Source : the age
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In the telling of his great-nephew, Blair Swannell led a life that defies the bland categories of our modern times.
Born in England in 1875, Blair Swannell was a sailor who criss-crossed the globe while still a teenager, an adventurer who hunted gold and seals in Antarctic waters, and fought on horseback in the Boer War. He was also a star rugby player who played for the British Lions on two tours to Australia.
As a young man Blair Swannell played for Northampton.Credit: Robert Swannell
Swannell then became a Wallaby too, after emigrating to Australia and continuing a rugby career in Sydney that was infamously polarising, given his penchant for rough and “overzealous” play.
The jam-packed life of Swannell was finally cut short, however, after the outbreak of World War One. Having signed up for the Anzacs, Swannell was killed on the opening day of the Gallipoli landings in 1915, after leading his company onto the beach and up the treacherous cliffs.
He was 39 years old.
Read the full story by Iain Payten here.
The annual service at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra has begun, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese delivering a short speech. He said:
“At this hour upon the 25th of April in 1915 Anzac became one of the immortal names in history. We who are gathered here, think of those who went out to the battlefields of all wars, but did not return.
“We feel them still near us in spirit. We wish to be worthy of their great sacrifice. Let us therefore once more dedicate ourselves to the ideals for which they died.
“As the dawn is even now about to pierce the night, so let their memory inspire us to work for the coming new life into the dark places of the world.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Jodie Haydon arrive during the Anzac Day Dawn Service at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Peter Dutton is about to arrive at a dawn service in his Brisbane seat of Dickson.
It is a soggy morning in the Sunshine State.
Dutton will lay a wreath at the ceremony at Pine Rivers in Kallangur in a few minutes.
He will then attend a breakfast barbeque.
Among the dignitaries attending this morning’s Martin Place service were Minister for the Environment and Water Tanya Plibersek and Deputy Liberal Leader Sussan Ley. Both laid wreaths as representatives of the federal government and opposition.
Other leaders participating in the ceremony were NSW Premier Chris Minns, Opposition Leader Mark Speakman, and Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore.
Consuls from New Zealand Belgium, Canada, France, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America also laid wreaths.
The Dawn Service at Martin Place has begun with an acknowledgment of country by Uncle Harry Allie, the first Indigenous Elder of the Royal Australian Air Force.
As he did last year, Chris Minns has continued the Anzac day tradition of reading the poem Salute by Sydney Napier.
Major General Matt Burr delivered the commemoration address and welcomed those who were attending their first dawn service, whether they be young Australians or those new to the country, saying the Anzac spirit is “a part of who we are”.
Burr spoke of the importance of teaching young Australians about the history of the Anzacs on the 110th year: “So we never forget,” he said.
Reporting live from a dawn service in Sydney is the Herald’s Frances Howe. Here’s what she has seen this morning:
Rain has been falling in bouts on Sydney’s Martin Place before dawn as spectators murmur behind barricades surrounding the cenotaph for the commemorations of the 110th year since the Anzacs landed at Gallipoli.
The shine of military medals and sprigs of rosemary that adorn several suit jackets are only slightly marred by the complimentary plastic ponchos left on seats. An older man walks between the rows with a shammy towel wiping away the pools of water beneath hovering guests.
Just before the service is slated to begin, NSW Premier Chris Minns arrives and is met by RSL NSW Director Mick Bainbridge. We rise for the Lieutenant-Governor of NSW Andrew Bell and Governor of NSW, Margaret Beazley.
The service begins.
Heads or tails? It’s a simple choice, with a fair outcome. But it’s only in Australia that it’s become a national pastime and, some might argue, a sport.
The game of two-up, where punters bet on the outcome of two coins thrown into the air, has a reputation for being “fair dinkum”, a reminder of its 19th-century goldfield beginnings.
Two-up at the Sackville Hotel, Rozelle on Anzac Day, 2022.Credit: Louise Kennerley
But its uptake by Australian soldiers in both world wars has seen it enshrined in the national mythology. The game is now played play once a year on Anzac Day with near-religious reverence at pubs and RSLs following dawn services nationwide.
So as you enter the ring this Anzac Day, what can you use to your advantage? Is a coin toss ever really fair, and is two-up a fiendish game of skill or one of pure chance?
You can read the full story by Penry Buckley here.
At last night’s Anzac Day eve service in Sydney, Australia’s richest person, mining magnate Gina Rinehart, called for a gargantuan rise in defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP, as Peter Dutton and Richard Marles watched on from the audience.
Gina Rinehart at the Anzac ceremony.Credit: James Brickwood
Dutton, Marles and former prime ministers Tony Abbott, Scott Morrison and John Howard were guests at the Channel Seven Anzac Day Eve ceremony just outside the Sydney Opera House.
It came a day after the Coalition leader said if his party formed government, it would take defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2030 and to 3 per cent by the middle of the next decade.
Defence spending under Labor is projected to rise from 2.02 per cent of GDP this year to 2.3 per cent by 2034, making the Coalition’s 3 per cent long-term pledge significantly more ambitious.
You can read the full story here.
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the federal election.
Today we bring you a special early edition of the national blog, in which we will be following commemorations of Anzac Day across the country.
Anzac Day commemorations at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, last year. Credit: Getty
My name is Nick Newling, and I’ll be taking you through all the morning’s news as it happens.
We are expecting to see both Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton attend services this morning.
Last night Dutton attended a Channel Seven Anzac Day eve ceremony just outside the Sydney Opera House, alongside Gina Rinehart and Defence Minister Richard Marles.
