Australian politics, news recap April 25: Albo says ‘full force of the law’ will confront Anzac Day disruptors

As well as a Palestine protester in Canberra this morning, Melbourne’s dawn service was also interrupted.

Members of a far-right group booed and heckled during the welcome to country for Victoria’s main dawn service at the Shrine of Remembrance.

Onlookers said it was “concerning” according to Sunrise as you could hear the group over the speakers, as they were standing near the microphones screaming things like “it’s Australia” and “we’re here for the Anzacs”.

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After the solemnity of the Last Post and minute’s silence, the Canberra War Memorial service came to and end with a benediction, urging the crowd to “be of good courage, hold fast to that which is good”.

In the moment of silence that followed, a lone voice on the parade ground shouted, “Free Palestine.”

Someone called out, “Kick a landmine.”

Another man in the crowd also called out, adding: “f**k off”.

New Zealand high commissioner Andrew Needs and NSW Governor Margaret Beazley have laid wreaths as bagpipes played the Lament at the War Memorial in Canberra.

Deputy chief of Navy Read Admiral Matt Buckley tells the story of the Buck family who gave generations of service to Australia.

“Our history tells us much about who we are as a nation,” he says.

“It illustrates that a culture of service is and always has been the beating heart of our national identity,”

Opposition leader Peter Dutton has recounted the stories of two veterans in his message of remembrance this Anzac Day.

Mr Dutton singled out two men among so many who made victories in World War Two possible: Australians John Holmes and Thomas Derrick.

He honoured Brisbane-born Holmes, who enlisted in the air force and embarked on two tours of duty but died ages 23 on his 44th straight mission when his Lancaster bomber was hit by enemy fire.

“A world away, Thomas Derrick was preparing for his next deployment,” Mr Dutton said.

“The South Australian was a seasoned and decorated soldier. He’d been a Rat of Tobruk. He’d displayed gallantry in running through a barrage of grenades in Egypt and he’d received the Victoria Cross for clearing ten Japanese machine-gun posts in Papua New Guinea.”

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The national dawn service has heard the haunting sounds of a didgeridoo reverberating off the amphitheatre of the new parade ground at the Australian War Memorial.

This is followed by the hymn O Valiant Hearts.

The Prime Minister read the Anzac Day dedication to make the hour in 1915 when “ANZAC became one of the immortal names in history”.

“We who are gathered here think of those who went out to the battlefields of all wars, but did not return,” Mr Albanese says.

“We feel them still near us in spirit. We wish to be worthy of their great sacrifice.

“Let us therefore once more dedicate ourselves to the ideals for which they died.

“As the dawn is even now about to pierce the night so let their memory inspire us to work for the coming new light into the dark places of the world.”

Anthony Albanese has attended the dawn service at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, along with tens of thousands of people.

New Zealand high commissioner Andrew Needs and NSW Governor Margaret Beazley are also attending.

In a message marking the day, the Prime Minister said that a century and a decade after the Gallipoli landings, Australians still renewed the vow to keep the flame of remembrance burning.

“As we gather around cenotaphs or watch the parades, we reflect on all who have served in our name and all who serve now,” he said.

“We contemplate the debt we owe them – those who finally came home, their hearts reshaped by all they had seen, and those who tragically never did.

“Anzac Day asks us to stand against the erosion of time.”

Governor-General Sam Mostyn is attending a dawn service in Gallipoli, before she represents Australia at the funeral of Pope Francis.

Australia has woken to dawn services around the nation and the countries leaders have assembled to pay tribute to veterans and current service men and women on Anzac Day.

The 2025 Federal election campaign rolls on, but takes a back seat temporarily to commemorate Australia’s most sacred day.