Anzac Day an opportunity for personal reflection

Spending this year's Anzac day at home will be an opportunity for personal reflection on service and sacrifice, writes Blair MP Shayne Neumann.

Residents will commemorate Anzac Day by standing on their driveways at 6am with a candle. Picture: John

WE HAVE a proud tradition of military service here in Ipswich, the Somerset Region and the Karana Downs region, and every year people turn out at local ceremonies and marches to honour this.

While local Anzac Day events have been cancelled this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there are still many ways that people can reflect on the service and sacrifice of our veterans.

I encourage people to take in the televised National Commemorative Service from the Australian War Memorial from 5am and then join me to #lightupthedawn by standing in your driveway at 6am to remember the service and sacrifice of our defence personnel.

It's been wonderful to see the many different ways that local residents and veterans in our region are marking the occasion, through things like Anzac-inspired artworks and photos, making homemade wreaths and Light Horse displays.

Federal member for Blair Shayne Neumann. Picture: Rob Williams

Anzac Day is a time to reflect on the Anzac values of mateship, courage, initiative and resilience, and how these values are upheld by Australia's servicemen and women today.

These qualities have never been more important and we will all need to dig deep as a community and harness the Anzac spirit to get through the current coronavirus crisis.

I would also encourage people to look out for veterans in our community who may be self-isolating at home, by picking up the phone and talking to them, and asking how they are going.

This Anzac Day we should all take the time to stop and remember those men and women who have served and who continue to serve our country. Lest We Forget. 

Letter to the Editor by member for Blair Shayne Neumann

Originally published as Anzac Day an opportunity for personal reflection