I’m very sure the Australian soldiers who went ashore on that beach at Gallipoli in 1915 had little idea they were writing one of the most definitive chapters in the history of their young nation.

Although we had already been a country in our own right for a few years, it’s arguable Australia came of age on that very first Anzac Day.

Australians were a different breed in those days. In the early days of the Great War, many young men rushed to volunteer for king and country. They had little idea of the suffering and deprivation that lay ahead of them, but even when they experienced it they fought bravely and they fought well for years before that terrible conflict came to a close.

And they wrote a legacy which we still commemorate to this day. That’s an important point: Anzac Day is not a celebration. It’s a solemn commemoration; for me and many Australians, it’s the most important on our calendar.

I believe that as a nation we’ve lost some of the national spirit embodied by those young soldiers at Gallipoli, and embodied by all Australians who have served in uniform since the first Anzac Day.

Do many younger Australians today understand the significance of the sacrifices we commemorate? I don’t know, but what I am sure of is that many young Australians today have been taught the very existence of their country is a crime, an injustice, and something to be ashamed of.

It’s hardly a view that’s going to encourage someone to put on a uniform and serve. It’s not a view to which anyone would sacrifice something meaningful like their liberty or their life.

Fortunately it’s not a universal view. I’ve met many veterans of recent service. Some are carrying on family traditions of service; others are forging new traditions. That spirit I spoke of still defines them, and above all it’s this spirit which we acknowledge on Anzac Day.

I’m a proud Australian and proud to commemorate Anzac Day. I’m always proud of the national spirit which defines the service and sacrifice of our veterans past and present, but I’m worried it’s slipping though our fingers.

I believe that makes Anzac Day supremely important today: a solemn reminder that when the world was at its worst, the best of our country stood up united and defined what it means to be Australian.

Lest we forget.
Senator Pauline Hanson