KEY POINTS:
This morning, appropriate solemnity and reverence will be the hallmarks of dawn services throughout the country. Those who attend understand instinctively that Anzac Day is a time for quiet reflection. It seems odd, therefore, that the New Zealand and Australian Governments have had to appeal for the same standard of behaviour at Gallipoli, the site of the ill-fated campaign that begat the Anzac tradition. Surely, there, more than anywhere, the hardships, heroism and sacrifice of the original Anzacs should be respected.
Such has not always been the case in recent years. Photographs of young backpackers at the Lone Pine cemetery lying on the graves of Australian soldiers or using the headstones as pillows speak volumes of an inappropriateness that has extended to dress and other forms of conduct. Equally woebegone has been the call of some politicians for the Gallipoli commemoration to appeal to the "mainstream" and to reflect "contemporary taste". Translated, that led one year to a proposal, subsequently rejected, for a Johnny Farnham concert.
Thankfully, this absurdity now seems a thing of the past. During the past month, the Governments have been at pains to ensure there will be no disrespectful behaviour, excessive drinking and inappropriate entertainment this year. Instead of Bee Gees videos, period music will be played by Australasian military bands. The anticipated 10,000-plus people in attendance will have to wear a wristband at all times to show they have passed security, liquor will be confiscated and drunks excluded. Visitors will be given a show bag containing a raincoat, Anzac biscuits, educational booklets and a rubbish bag.
To some, this may seem an over-reaction. Those who, even at Gallipoli, could not summon the requisite degree of dignity were always a small minority. But the embarrassment factor far outweighs their number. Indeed, there appears to be an increasing awareness across the Tasman that the antics of young Australians worldwide are becoming problematic. At the same time the governmental edict for Gallipoli was being announced, a Sydney Morning Herald backpacker's blog went so far as to claim that loud, arrogant and obnoxious Australians were the "new Yanks" of the tourist trail. Some Londoners have apparently taken to referring to them as Jafas. The website was deluged with messages of affirmation.
It is overstating the case to say Gallipoli was in danger of becoming some sort of drunken Disneyland. Quite simply, most of those who attend, having travelled large distances, find it too profound an experience to wish to behave in that manner. They do not go there to be entertained. They want to be enlightened and emotionally enriched. Large-screen documentaries screening as a prelude to the dawn service, explaining what happened at Gallipoli and why it is significant to New Zealand, Australia and Turkey will, hopefully, enhance their experience.
Finally, the right tone seems to be being established at Gallipoli. It has taken rather too long and too many people have been too eager to cater to the barely existent notion of an entertainment-style Gallipoli experience. The young people who have swelled the ranks at dawn services throughout the country in the past few years, and will do so again today, demand no such concession. Why something that never would have been tolerated at Greymouth or Geelong should have been contemplated for Gallipoli seems beyond comprehension.
