Anzac Day 2006

E nga mate, nga aitua, o koutou, araa o matou, ka tangihia e tatou i tenei wa. Haere, haere, haere.

To the dead and to those being mourned, both yours and ours, we lament them and farewell them.

Tatou te hunga ora, tena tatou katoa.

To us, the living, greetings to all of us.

Soldiers, veterans, all New Zealanders who are gathered here, around New Zealand and around the world to commemorate ANZAC Day.

Today is the day we grieve for our fellow New Zealanders killed in war. It is the day we honour them, and remember their sacrifice.

It is also the day we pay tribute to those servicemen and women who have returned safely to us. And we give thanks to those who are currently serving our country as peacekeepers in areas of conflict.

We do so because while we enjoy peace, many people around the world are not as fortunate. Our peacekeepers are a valuable force in these places, and their sacrifice, both personal and professional, is immense.

The story of the ANZAC begins in 1915, on that fated day in April when our men landed on the inhospitable shores of Gallipoli.

They faced a dire and protracted battle which ultimately claimed the lives of thousands of New Zealanders and Australians, and changed the lives of many more.

The ANZAC story continued through the next 91 years.

Its spirit was kept alive in the face of conflicts in countries across the world, where many thousands and thousands of New Zealand men and women lost their lives. And many more New Zealanders had their lives forever altered.

The ANZAC story continues today.

It is in the faces of our young people who have not witnessed the horror of war and in the every-day freedoms we enjoy today. The freedoms we have come to expect in a way our grandparents never did, or could.

The ANZAC story is, as always, in the memories we hold for our fallen comrades, for our veterans and for all those who have been touched by the cold finger of war.

The spirit of the ANZACs shaped New Zealand and Australia. The courage of this partnership is the currency of our freedom.

And we will never forget.

No reira, tena koutou, tena kotou, tena koutou katoa.