Australia celebrates Anzac Day while NZ commemorates it, says professor

Professor Philippa Mein Smith says Anzac Day commemorations are militaristic and celebratory in Australia but have a solemn in tone in New Zealand. Photo/Supplied

It's a well known fact that Australia and New Zealand have their differences and the same applies for Anzac Day.

Professor of History at the University of Canterbury and the University of Tasmania Philippa Mein Smith said while the day was a shared commemoration, both countries remembered different things.

"The most striking difference is that Anzac Day is much more militaristic and celebratory in Australia than in New Zealand, where Anzac Day is more sober and mournful in tone, that is more funereal, because the emphasis is on remembering the dead."

New Zealand ceremonies were solemn and observed by the laying of wreaths and services at war memorials while Australia held public marches of returned servicemen who were cheered on my large crowds in the capital cities, she said.

Australia took a nationalistic view of Gallipoli, seeing it as a chance to build their nation through warfare and New Zealand aimed to achieve military fame or fighting prowess within the British Empire, with an emphasis on the sacrifice its young men made, she said.

"Critically, New Zealand lost proportionately more men than Australia did in the First World War: 18,000 from a population of a little over one million, while in Australia 60,000 men died from a population of five million."

Mein Smith said despite these differences people on both sides of the ditch were usually unaware they observed Anzac Day differently and the tradition had come to hold different places in both countries' national mythologies.

"While Anzac is part of the 'mosaic' of national identity, it shares space in that mosaic with Waitangi Day, the official national day on February 6. This sharing of space has become more obvious since the 1970s.

"Australia likewise celebrates Anzac Day and Australia Day. But Australia Day is problematic and is denounced as 'Invasion Day' by Aboriginal people because the arrival of British convicts in January 1788 denoted a wholesale takeover of Australia without consent."

Anzac Day commemorations, like all forms of remembrance, were evolving with changes in historical context, she said.

"This is because people attach new meanings to them over time. New politics can affect the narrative of the day. In New Zealand in the 1980s, the Labour Government's 'nuclear free' policy, likewise altered the narrative of Anzac Day.

"Emphasis grew on the experiences of the men – several of the old diggers finally spoke about the awfulness of war before they died – and on the horrors and futility of war."

The professor said Anzac Day would continue to remain relevant to the people of both Australia and New Zealand as time passed.

"The key words are 'lest we forget'. The First World War was a terrible trauma and the Gallipoli campaign was unquestionably stupid.

"The loss of those young men was a terrible blow to New Zealand and Australia. May Anzac Day, New Zealand style, be a reminder not to let such slaughter ever happen again.