ATHENS,
25 APRIL 2012
Honourable Ministers, Secretary General, Chief of the Hellenic Navy, Honourable
Ambassadors, Members of Parliament, friends of Australia and Greece
It is an honour for me to welcome
you to this year's ANZAC Day commemoration in Athens.
As we gather today to honour
ANZAC Day in Greece,
I would like to acknowledge the men and women of this nation who have proudly
served their country.
And I would like to acknowledge
our shared history.
From the coast of Lemnos, where
the first ANZACs embarked on the Gallipoli campaign which shaped our nation, to
the battlefields of Crete fighting against
Nazi invasion in 1941, Australians and Greeks have fought together for
democracy and freedom and have formed strong bonds of friendship.
There is no legacy more enduring
for Australians, that defines more who we are as a nation, than the ANZAC
legend.
On 25 April 1915, as dawn began
to break, the first sons of a young nation, Australia's
first generation, left from Lemnos' Moudros
Harbour to assail the
Gallipoli shores. They had come here, together with their New Zealand comrades, to do their
part in a war that was not of their making. Over eight months they fought, hung
on, suffered and died. And they won a compelling place in the Australian story.
Lemnos
was the main logistical support base for the Gallipoli campaign. Two Australian Hospitals and 96 Australian nurses were
stationed on the island. The ANZACs found shelter and refuge here. Most of all,
they found the friendship, hospitality and support of the Lemnian people. Many
died there, never to return.
Two days ago we attended a very
special commemoration in Lemnos.
We visited the Australian War
Memorial and two cemeteries where ANZACs are buried. We walked down roads named
after them, a reminder of their presence. The ANZACs and Lemnos
are forever bound. There is a town called Lemnos near Shepparton in the state
of Victoria, and a hospital with the same name
in Western Australia,
testimony to these eternal bonds. And the proud Lemnian community in Australia keeps
the memory strong.
8,700 Australians and 2,700 New
Zealanders died in Gallipoli - in total, over 26,000 fell or were wounded
there. And along with them, countless thousands died and suffered from New Zealand, Britain,
France, Canada, India
and Turkey.
One in twenty-five Australians
was a casualty during WW1 overall. One in 80 of Australia's entire population was
killed in action in that tragic war.
On this day we remember them.
And we remember the more than
100,000 Australians who have died in war - from the first ANZACs to the last
soldiers who lost their lives in Afghanistan. We remember the
families who mourn the loss of loved ones. And we remember the men and women in
uniform who serve our country day by day, around the world, with courage and
distinction.
The high price of war has made Australians
more committed than ever to peace.
To standing up for our friends
and our allies, and standing up for what is right.
With courage, sacrifice,
mateship, compassion, as well as our common humanity. The values of our nation,
and the values that Australians and Greeks both share.
Values that our two nations have
fought together to uphold, in good times and bad. In these difficult times for Greece, Australia
stands by Greece
and we are certain it will emerge even stronger from the crisis.
Today we remember those we have
lost.
Because the ANZAC spirit
continues to endure in Australia,
as in Greece.
We do remember them.
We will remember them.
Lest we forget.
