Should Anzac Day be our national day? The suggestion is often put forward, particularly around Waitangi Day by those upset at the protests that have become part of the Waitangi tradition. It's in some ways understandable that people feel that protest and division should not be part of a national day, particularly looking at the spirit of unity with which other countries celebrate their national days - a spirit which is also increasingly evident in New Zealand on Anzac Day.
Tim Watkins addresses the issue directly and comes up with five reasons why No, today is not our national day. He argues that Anzac Day has a specific role to play, is about war and loss, is a day shared by other countries - namely Australia and Turkey - and that a national day should 'commemorate a beginning'. In his blogpost A Tale of Two National Holidays, Joshua Hitchcock also compares the commemorations and, while recognizing the value of Anzac day, questions the priorities it reveals: 'We value our participation in a worthless war, and an unwise invasion that ended as an unmitigated disaster, more than we do the very formation of our nation'.
The way politicians and media work hard to play up the noble aspects of courage, comradeship and sacrifice, but ignore the unpalatable facts - particularly around the Gallipoli campaign itself - is a source of frustration for many. Chris Trotter has previously written about the real reason New Zealand troops were sent charging into Turkish machine guns on Turkish beaches in 1915: mainly to prop up the Tsar's Russian Empire. As Trotter puts it: 'In modern terms, it would be like asking 3,000 young New Zealanders to die for the Chinese politicians who ordered the troops into Tiananmen Square' - see: A Huge Exercise In National Denial. Alastair Reith makes a similar point in ANZAC Day: What are we celebrating?, but also looks at the forced conscription and Maori resistance to fighting in WW1 which run counter to the modern Anzac mythology.
Anne Russell has an interesting view on the RSA and the origins of poppy day in Red poppies, militarism and the RSA. She argues that the nature and need for support of war veterans has greatly changed since the years after the world wars. Labour Deputy leader Grant Robertson puts the modern liberal case in favour of Anzac Day. In a carefully worded article he emphasizes how it has become an 'egalitarian event' with a bi-cultural feel that is relatively apolitical (although Robertson can't resist taking a jab at National over the cutting of funding for military bands) - see: Reflections on ANZAC morning.
The key phrase repeated over and over again on Anzac Day is 'lest we forget' - the implication being that we must learn the lessons of the past to try and prevent a repeat of the slaughter. David Beatson thinks we do need to learn - not so much from Gallipoli 100 years ago, but from Afghanistan today. He details a number of issues that our military involvement in Afghanisatan has raised, particularly the fate of prisoners captured by our SAS troops and expresses concern that, just as we appear to be leaving Afghanistan, we may be stumbling into a similar conflict in Syria - see: Afghanistan - lest we forget.
