National service held at Australian War Memorial in Canberra

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Hundreds have gathered in Canberra for the National Remembrance Day ceremony marking the 107th anniversary of the armistice which ended the first World War.

Transcript

00:00Hundreds of people braved windy conditions here at the Australian War Memorial with the Prime

00:07Minister Anthony Albanese, Opposition Leader Susan Lee and Governor-General Sam Mostyn in

00:12attendance as well as defence personnel, diplomats, schoolchildren and the general public as well.

00:17They all observed a minute's silence at 11 o'clock which marks the anniversary of Armistice which

00:23saw the end of fighting in World War One back in 1918. There were 60,000 Australians who died in

00:30World War One and they were remembered today as part of the 103,000 Australians who have died

00:36serving in Australian units. As part of today's ceremony the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese

00:42and Opposition Leader Susan Lee laid reads. There was also musical performances, parades,

00:47the National Anthem, the Ode and the Last Post as well. There was also the commemorative address

01:01which came from Major General Greg Mellick who is the recently retired National President of the

01:06RSL and he had quite a pointed address. He said despite Australia having been in wars more often

01:12than not since Federation he fears that we have become complacent. He called for more Commonwealth

01:17spending on defence because in his words the Indo-Pacific region has not been so dire since 1941.

01:24He said that the Defence Minister Richard Marles is well aware of the issues facing his portfolio

01:30but his challenge remains convincing his political colleagues of those. Major General Mellick finished

01:36his address by saying that Australia may regret the conflict it didn't deter.

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