Fed: New Australians urged to observe Anzac Day

AAP General News (Australia)
04-24-2004
Fed: New Australians urged to observe Anzac Day

CANBERRA, April 24 AAP - Newly arrived migrants and refugees have been urged to observe
Anzac Day tomorrow.

Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs Minister Gary Hardgrave said some newly arrived
migrants might not understand what Anzac Day stood for and think it was a day only for
Anzac troops and their descendants.

But Mr Hardgrave said Anzac Day was relevant to all Australians, regardless of how
long their families had been in Australia.

"The Anzac tradition and the values it symbolises, such as mateship and the defence
of freedom and democracy, belongs to every Australian," he said in an Anzac Day statement.

Mr Hardgrave said the Australian troops who were remembered on Anzac Day had come from
a variety of cultural backgrounds.

"For example, Chinese Australians have participated in every conflict since the Boer
War," he said.

"In the First World War, soldiers from different cultural backgrounds, including Indigenous
Australians, served together in the Australian Imperial Forces."

Mr Hardgrave said Australians from many different backgrounds had also served in more
recent conflicts, including the Vietnam War.

AAP pj/sjb/jlw

KEYWORD: ANZAC HARDGRAVE

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