The Hon. Barnaby Joyce MP

Shadow Minister for Veterans’ Affairs

Member for New England

Media Release

1 December 2023

SCRUBBING OUT THE WORDS “ANZAC DAY” NOT AN INNOCENT CHANGE.

The decision of the South Australian Government to scrub out the words “ANZAC Day” from the name of the state’s public holidays is not an innocent alteration but is part of a deliberate and nationwide trend by Labor Government’s to downplay the importance of the ANZAC tradition.

Former Deputy Prime Minister and Shadow Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, Barnaby Joyce, said the replacement of the words ANZAC Day with a simple date, 25 April, came almost exactly a year after the Federal Labor government had made ANZAC Day an optional holiday for Commonwealth public servants, who could swap the day for any other.

Mr Joyce said Prime Minister Albanese had personally led the charge by also dropping from his official speeches the routine, but important, acknowledgement of veterans and serving defence personnel.

“ANZAC Day is not a date in a calendar like any other. It has a name. It has importance. It has untold respect. It has monumental significance; and it marks a turning point in our national identity”, Mr Joyce said.

He said the decision of the South Australian Government was deliberate and calculated and was part of a worrying trend emanating from the Federal Labor Government.

“The first decision of Anthony Albanese, when he appointed his Cabinet, was to drop the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs from his Cabinet. That didn’t only mean that veterans lost their voice at the Cabinet table where key policy and funding decisions are made, but it also sent a signal that under Labor our veterans and the memories of those who served, are now just a secondary consideration of this government”, Mr Joyce said.

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