Speech delivered on Anzac Day, Saturday 25 April 2026.

I acknowledge the Bidiagal, Birrabirragal and Gadigal people as the traditional custodians of the extraordinary lands and waters we gather on today. 

I pay my respects to their elders past and present, and send that respect to all First Nations people joining us today. 

And also, as Mark has done, I acknowledge all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander servicemen and women.

I also acknowledge Senator Andrew Bragg, Senator for New South Wales; Ms Kelly Sloan MP, Leader of the Opposition in New South Wales; Mayor Will Nemesh, Mayor of Waverley; and, in particular, Josh Farquhar, Chair of the Board of the North Bondi RSL.

I want to thank Josh personally for inviting Simeon and me to be part of this morning's very important commemoration. 

I also acknowledge members of the Diplomatic Corps representing Colombia, El Salvador, France, Latvia, Nepal, Nigeria, Panama, Poland, Switzerland, Turkey and Ukraine. 

And, of course, previous and all current serving members of the Australia, New Zealand and Allied defence forces. 

Most importantly, I want to acknowledge the families of the fallen. I've spent some time with family members this morning, as I have done during my time as Governor-General, and will spend more time with them after this service.

It is a joy to be in a place so beautiful as here, to see families and young children able to come together in this moment of commemoration.

I also want to pay respect to every single person here who has a connection to someone who is serving or has served, or, for many of you, who are simply here to pay your deep respects.

As your Governor General, as Commander-in-Chief, and as the proud daughter of a veteran, I'm honored to join you, together with Simeon, on Anzac Day.

In a year when we celebrate 125 years of our Army and Navy, and 105 years of our Air Force, it really matters that we still remember the first Anzacs and that we continue to care for their successors in our modern defence force.

It is meaningful to be part of this modern commemoration, now such a popular commemoration, and to see the Anzac tradition kept alive in new ways by new generations.

I know that this Dawn Service has become such an important ceremony for the tens of thousands of people who now come here and are gathered today.

And, as patron of Legacy, Soldier On and many other organisations that represent our veteran community, I understand how deeply veterans of all ages believe in the importance of these solemn acts of commemoration. 

Now, on this day last year, I was so privileged to be with Simeon to represent Australia at Gallipoli as the sun rose, along with the 1000s of Australians who had paid their respects.

Making that pilgrimage to Gallipoli, it was all about respect for the Anzacs.

It was a day that we will never forget.

Having stood on the shore at Anzac Cove then, I'm now so proud to stand with you on this shore at Bondi. 

Anzac Cove and Bondi, two iconic places in Australia's history and our modern history.

Places that capture the past and the present for what it means to serve this country.

Today, across Australia and beyond, we come together to remember those who served our nation in war and conflict, and especially those who did not come home.

Some of you may be here to honor a relative or a loved one serving today. Others of you might not have a direct connection to the Anzacs or even the modern ADF, but you're here as a mark of thanks and respect. 

Looking at your faces, I see modern Australia.

Your presence and the presence of so many Australians at memorials big and small across our great nation, today confirms that today is a day of unity.

We honor the fallen and the wounded, and we give our thanks to families whose lives were changed forever by service and sacrifice.

Here at North Bondi, as the first light touches the sea, our remembrance and reflection are especially poignant.

As we think about the Anzacs making landfall on another shore at first light at Gallipoli, 111 years ago, we must also think about the lives that were taken here in the summer dusk just four months ago.

In that unspeakable antisemitic attack, our sense of peace was shattered, but our Australian spirit of community and belonging and service was not. 

And we see that here again this morning.

Like many here at Bondi North Bondi RSL became a significant first responder and opened its doors and hearts and became a safe place and a centre of recovery. Not just that terrible evening, but in the days and months afterwards, today and into the future, the staff and volunteers of the Club offered the care, empathy and skillful support to everyone who needed it in whatever way it was needed.

We saw the values of this club in action: compassion, fraternity, selfless service, good stewardship and enduring resolve.
In the week after the attack, I had the great privilege to visit the Recovery Centre and to attend a very moving Last Post ceremony here. 

