E nga mana, e nga reo, e rau rangatira ma [All peoples, all speakers, all chiefly people]
Tenei te mihi nui ki a koutou [My sincere thanks to you all]
Tena koutou, tena koutou, tena tatou katoa. [Greetings to you all]
Greetings to all of our veterans, our active duty military, their families and friends, and to all community members who have come to pay respects.
We gather here today at the Newmarket War Memorial, in front of some 200 names inscribed in stone, names of those from this wonderful community who paid the ultimate sacrifice. We gather to remember them and all those who have served in war.
While COVID-19 has again seen many Anzac Day services disrupted, I am grateful that our community in Newmarket can gather here in person today and honour tradition. Thank you to Mark Knoff-Thomas and his team at the NBA for making today possible.
This year, the distressing events in Ukraine are at the forefront of our attention, with daily reports of death and suffering reminding us of the horror and tragedy of war. It is now as important as ever to use Anzac day not just to reflect on the sacrifices of all those who have served New Zealand but to all those suffering the impact of war throughout the world.
To help us acknowledge Anzac day we have a few traditions. The parade is celebrated, a moment of silence is observed, the last post is read, ANZAC biscuits are baked and eaten, and of course we have the red poppy. Worn on kiwi lapels, up and down the nation, the red poppy salutes the sacrifices made, so that we might live in a free country.
2022 marks 100 years of the RSA's Poppy Appeal. This centennial gives us an opportunity to reflect on the red poppy’s history as an international symbol of war remembrance. The red or ‘Flanders’ poppy was one of the first flowers to grow in the mud and soil of the Western Front. This same poppy still flowers in Turkey in early spring - as it did in April 1915 when the ANZACs fatefully landed at Gallipoli. In the awful landscape of blood and destruction, the red poppy became a symbol of regeneration and growth.
In 1921, New Zealand took what was originally a French idea to wear poppies for remembrance. The idea of selling artificial poppies to raise funds for veterans’ organisations was conceived by a French woman, Madame E. Guerin. Through her organisation, widows and orphans in France manufactured artificial poppies to be sold for the benefit of veterans and children in poverty.
In September that year, the New Zealand Returned Soldiers’ Association placed an order for over 360,000 silk poppies with Madame Guerin’s French Children’s League. Due to shipping delays, (a concept familiar to us in 2022), the poppies arrived too late for Armistice Day 1921, so the NZRSA decided to hold their appeal on the day before Anzac Day in 1922.
1922 was also the first year Anzac Day was recognised as a public holiday. Today, 100 years later, I am moved when I think of the spirit of that year’s commemorations. So great had been the loss of life, so devastating had been the destruction, it is no wonder people hoped the Great War they had just endured would be the last - “The war to end all wars”. But it was not to be. Two decades after the First World War ended, the world was plunged into a second global conflict. Anzac Day was transformed into a commemoration of all the overseas wars in which New Zealanders had taken part. The day became both inter-generational and inter-cultural, emulating the ideal of New Zealand as a united community.
Throughout Anzac Day’s history, the poppy - small, light and artificial - has remained constant as a symbol of the very heavy, very real toll of war. I have an abiding love for nature, and it is poignant to me how the meaning of this one little flower has taken root across the world. We are compelled by the story of shells and shrapnel stirring up the earth, exposing poppy seeds to the light they need to bloom. It is a story that has survived for over a century because it was created to be worn by the living, close to our hearts.
We wear this emblem, this poppy, to honour our commonality between nations and remind us of our collective heritage.
We wear this emblem, this poppy, to honour Service men and women who protect, preserve and carry our role as the guardian of the Pacific.
We wear this emblem, this poppy to honour the dead, and help the living come to terms with their loss.
While today we commemorate a day of sorrow, the poppy is our essential reminder that, in the face of destruction, there is always hope and beauty.
And with this symbol of hope on our chests, we proudly pay tribute to the values of the original Anzacs – loyalty, selflessness, courage – and the ways in which later generations have measured our own achievements against theirs.
We think today with the poppy on our chest of our fellow Nzrs experiencing fear and heartache for their families and friends affected by current conflicts around the world
Today, as every year, we particularly remember what happened at Gallipoli, but also pay tribute to all those who have served, and pledge our commitment, no matter how hard to strive for a world in which we, our children and all people live free from the threat of violence, suffering and war.
Lest we forget.