No need to consult on meaning of Anzac Day.

Like many of my constituents I was horrified to read of the Gillard government spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on consultants to tell them how to commemorate ANZAC Day. A 288 person “focus group” was questioned to compile the report, commissioned by the Department of Veterans Affairs for the Gallipoli landing centenary. It claimed the commemoration is a “double edged sword” and a “potential area of divisiveness” because of multiculturalism. Perhaps most offensive was the recommendation that organisers of the event should avoid references to current military action because it is “unpopular with young people”.

These conclusions are rubbish.

Migrants to Australia are generally very respectful of our military history and the increasing numbers of young people at ANZAC events show that this group is anything but disengaged from current or past conflicts. A Department of Veterans Affairs spokeswoman apparently said the report provided an essential understanding of community attitudes ahead of the centenary. It is not the Department’s job to try to collect a range of disparate opinions on this subject, delivered in ad hoc fashion by people selected out of the phone book and then try to talk these up in a way that seeks to influence the national debate on something as sacred as the spirit of ANZAC.

DVA’s website states their mission is to support those who serve or have served in defence of our nation and commemorate their service and sacrifice. And that’s exactly it. This is the Department that is tasked to look after our returned service men and women. Perhaps the Prime Minister could ask them to conduct a focus group of 288 soldiers, returned from Vietnam or Afghanistan and ask them whether her Department is meeting their needs for support, recognition, health care and counselling?

As historian CEW Bean so aptly said, our ANZAC tradition stood, and still stands, for reckless valour in a good cause, for enterprise, resourcefulness, fidelity, comradeship and endurance that will never own defeat’. The ANZAC spirit is not just found on the battlefield, it is found on the sporting field, in schoolyards, in workplaces and across our wide Australian landscape. It is laughter, love of country and love of life and has a place in the heart of every Australian. Can this miserable Government not get one thing right?

Our pride in our nation and the men and women who died for it and who die for it still is not in doubt, does not need to be analysed or investigated or questioned. Not ever. The forthcoming commemoration of the Centenary of the ANZAC landing at Gallipoli on 25 April 2015 will be one of the most important events in our history. It is a moment when all Australians will join together to reflect and remember the service and sacrifice of those who serve in the Australian Defence Force, and the 104,000 Australians who gave their lives in defence of both our individual liberty and our country’s liberty. I look forward to ensuring that the local communities I represent are able to commemorate the Centenary of ANZAC in the way that most suits them. I know that we will honour the extraordinary deeds of ordinary men and women and the legend they helped to create.

Sussan Ley

MP

Federal Member for Farrer