In that same week, I attended a commemoration of the 110th anniversary of the withdrawal from Gallipoli at the Anzac Memorial in Hyde Park.

With the events at Bondi still raw, we honored all of those who had served in that conflict, including the 2,000 Jewish Australians who enlisted in the First World War, among them Leonard Morris Keysor, who landed at Gallipoli on the 25th of April 1915 and was the first Jewish recipient of the Victoria Cross for his actions at the Battle of Lone Pine.

Commemorating events of the past like we're doing today, it is important to try to connect at a deeper level, not just lionising or idealising heroes in uniform. 

We remember acts of heroism, but we also must remember the lives and stories that followed.

On the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, I was able to share very special moments with 12 veterans of that conflict at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.

Only 717 World War Two veterans remain among us. 

Their stories and all that they have shared throughout their long lives are our window to what they endured and the reserves of courage and humanity that they drew on to serve with honor.

The Rats of Tobruk, who held out against the Nazis in Libya for eight long months in 1941, came home resolved to create a place of support, fellowship and remembrance. Tobruk House, and later North Bondi RSL, became part of their legacy.

Two Sundays ago I was at Tobruk House in Melbourne to mark the 85th anniversary of the Siege of Tobruk. 

The speaker, Keith Wallahan, who served as an Army Captain in Afghanistan and East Timor, reminded us the Rats of Tobruk were not perfect, not legends or bronze statues, but human beings, just like us. 

But, he said, the story is better than the myth. It honors them more. 

Because a statue cannot choose courage. Only a frightened, flawed human being can. 

Just as we see in Lawrence Binyon’s timeless poem from 1914, ‘For the Fallen’:

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were stanch to the end against odds uncounted; 
They fell with their faces to the foe.

That's what the Rats of Tobruk did. And that's what those who choose to wear the uniform and put service before self today do, too.

As a way to preserve their bond and commemorate the fallen, the Rats of Tobruk Association emerged as a system of mutual support, encouragement and friendship.

For the Melbourne Rats, that legacy became an endowment and investment in medical research. Here in Bondi, it became the North Bondi RSL a strong and supportive community that continues to have care and kindness at its heart. 

Today, we are all honored to have families of the fallen with us. To the parents, partners, children, families and loved ones of those lost in service: each name you carry is honoured here. Each life is remembered. Your presence reminds us that the price of service is not paid solely by individuals, but shared by families and friends and communities. 

On Anzac Day, and indeed, all days, we pay tribute to the men and women of the ADF, and to veterans whose lives have been shaped and enriched by their service, and to whom we make an unwritten promise to help pick up the pieces when they bring the consequences of service home, whether that's physical, or psychological. 

Here in North Bondi, where members are the youngest of any New South Wales RSL sub branch, we also recognise that many veterans return and make an immeasurable impact on our community every day. 

Anzac Day is about recognising service, acknowledging loss and renewing our commitment to the values that allow a free and democratic society to endure. It reminds us that remembrance carries responsibility to look after those who serve during and after their service. 

To support their families and to ensure that we tell their fully human stories with respect, with honesty and deep care. 

In a few moments, we'll hear The Ode and the Last Post, words that have been recited and music that has been played across generations. In the beautiful quiet of this morning we remember the past and resolve to keep faith with the Anzacs by how we care for their successors.

Just like our sailors, soldiers and aviator who served from the Mediterranean to the Pacific, today we honour the dead and the living. We support those currently serving. We carry the wounded. And we wrap their families in compassion and care and love.

In a time of rising global uncertainty, Australians can have great confidence in our modern Australian Defence Force and the women and men who, in the tradition of the generations that have come before, serve with pride, commitment and dedication.

On this Anzac Day, I am so very proud to stand with all of you on this iconic ground to give thanks, to remember, to honor and to reflect. 

In the wreath that we will shortly lay, I'm carrying with me from the Bravery Garden in Canberra, a wreath made of the Gallipoli St Henry rose woven with rosemary from the same Bravery Garden that was created by Sir William Deane after he visited Gallipoli in his term as a mark of respect for the enduring relationship between us and Anzac Cove.

We will remember them. 

Lest we forget.