Fury as Anzac Day march is CANCELLED two months ahead of the annual remembrance day as officials cite Covid concerns – despite just 48 cases across the whole country
Melbourne‘s annual Anzac Day march has been cancelled due to concerns about crowds and coronavirus.
The annual remembrance march, usually attended by thousands of diggers, was due to take place on April 25 with furious families of veterans quick to point out other events – including the Black Lives Matter protests – were allowed despite Covid-19 outbreaks.
‘With COVID the way it is, and the restrictions, and the difficulty in organising such a large public event, we just didn’t feel it was in the public’s best interest,’ said RSL Victoria chief executive Jamie Twidale.
The lead-up to the Australian Open was hit hard by positive tests for the highly-infectious strain of the Coronavirus believed to have arrived on the same planes as players.
The 76th Anzac commemorations in Melbourne will be dramatically scaled back in 2021 after widespread concerns around the recent spread of a highly-infectious strain of Coronavirus
Public Anzac Day commemorations in Melbourne will look very different this April 25, with the public asked to remember the day from their driveways or attend smaller local council events
The difficult of safely organising Anzac Day volunteers is thought to have contributed to the decision.
He told The Herald Sun 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.”
Other Melbourne commemorations on the 76th anniversary of Anzac Day will also be scaled back, with Victorians asked to support the day and remember the fallen from their driveways.
‘We understand thought that a lot of veterans will be very disappointed, and commemoration will still happen,’ Mr Twidale said.
There were also plans for local councils and RSL branches to organise smaller public services.
Melburnians wants to publicly commemorate Anzac Day will have to find smaller ticketed events, some of which will be hosted by local councils, in 2021
Talkback callers angry about the postponement of Melbourne’s main Anzac Day march complained that Black Lives Matters protests were allowed to take place, although those protests were curtailed
Victorian Liberal MP James Newbury said the decision to cancel two months before the event was ‘fundamentally wrong’.
‘Our community must always honour the service and sacrifice of our brave soldiers,’ he said on Twitter.
Talkback callers to Melbourne’s 3AW were quick to voice their disapproval.
‘They can have these Black Lives Matter marches … this year there will be no march in the CBD and the dawn service at the march will be a closed inner-sanctum activity!,’ said Dave, an ‘angry’ veteran.
Karen, whose son is a veteran, said she was ‘beyond angry’ about the changes.
‘I’m just incensed,’ she said.
The Anzac dawn service at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne will go ahead with ‘a limited number of attendees’ and can be watched online as it happens.
There will also be a ticketed public event on the forecourt of the Shrine.
more to come
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