By Matthew Knott
Isurava: Illuminated by the glow of distant stars and campers’ headlights, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stood at the site of a crucial World War II battle in remote Papua New Guinea to commemorate Anzac Day.
After spending two days walking the Kokoda Track in often-arduous terrain alongside his PNG counterpart, James Marape, Albanese told the crowd of approximately 400 people at the Isurava memorial that they were standing on “ground made hallow by Australian sacrifice”.
“We are gathered in a place that has known the most pitiless ferocity of battle, fought with bullet, bayonet, mortar and the desperation of bare hands,” Albanese said.
“It is also a place that has seen the unadorned strength of the Australian spirit.”
The imposing, jagged mountains of the Owen Stanley Range loomed to his left, its peaks blanketed in fog, as Albanese delivered his dawn service address at the natural amphitheatre of the jungle memorial.
Ninety-nine Australians died in the 1942 battle, a pivotal moment in the successful effort to repel Japanese troops who invaded what was then Australian territory.
The Last Post is played at the Isurava memorial.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer
“In our pride we feel the weight of history as we gather here along the Kokoda Track, this great artery of mud and suffering and perseverance that has come to occupy a place of singular power in Australia’s shared memory,” Albanese said.
Albanese singled out Private Bruce Kingsbury, who died at the battle of Isurava and became the first Australian to receive a Victoria Cross while serving on Australian territory.
Albanese also paid tribute to the villagers who risked their lives to feed, guide and shelter Australians in desperate need along the Kokoda Track.
He also spoke of Maiogaru Gimuleia Taulebona, a nurse who risked danger by hiding wounded Leading Aircraftman John Francis Donegan from the Japanese.
“They were angels walking tall through the hell of war,” he said.
“For the Papua New Guineans, this was not a theatre, a backdrop or a battlefield. It was home.”
Standing beside four stone pillars etched with the words courage, endurance, mateship and sacrifice, Marape thanked Albanese for his “kindness of heart and generosity of time” by becoming the first Australian prime minister to walk the track.
Noting that global leadership was being contested in our current age, Marape urged world leaders to pursue “peace at all costs”.
Watching in the crowd was Louise Mundie from Wodonga, Victoria, who was preparing to embark on the final day of a nine-day hike of the track.
“It was a beautiful service,” she said.
Mundie said she had undertaken the walk in honour of her great-grandfather who fought in New Guinea during the war.
“It has been very, very challenging,” she said of the trek.
The 400-strong crowd at the ceremony observe a minute’s silence. Credit: Dominic Lorrimer
Albanese and Marape laid wreaths together at the memorial to symbolise the close bond between Australia and Papua New Guinea.
As the sun began to rise over the mountains, an Australian Army soldier played the Last Post before the crowd observed a minute’s silence.
After returning to Australia, Albanese will attend an Anzac Day event in Townsville later on Thursday.
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