THE HON BARNABY JOYCE MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR VETERANS’ AFFAIRS
MEMBER FOR NEW ENGLAND
MEDIA RELEASE
LABOR’S GREENLIGHT FOR PUBLIC SERVANTS TO SWAP ANZAC DAY
- April 2024
For a second year in a row Prime Minister Albanese is refusing to budge on the Labor Government’s policy that allows more than 350,000 Commonwealth public servants to swap next week’s Anzac Day public holiday for an alternative day off.
Former Deputy Prime Minister and Shadow Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, Hon. Barnaby Joyce MP, urged all Commonwealth employees to ignore the Federal Government’s public service determination, which came into effect in January 2023.
Mr Joyce said the public service policy, which essentially makes Anzac Day optional and exchangeable, was a deliberate attempt by the Labor Government to dilute the importance of Anzac Day.
“Of course, there has always been a requirement for some Commonwealth public servants to work on Anzac Day such as our Federal Police, Border Security, military and staff at the Australian War Memorial. However, these employees have always been required to work”, Mr Joyce said.
He said since January last year the Labor Government reversed that, so now any public servant had a right to request that they just swap the Anzac Day holiday for another day and for any reason at all.
“Initially it had been assumed the Federal Government accidently included Anzac Day when it made the same policy for other public holidays such as Australia Day and the King’s Birthday. But the policy stands even after it was pointed out in Parliament. So, it wasn’t an accident”, Mr Joyce said.
Mr Joyce said the Prime Minister’s decision to make Anzac Day optional and exchangeable had blind-sided the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs who was not consulted.
“This is another example of how veterans and their families are feeling the loss of their voice in Cabinet. Until Mr Albanese took office, the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs sat at the Cabinet table. But not under Labor”, Mr Joyce said.
Mr Joyce renewed his call for Prime Minister Albanese to rescind the policy and revert to the former Coalition government’s policy that ensured Anzac Day was embedded as a day of national remembrance.
Media Contact: Heidi Williamson 0436807792