ANZAC DAY - 2025

Lest We Forget.

It ought to be that simple. But it isn't.

What is it we need to remember? The loss of lives in war is a simple enough answer, but as is the case with so many simple answers, it oversimplifies. The notion of 'life lost' needs to extend far further than those who died; after all, many who returned from war soon discovered, as Eric Bogle poignantly put it, that 'there are worse things than dying'. The generations that lived lives of extraordinary pain and struggle prior to the formalised understanding of post-traumatic stress did so without the support we now know is desperately needed. (And which is still inadequate far too often, it must be said.) Alcoholism, domestic violence and suicide were the all-too-frequent consequences of war trauma. Many of those who suffered as a result of war not only never served, but they were a generation or more removed from it.

It's easy enough to absorb an understanding of this kind of impact, but without applying it to the lives, deaths and fates of First Nations Australians, we fail to remember some things that were scarcely learned in the first place. Because this was our nation's first national war. The war against Indigenous Australians came as a result of invasion. It was an ugly, brutal, cruel, and hopelessly lop-sided one. It was fought with guns against unarmed women and children, it was fought through the claiming of land and songline that obliterated the possibilities of life, culture and language continuing in its traditional ways. It came with policies designed to breed out Indigeneity. It stole generations of children. And it came with the 'gifts' of blankets recovered from those who'd died from smallpox, and flour laced with strychnine. This is particularly worth noting on ANZAC Day, as whilst we acknowledge via international law the abhorrence of chemical and biological warfare, we do not acknowledge as part of our nation's story that we once engaged in it.

Some still struggle to see 'colonisation' as war. Of course it was war. Colonisation is a myth perpetuated by those who wish to soften Australia's historical narrative for their own moral gain. Occupied spaces cannot be colonised; only invaded. It's why that Temu Bond villain, Elon Musk, strives to colonise Mars and not to invade it. If ANZAC Day is to remember those who fought in war and those who experienced its aftermath, the story of what happened to First Nations people ought to be at the forefront of all of our hearts and minds. It's not small hypocrisy that John Howard once decried what was described as a 'black armband' view of history whilst being one of the most ardent supporters of ANZAC Day, which has the Gallipoli campaign at its core.

Some seem to believe that by acknowledging our national villainy, we compromise the memory of our national heroism that has courage at its heart. This is not the case. What this acknowledgement does do, however, is undermine a specifically Eurocentric form of ANZAC mythmaking; the idea that Australian identity was somehow forged on foreign shores through acts of great courage and defiance. The Gallipoli campaign - a catastrophic military failure has created for many Australians a kind of Mecca. And few Australians make their way to Pinjarra to acknowledge the massacre committed there, or at any of the one hundred-plus confirmed massacre sites about the country. All should reflect on why this is the case.

There is still an us-and-them division at the heart of Australia's sense of itself. ANZAC Day - for all of its importance in acknowledging our most courageous citizens - still sits uncomfortably alongside the invasion of First Nations. It's no small irony that many who served in France, Turkey, Vietnam and other nations have long made peace and forged friendships with those against whom they fought. Meanwhile, Indigenous Australians are told to accept the fact that they lost, that colonisation is an historical reality, and that it really is time that they collectively got over it. To suggest that people think otherwise is ignore the racial bile unleashed by the Voice referendum, and the booing and belittling of the Welcome to Country at today's ANZAC Day service in Melbourne. This kind of racism is growing louder and stronger. Eugenics are making a comeback in the minds of seemingly educated people. And our laws are not equipped to deal with people who so brazenly attack the legitimacy of others. If they were, a lot of people would have been arrested today. So far, the arrest count is one.

So, what is it we need to remember? It's not just the lives lost by those who fought on other shores. It's not just the sacrifice and courage of all those who served. It's not just an acknowledgement of the price paid by generations of families as a result of wars fought on foreign shores. It is to remember that that White Australia fought a war against Indigenous Australia, won it, and must now reconcile itself to this fact. A good place to start would be to become comfortable acknowledging this on our most sacred of days. It's not too late to do this. It took years, but Vietnam veterans were eventually 'allowed' to march with pride, as were Indigenous Australians who fought for this country before they were formally recognised as citizens of it. All nations' histories are littered with shame. Nationalism is to deny it. Patriotism is to own it.

And it is absolutely vital on a day like today to remind ourselves that when we have finished standing in silence with our heads bowed, we must open our eyes, look around, and seek out the presence of those around us who are laying the foundations for yet more bloody conflict. And when we see it, we must use our voices to call it out, drown it out, and ensure that our national soul is something that truly reflects the courage of those willing to die for this place called Australia.

Lest We Forget.