicts and those serving today.

At the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, Anthony Albanese led tributes on the 108th anniversary of the Gallipoli landings during the first world war:

Every Anzac Day, from the greatest memorial to the simplest cenotaph, we honour all who have served in our name and all who serve today.

It is a collective act of remembrance, reflection and gratitude – one carried out by multiple generations of Australians and devoted to multiple generations.

The Canberra dawn service started with the sounds of a didgeridoo played by Sub-Lieutenant Jordon Bradshaw.

Wreaths were laid by governor general David Hurley and New Zealand high commissioner Annette King.

Ceremonial lanterns, which were placed in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier last night, were carried by veterans and serving members into the war memorial as the reveille was played by a lone bugler.

Albanese said it was important to remember the contribution of defence personnel who did not make it home:

As we gather here, in towns and suburbs across the country, and in former battlefields across the world, we are surrounded by their names and the places that made their final claim on them, laid out in an atlas of grief.

If we are to truly honour our veterans, we owe them something more than just gratitude. Just as they stepped for us, we must step up for them.

The prime minister said it was also important to acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who donned the khaki “fought harder for Australia than Australia was sometimes willing to fight for them”.

Anthony Albanese and partner Jodie Haydon with chair of the Australian War memorial council Kim Beazley attend during Anzac Day commemorations at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.
Anthony Albanese and partner Jodie Haydon with chair of the Australian War memorial council Kim Beazley attend during Anzac Day commemorations at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. Photograph: Lukas Coch/EPA

Principal air chaplain James Cox said the Anzacs at Gallipoli had established traditions of selfless service:

Let us therefore dedicate ourselves to taking up the burdens of the fallen and, with the same high courage and steadfastness with which they went into battle.

At the Sydney dawn service, Rear Admiral Christopher Smith said it was important to acknowledge the sacrifice of servicemen and women:

We gather today not to glorify war, but to remember ourselves, that we value who we are and the freedoms we possess.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton said Anzac Day was one of the most meaningful dates on the national calendar:

The values for which we stand are more enduring than any conflict, as long as we have – like our forebears – the courage and commitment to defend them always.

NSW rremier Chris Minns and leader of the opposition Mark Speakman at the cenotaph during the Anzac Day dawn service at Martin Place, Sydney.
NSW rremier Chris Minns and leader of the opposition Mark Speakman at the cenotaph during the Anzac Day dawn service at Martin Place, Sydney. Photograph: Mark Evans/EPA

The Anzac Day march in Canberra will mark 30 years of peacekeeping efforts in Somalia, featuring 120 veterans who served as part of Operation Solace, including the governor general, who commanded the 1RAR battalion.

This year marks 50 years since the end of Australian involvement during the Vietnam war, during which more than 500 Australians died and more than 3,000 were injured.

Services will also take place to mark Anzac Day in France, Papua New Guinea and Turkey.

Updated

Australia’s Antarctic icebreaker returns to Hobart

Australia’s $529m Antarctic icebreaker is set to return to duty after maintenance issues kept it sidelined for summer, AAP reports.

The RSV Nuyina arrived in Hobart yesterday after repairs in Singapore to fix problems with couplings connecting the vessel’s propulsion shafts with the clutches.

It arrived in Singapore last April for routine maintenance that was delayed when spare parts couldn’t be sourced.

The cargo ship Happy Diamond chartered to replace Nuyina in summer ran into several problems. It was forced to turn back from an Antarctic resupply voyage in November due to mechanical problems and in February briefly ran aground off Mawson Station.

The Australian Antarctic Division says Nuyina will prepare for a “complex” trip to sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island in May. It will deliver hundreds of tonnes of cargo, including barges, to the outpost and transport scientists undertaking ecological, ocean and atmospheric research.

Nuyina will return to Australia before heading south again to the Southern Ocean where further tests will be conducted on the vessel as part of its commissioning. Tests will then be carried out on the ship’s 150 science systems, including its moon pool, echosounders and winches.

Plans for the 2023-24 summer include multiple voyages to Antarctica to resupply stations and conduct marine research.

The AAD describes Nuyina, which replaced the Aurora Australis, as one of the most complex scientific icebreakers in the world.

Nuyina first arrived in Hobart in October 2021 after delays in construction and delivery. Its maiden voyage south was pushed back after issues with the ship’s alarm and monitoring system.

RSV Nuyina.
RSV Nuyina. Photograph: Australian Antarctic Division

Updated

Welcome

Good morning and welcome to our rolling news coverage of this Anzac Day. I’m Martin Farrer and while the dawn services have already taken place, my colleague Natasha May will have lots of updates as the commemorations continue through the day. In the meantime, here are some of our top stories.

The Chinese government has urged countries not to “hype up the so-called China threat narrative” after a spokesperson in Beijing was asked about Australia’s strategic defence review and how it had criticised its activities in the South China Sea.

With rallies and commemorations being staged across the country, calls are growing for the Indigenous people killed in Australia’s frontier wars to be remembered on Anzac Day. And we’ve got the fascinating story of how an Anzac made what is believed to be the world’s oldest recording of a soldier at war.

In sport, Collingwood and Essendon meet at the MCG later today with more hanging on this traditional Anzac Day fixture than at any time for 20 years, while the Dragons take on the Roosters in NRL.

The Australian Medical Association has launched a campaign against pharmacists being allowed to prescribe a wider range of medicines, warning it is a threat to patient safety. With a pilot scheme in Queensland having been made permanent, and with Victoria and NSW to begin similar trials, doctors are concerned pharmacists are being allowed to administer medicines such as health and travel vaccinations and prescribe drugs for UTIs, skin ailments, ear infections and birth control.

With all that, let’s get going.

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