I’d say there would have been trans-Tasman diplomatic rumblings of some kind beneath media radar range for some time for Howard to have done this. He doesn’t seem to be one to act childishly, out-of-the-blue. Cowardly of him not to come right out and say, “Well, I won’t be going to Chunuk Bair because of …” then spit the reason out for all the world to hear.
Instead, he mistakeningly thought, perhaps, that the way he played it was the “statesman’s” way. He’s come across, though, as a prize dishonourable pillock.
From what I understood, Howard had committed to the bbq before he was invited to the Chunuk Bair ceremony at late notice. Not that this excuses his actions at all, but as an arrogant PM he could have seen the late invite as a snub. If it was late, it’s only what I heard. But still, any normal Australian would have asked to go to remember the NZ soldiers who fought in Chunuk Bair, after all it’s ANZAC Day not AAC Day as you’ve been saying. I still think it’s because Howard is a Farnham fan
May I flaunt my ignorance and ask what this is all about? Reading this thread makes as much sense to me as reading a thread on programming properties of Mac OS.
Duffer, imagine that instead of July 4 and Armistice Day, that the two were rolled into one, and further that the United States and Canada shared them.
Australia has Australia Day, which is all pomp and not much more for the average Aussie than a public holiday and booze-up, and New Zealand has Waitangi Day, which is a bit more respected. But Anzac Day is the de facto national day of both countries, and it is its shared and solemn nature which makes it special. We ease off on the sheep jokes about one another and the sporting rivalries, and we truly go into this together. Anzac Day commemorates a terrible loss in WWI in which soldiers from both our nations took a terrible number of casualties in Turkey.
For a Prime minister from one country not to attend the other country’s main ceremony Is. Not. Done.
I cringed all through the news last night, watching the politicians manipulate what should have been an occasion to reflect on how much damage warfare does to a people and how little it achieves in the long run, into an occasion where all of the opinions and beliefs of the soldiers who were fighting were morphed into a “John Howard stands for what makes Australia Great! Let’s forget about New Zealand 'cos Kiwis don’t vote in our elections!” moment. It was just revolting. I personally don’t buy the “it made Australia a nation” thing, either. It certainly contributed to the idea of Australia as a nation, but so did giving Aboriginal Australians the vote (finally) in the 1960s. But Howard wouldn’t be mentioning that one, shall we say.
Thanks for the info. I’d never heard of that holiday (of course, I concentrate on WWII history.)It seems unfathomable that any politician, least of all a leader, would skip such an event.
Yeah, duffer. If it wasn’t for the fact that Gallipoli is part of our region’s history, it’d just be a historic footnote for me too, and I’d be scrambling to find out what the hell the folk here were on about. Thanks, mate.
'Splain please. I know our current Admin isn’t the best (what with them ordering our ambassador to Canada to get all pissy with them, to name but one example), but we’re generally good about at least giving token respect when called upon.
So are you making this comment based on 'Merkins general lack of history of what’s happened in the rest of the world, or do you believe that we exhibit boorishness in general?
<nitpick>
The 1967 Referendum did not give Aboriginal Australians the vote - they were able to vote in federal elections after 1962 and various state elections decades before. The '67 Referendum was an ammendment to the Constitution that allowed Aboriginal people to be counted in the national census, and allowed the Commonwealth to make laws to help improve conditions for Aboriginal people regardless of which state they lived in. (Prior to this there were quite significant differences in rights available to aborigines depending on which state they lived in - WA and Qld were particularly bad, NSW much better)
Sorry - as a history teacher I just had to clear that very common misconception up!
</nitpick>
The value of the Referendum in its ability to unite the country should not be down-played however. In a country where only 6 out of 37 referenda ballots have actually passed, and those mostly by the skin of their teeth, the 1967 Referendum with its 90% ‘yes’ vote has been seen as a symbol of a more cohesive and progressive Australian society that began to emerge in the 1960s and 1970s. It’s just a pity that we seem to have regressed over the past 20 years instead of building on the momentum of the '67 Referendum.
And to make sure I have not totally hijacked this thread, John Howard is most definitely an arse who displayed far too little respect for our neighbours across the Tasman who have demonstrated a far more civilised approach to foreign relations over the past 10 years.
According to the NZ Herald today, Howard is upset that anyone could think he’d snub NZ, and said that
:dubious:
I’d love for there to be a good explanation as to why he behaved like an arsehole. But at the top of the article is a pic of our PM Helen Clark with him at Lone Pine, site of the Aussie service. So … he thought that (a) both services were at the same time as last year, but (b) Clark was going to attend the Aussie service, not our own?
Either there’s a lot of diplomatic feather-smoothing and saving-of-face going on, or Howard’s gone from being an arsehole to the village idiot. Or he has loads of village idiots on his staff, doing the thinking for him.
In the end, it comes down to one thing: Howard dropped th’ ball.
I’d also like to add that, for those unfamiliar with ANZAC Day, that it not only remembers ANZAC’s who died in WW1, but anyone who’s served both countries, dead or alive, and even other countries who’ve fought with the same spirit and respect for their opponents, like Turkey. It’s a way to remember how horrible war is and the sacrifices made by everyone involved. The sheer weight of such a day shows how stupid Howard is to have not attended a ceremony which concerned such a close and friendly nation to Australia. I personally wonder how many normal Australian’s visited Chunuk Bair for the ceremony as well.
