Senator Andrew Bartlett
Friday, April 22, 2005
 
Anzac Day - remembering the troops
I've just read an email which reminded me that Monday is a holiday and we’re heading into a long weekend.

The 90th anniversary of the Anzac landing is a time to remember and recognise the more than one hundred thousand Australian troops who have died in overseas wars, the ones who came back in bad shape, and their families whose suffering sometimes was just as great. I wrote a piece on Remembrance Day outlining my thoughts on this, so I won't repeat them here.

Hundreds of Aussie troops are currently on peace enforcement missions around the world including the Solomon Islands, in the Middle East, North East Asia, and delivering aid in Indonesia. There are also several hundred in Iraq, 100 on the UN Peace Keeping Force in Timor Leste and 15 soon to go to the Sudan. You might not support the political decision to make some of these deployments, but troops go where they are told to go and should be supported. If you want to send a message to the troops, click here.

I've got a few events tomorrow, Sunday is free (!) and Anzac day is on Monday. I'm speaking at a forum on VSU at Qld Uni on Tuesday, followed by a trip to Perth to meet with a range of refugee groups on Wednesday and what looks like an interesting forum on housing rights in Melbourne on Thursday.

Enjoy your long weekend and remember those that can't.

posted by Andrew Bartlett @ Friday, April 22, 2005 Permalink
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