Anzac Day 2008

Your Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen—may I begin by greeting everyone in the official languages of the Realm of New Zealand—in English, Maori, Cook Island Maori, Niuean, Tokelauan and New Zealand Sign Language. 

Greetings, Kia Ora, Kia Orana, Fakalofa Lahi Atu, Taloha Ni and as it is the morning and the sun has risen (Sign).

I wish to acknowledge all those New Zealanders who have made the effort to be here and at services throughout the country, and indeed in many parts of the world, to mark ANZAC Day.

It is a time when we remember with pride, first, those who gave their lives in the service of their nation, defending the democratic freedoms that we all hold dear. 

It is a time, secondly, when we remember those who fought and served and were able to return home.  They survived, but the mental and physical scars and injuries they sustained, and the friends they lost, would remain as marks forever.  While fewer in number as the years go by, many are here today.  All of us are honoured by the presence of those who returned.

Thirdly, this is a time when we remember the men and women who continue to serve our country, many under the banner of the United Nations, working to bring peace and stability to some of the world's most troubled places.  Our thoughts can be directed to the more than 900 members of the New Zealand Defence Force serving in operational roles in places as diverse as Egypt, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Timor-Leste.  Their dedication not only underlines their own personal contribution, but also brings much honour to our country and our people.

There is a proud history of personal sacrifice that we remember today and which began in the First World War, which devastated our world for four years from 1914.  Young New Zealanders sailed away, full of spirit and enthusiasm, to a war that was meant to be "over by Christmas".  That was not to be.  The appalling conditions and hardships the ANZAC soldiers faced in Gallipoli in 1915 and later in France and Belgium are hard to imagine. 

The Great War, as it was called, was to be the war to end all wars.  That was also not to be. But from the tragedy of those times, came the first understanding of what it means to be a New Zealander.  It also forged a lasting bond with our neighbour, Australia that continues to endure.

This year on 11 November the world will mark the 90^th anniversary of Armistice Day that brought the devastating confrontation of World War I to a close. For a country of little over one million people, the loss of so many of our nation's youngest and finest on battlefields so far from home, cast a long shadow.  No suburb or district was left untouched by the tragic loss of life. Whether it was workmates, friends, parents, children or relatives—no one stood apart from this.

Most unfortunately, much of this was to be repeated in World War II and in a number of conflicts since.  New Zealand and New Zealanders have, however, continued to make a principled contribution to world affairs and have been prepared to back that resolve when asked.

Evidence such as war memorials stand with pride in so many towns and cities in New Zealand and are a testament to a young nation's collective outpouring of effort and grief.  They remind us all that the sacrifices of those who served and died in battle then, and since, should never be forgotten. 

The memorials remind us of the need to redouble efforts, not only to work for peace, but also to strengthen our democracy.  The young men and women whose sacrifice we honour today died to preserve freedom of speech and the right to choose our representatives in free and fair elections.  Another of those freedoms—to peaceably assemble—we are exercising right now.

These freedoms are priceless and mighty gifts.  They are freedoms that many in our world do not have and continue to struggle for.  They should never be idly cast aside or dismissed as mere trivialities.  As my predecessor in office, Lord Cobham, said 50 years ago when opening a War Memorial in Wanganui:

"No, they did not die in vain—and they gave everything that they had to give. But one thing they could not give, and that was their own virtue and unselfishness to those who followed them. Democracy calls for qualities of no baser metal in time of peace than in time of war .For a civilised nation is founded upon a tradition of service, and without that tradition it will inevitably perish."

It is not enough simply to remember the courageous sacrifice of those who served, and of those who fell.  For if their distinguished service is to be remembered in our time, as it was in theirs, we must reaffirm a commitment to never forget why they served, and why they died.  Only then, will their memory and their sacrifice have any lasting meaning.  That is what we should always remember.  That is what we should never forget.

No reira, tena koutou, tena koutou, kia ora, kia kaha, tena koutou katoa.