Canberra, April 25 (BUS): Large crowds gathered in Australia on Monday to honor the war dead on Anzac Day largely free from pandemic restrictions for the first time since 2019.
Australia and New Zealand celebrate Anzac Day every April 25 – the date in 1915 when the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps landed in Turkey in an ill-fated campaign that marked the soldiers’ first combat of World War I.
Monday was the first of its kind to commemorate the casualties in all wars since the two countries withdrew their forces from Afghanistan last year, the Associated Press reported.
The dawn service in Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city, was initially planned to close to the public due to pandemic restrictions. But the Veterans Association stepped in and a smaller-than-normal audience was allowed to attend. The Ukrainian flag was raised over the Auckland War Memorial Museum.
In Sydney, Australia’s largest city, downtown Martin Place filled to capacity tens of thousands gathered for the dawn service.
There were no restrictions on the numbers of people attending most Australian services, although some, including in the west coast city of Perth, were ticketed events to reduce crowds.
Those who were unable to attend the Perth service at Kings Park were urged to pay their respects from their lanes at dawn as Australians had done on the previous two Anzac days.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Deputy Opposition Leader Richard Marles acknowledged Ukraine’s struggle for freedom when they spoke at dawn mass in the northern city of Darwin, which was devastated by Japanese bombing during World War II.
Marlisse was standing behind opposition leader Anthony Albanese, who was quarantined at his Sydney home after testing positive for COVID-19 last week.
Morrison is campaigning to win a fourth three-year term for his conservative government in the May 21 election.
Anzac Day has focused attention on a new security threat to Australia, a bilateral security treaty between China and the Solomon Islands announced last week that could lead to a Chinese military presence 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) from Australia’s northeastern coast.
At Darwin’s party, Morrison said that Australia’s freedom had been secured by the sacrifices of previous generations in war.
“An arc of authoritarianism is challenging the rules-based order that our ancestors secured,” Morrison said, referring to China, Russia and North Korea. “The democratic and free peoples stand together again.”
Australia is the main security partner of the Solomon Islands and the largest donor of foreign aid. The center-left opposition Labor Party has described China’s security pact with the island nation as Australia’s biggest political failure in the Pacific since World War II.
The administration of President Joe Biden has warned that the United States will take unspecified action against the Solomon Islands if the Chinese agreement poses a threat to the United States or allied interests.
Cases of the transmissible omicron variant of the coronavirus, which were first detected in Australia in December, have peaked across the country in recent weeks.
Australia began easing epidemic restrictions late last year when 80% of adults were fully vaccinated. Australia is one of the most vaccinated populations in the world, with 93% of adults fully vaccinated.