Anger as Villers-Bretonneux Anzac Dawn Service gets axed
Veterans Affairs Minister Darren Chester has confirmed the cancellation of the ANZAC Dawn Service in the newly refurbished memorial at Villers-Bretonneux has been overturned.
Veterans Affairs Minister Darren Chester confirmed the dawn service at Villers-Bretonneux in France would be reinstated after a backlash from ex-servicemen and women and the general public.
It comes after News Corp Australia revealed the traditional 5.30am service at the Australian Government’s new multimillion-dollar memorial on the outskirts of the northern French village would no longer take place from this year and would be replaced instead with a simpler ceremony at 10am.
The event run by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs was always at this time but was moved to dawn in 2008 in the lead up to the centenary of the Great War and in keeping with ceremonies commemorating all ANZAC war dead around the world.
Most other capital cities including Canberra have two ceremonies, at dawn and later in the morning.
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It is not clear who made this decision or why or what public consultation was made on axing the ceremony, the main one for Australians on the Western Front.
In a statement this morning, the minister indicated the Department of Veterans’ Affairs had made the decision without sufficient consultation.
He also left open the option of the dawn service being axed in future years.
“When it comes to sensitive matters like this which are at the heart of our entire nation, it is vital that the Department of Veterans’ Affairs conducts full consultations with ex-service organisations and the general public before they make any changes,” Mr Chester said.
“That’s what the public expect, it’s what the Prime Minister and the government expect.”
Mr Chester said he had instructed the DVA to hold an ANZAC dawn service at the Australian National Memorial near Villers-Bretonneux in 2019.
“The decision to revert to the Dawn Service follows feedback from ex-service organisations and the general public in Australia,” he said.
“There will be comprehensive consultation with local authorities and tour operators in France, as well as with the ex-service community in Australia, before any further changes are considered.”
In a radio and television blitz this morning, Mr Morrison confirmed he had personally intervened to overturn the decision.
“I spoke to the Minister this morning. The service will go ahead at dawn as usual,” Mr Morrison told ABC radio.
He said it was “right decision” to continue the dawn service regardless of cost and attendance numbers.
“I think it’s important to continue the dawn service,” the Prime Minister said.
Earlier, interim RSL National chairman John King said he was unaware of the move and was personally disappointed.
“My personal feeling, is it is a disappointment,” Mr King said.
“There are three services held outside Australia, obviously Gallipoli is the largest, Villers-Bretonneux has become the second largest and the third largest at Bomana cemetery in Papua New Guinea. For me it’s a personal disappointment for anyone wanting to travel in the future if that’s the case, no service at dawn, I would tend to think people will conduct their own.”
He said the history of Dawn Service was some years after the First AIF troops left Albany in WA to fight overseas, a group of former and wounded veterans went to the wharf to stand there at silence at dawn then the next year returned with a padre for prayers and it grew national from there.
“The Dawn Service was created by a few veterans who decided to go to the wharf with their mates to commemorate that first fleet of AIF going to war in Europe,” Mr King said.
He said the government doesn’t always consult veterans associations but the decision was made probably on a government-to-government decision.
Yesterday Veterans’ Affairs Minister Darren Chester said there was no historical link, unlike the battle at Gallipoli, to having a Dawn Service there.
“The timing of Anzac Day services in Australia and around the world is determined by the requirements of the community in that location, and a range of other factors including weather and accessibility to the site. In many places this is at a time other than at dawn,” he said, responding to direct questions from News Corp Australia.
He said consultation had been held with key local stakeholders, the mayors of Villers-Bretonneux, Fouilloy and Corbie, and they have expressed support for the revised time.
“I acknowledge the concerns of some tour operators and have asked the department to work with them to ensure a solemn and dignified service for visitors, including those on tours,” he said. “Advice was provided to tour operators at the earliest opportunity following finalisation of consultation with French Government and local authorities.”
Despite building a $100 million interpretative centre at Villers-Bretannoux behind the memorial in the year of the centenary of the Great War visitor numbers were well below expectations used to justify the massive building.
When the Sir John Monash Commemorative Centre plans were unveiled in 2015, the then Tony Abbott’s government justified the cost and its $2.6 million annual operating costs as a necessary addition to ANZAC commemorations. It has since attracted about eight visitors an hour. From its opening in mid April to the end of October of that year, the centre had received only 37,734 visitors less than half predicted.
The DVA’s 2015 projections promised even more visits in 2019 compared with the centenary year.
The memorial lists 10,773 names of soldiers of the AIF with no known grave who were killed between 1916 when Australian forces arrived in France and Belgium and the end of the war.
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