COVID claims Anzac Day parade, restrictions for Dawn Service
COVID has claimed another Melbourne tradition, with the Anzac Day parade called off and big changes to the Dawn Service.
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Melbourne’s Anzac Day parade will not go ahead this year and the Dawn Service will be heavily restricted due to COVID-19.
But those wanting to commemorate the day are being reassured it hasn’t been cancelled and will still go ahead in some way, albeit smaller.
Jamie Twidale, the CEO of RSL Victoria, said after extensive discussions with the Anzac Day Commemorative Council, government and the Shrine, the decision was made to scale down the event this year because of the changing coronavirus situation.
“When you look at all the elements … it’s a pretty big COVID risk and really, really hard for a group of volunteers to organise,” Mr Twidale said.
“We still want to do a Dawn Service, it will certainly be larger and more expansive than 2020, but we’re yet to figure out what that will be.”
Mr Twidale said there were plans for local councils and RSL branches to organise smaller services for people to attend, with the possibility of a ticketed service on the cards in the city.
He said it was about protecting the “health and wellbeing of the individual veterans who march but the health of the public who turn up too.”
“The key message is we still want people to light up the dawn, commemorate from home, but you can of course go down to your local service if it’s being run as well,” he said.
“Anzac Day is on, it’s not cancelled. It just won’t be as large and public as normal.”
Veterans’ Affairs Minister Darren Chester backed the decision to call off the march to protect the health of elderly veterans.
“We can still pay our respects in a very appropriate way,” he said.
It’s understood more details about any scheduled events will be made public closer to the date.
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