If you are reading this, thank a Teacher. If you are reading it in English, thank a Soldier
I have never marched and as a Vietnam vet ( 3RAR 1971) I say: what a huge relief that Anzac Day has come and gone. That highly stylized ritual massaged by well fed Anglo Celtic politicians, invoking Homeric images of the bronzed Anzac warrior, delivered with the sincerity and well rehearsed solemnity of undertakers presiding over a long dead corpse. The alleged ‘sacredness’ of the commemoration never fails to obscure the alternative narrative: In 1788 British settlers became the original ‘Fringe Dwellers’ with guns. Fanning out , they destroyed an advanced and diverse indigenous society. Later , they morphed into ‘Australians’ , and volunteered – sometimes with embarrassing alacrity – in a variety of imperial ventures or were complicit in the destruction of other people’s societies. Eg The Sudan, Boer War, Chinese Boxer Rebellion, invasion of Ottoman Turkey and, towards the end of WW1, even managed to squeeze in an invasion of the fledgling Soviet Republics. Then of course Korea, Vietnam, and more recently Iraq and Afghanistan . When this narrative supplants the state sponsored ‘dead corpse’ of Anzac Day, then, and only then will contemporary Australia achieve a measure of cultural sophistication, and embrace a more historically authentic story to commemorate service and sacrifice.I replied; Wow! I bet you’re a lot of fun at a party – maybe it’s a good thing you don’t join us on ANZAC Day. While we commemorate lost comrades and celebrate living ones you would be harping on the side about us invoking Homeric images of the bronzed Anzac warrior. I bet you were a hoot in your platoon. I don’t even know who your NCO was but I do feel sorry for him. Well written, bitter words that say more about you than those of us who served and choose to remember. Those who choose not to march and those who prefer not to remember at all, are used by the anti-military mob to suggest ANZAC Day is pointless or losing it’s significance. As in “My uncle never ever marched” It does nothing of the sort – it simply reflects that some are bitter, some are indifferent and some are still troubled by things they’ve seen and done. The majority, however choose to participate and I don’t think you should denigrate us for doing so. We served, we are proud that we did and if later in life you became bitter about it or earlier in life chose to avoid service for ideological or whatever reasons, then fine. If you despise ANZAC Day and what it represents so much then don’t talk about it. If we offend your sensibilities to such an extent that you think we shouldn’t have tried to stop Imperial Germany, Hitler, The Japs and assorted communists from taking over the world then retreat to your bitter bunker and stay silent while others secure your life style. Even though you have served and are obviously educated you still can’t work out that to achieve your measure of cultural sophistication you need soldiers to first secure the civilization.
At 8000 arrivals in the past year, the numbers are well up on previous years, so it’s easy to see why the Opposition is able to stir up community angstThe Opposition don’t need to stir up angst – the community can see for themselves that our borders are meaningless and we are being used. If one person arrives on our shores using the services of People Smugglers P/L then we have no border security.
We need larger population growth to sustain productivity. Up the quota and the problem is solved, without needing a tougher border-protection policy.We do need a larger population but I’d rather we chose who we accept – not have it forced on us as fait accompli Van Olsenen is so far out of touch when he says these people can be an answer to our labour shortage that his ability for rational thought seems to have been suppressed by his endless support for the thugs on the rooftops of our detention centres. It goes like this – at an Australian embassy somewhere….show me your ID papers and passport…do you speak English…what skill do you offer…can you support your family if they are with you until you have income NOT come down off the roof….we don’t mind that you have destroyed your ID and passport…we don’t care that you have no skills…we don’t care that you have destroyed government property….here is a job and citizenship and some money to help you bring in your extended family. Get real Peter. I understand that you are ideologically obliged to defend the scruffs on the roofs and to attack and/or attempt to find friction in the Coalition where none exists but for heaven’s sake, do try and use logic.
Where and when did the custom of Dawn Service begin? Reverend White was serving as one of the padres of the earliest ANZAC’s to leave Australia with the First AIF in November 1914. The convoy was assembled in the Princess Royal Harbour and King George Sound at Albany WA, my homeport. Before embarkation, at four in the morning, he conducted a service for all the men of the battalion. When White returned to Australia in 1919, he was appointed relieving Rector of the St John’s Church in Albany. It was a strange coincidence that the starting point of the AIF convoys should now become his parish. No doubt it must have been the memory of his first Dawn Service those many years earlier and his experiences overseas, combined with the awesome cost of lives and injuries, which inspired him to honour permanently the valiant men (both living and the dead) who had joined the fight for the allied cause. “Albany”, he is later quoted to have said, “was the last sight of land these ANZAC troops saw when leaving Australian shores and some of them never returned. We should hold a service (here) at the first light of dawn each ANZAC Day to commemorate them.” Thus on ANZAC Day 1923, 87 years ago this morning, he came to hold the first Commemorative Dawn Service. extract from an address I gave at last years ANZAC Day service in BrisbaneOver all my years I have never attended a Dawn Service here at my home port. Tomorrow that will be addressed. I wish all veterans and all those who support us, a meaningful ANZAC Day and if you end up fighting battles again do it better and don’t make the same mistakes twice. I remember all the friends of my fathers and myself whose souls we left on foreign shores – may they all rest in peace and may their widows and family be consoled by the value of their sacrifice.
Julia Gillard’s climate change adviser Ross Garnaut has put the cost of a carbon tax on electricity prices at $4 to $5 a week for the average household and has called for an urgent inquiry into what he believes is a “prima facie” case of excessive increases caused by electricity regulation in AustraliaNo one can say at this stage with any guarantee, just how much it will cost us, but be very sure that whatever price they put on it now will have no semblance to the final figure. Gillard will lose control and the Power companies will gouge more and more. Keep in mind that when power goes up everything goes up so $4 to $5 is only the start. My power bill has already increased by nearly $14 in the short few years of Anna Bligh’s reign so I’m a little skeptical about Garnaut’s SWAG (Scientific, Wild Arsed Guess)
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