26 April 1930, Melbourne, Australia
Spoken at a reunion of ex-servicemen. Sole surviving extract.
I want to point out that a public celebration like we had yesterday (Anzac Day), is very much wider, and has a deeper significance than appears on the surface. It is true that it is intended as an act of remembrance of our comrades who have gone, as an act of homage to their memory, and an act of pride in the achievements of Australia, but it is something more than that.
It is an occasion for elevating the public spirit and public sentiment. We are gathering together our citizens in hundreds of thousands, who have presented to them noble ideals and noble thoughts, and they are animated by common ideals of worthy purpose.
Heaven knows we need such stimulation today. That is why I have tried to throw myself whole-heartedly into another project - the great memorial known as the Shrine of Remembrance. I think that, too, when it is completed in all its glory and grandeur, will become an object of reverence to the community, and will have an influence which will be uplifting, and will band the community together in elevated thought and common national purpose.