Due to left-wing activists’ “distasteful remarks” in recent years, the right-wing organization Advance has expressed concern that Anzac Day might be the next Australian institution that could be attacked. They argue that celebrating Anzac Day shouldn’t be contentious and that activists will keep trying to undermine it.
Anzac Day remembers all Australians and New Zealanders who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations. It also describes the contribution and suffering of all who have served and is observed annually on April 25.
For the first time, South Australians will not commemorate or promote Anzac Day in 2024. In late 2023, Premier Peter Malinauskas’s administration approved a measure renaming the public holiday to “25 April.”
To unite the community behind Anzac Day, Advance posts controversial comments by celebrities and comedians who have tried to disgrace the military. In 2018’s heavily criticized social media tweets, controversial comic Catherine Deveny criticized the national occasion, calling it ‘bogan Halloween,’ and said that veterans were uninformed and foolish.
According to Advance, who criticized these comments, Anzac Day is about remembering, commemorating, and recognizing them.
A 2017 tweet by Yassmin Abdel-Magied titled “Lest. We. Forget. (Manus, Nauru, Syria, Palestine)” garnered much criticism. Even though she swiftly removed the tweet and apologized, many Australians were furious that she had used the National Memorial Day for political gain. There seems to have been a decline in both awareness of and comprehension of the day’s actual significance in recent years.
If nothing is done to prevent it, Anzac Day might end something like Australia Day.
Protests and the promotion of the alternative term “invasion day” are becoming increasingly popular among Australians as an alternative to commemorating January 26. After deciding not to sell Australia Day items in shops, Woolworths came under constant criticism and boycott demands from the Opposition Leader.
Over the previous decade, Woolworths has raised about $13 million for causes related to Anzac, according to a company representative.
