Member for Murray Plains Peter Walsh said it is still so wrong – but not too late to change – that this year’s Anzac Day Dawn Service at the Shrine of Remembrance is limited to 1400 and the Anzac Day March limited to 5000.
Especially; Mr Walsh added, when just hours later – a short hop and a skip away – 75,000 will gather at the MCG for a football match.
He said at the same time, many country marches have been cancelled due to restrictions placed on them.
“I have been working across several towns in my electorate to make sure they can have services and they can march but that doesn’t account for the chaos and confusion around the state about who can and cannot conduct Anzac Day services and marches,” Mr Walsh said.
“Our veteran community and their families are right to be outraged by the Andrews Labor government’s iron-fisted restrictions that will prevent many Victorians from gathering on a day that is so deeply personal for them,” he said.
“And we are not just talking veterans and their immediate families, Anzac Day is, for many reasons, one of Australia’s most sacred, and that’s for most people, not just those immediately involved.
“At a time when Victoria has now recorded 50 days without community transmission of COVID-19 to look veterans in the face and say ‘no’ is insulting.”
Mr Walsh said everyone in the state must have the opportunity to safely come together to honour the men and women who have given their lives in service of our nation.
Perhaps even more immediately, he said, was the recognition of those who continue to serve today.
“I am calling on the Andrews Labor Government to immediately lift crowd limits to bring numbers in line with the relaxed rules that have been afforded all other sectors,” he added.
“Except Victorian veterans.
“Lest we forget.”
