Anzac Day is the right time to question Australia's military identity

Honouring our Anzacs should mean thinking critically about war — the ones we fought and the ones we might have to, writes Callum Seán Murray.

ANZAC DAY IS A DAY of nationalist solemnity commemorating Australia's military servicemen and women. It has become taboo to politicise or critique the day.

In 2017, Yassmin Abdel-Magied wrote in a Facebook post:

'LEST. WE. FORGET. (Manus, Nauru, Syria, Palestine...)'

This aphoristic post remains relevant today: offshore detention persists and the mainstream media is obsessed with antisemitism, yet glosses over the Palestinian genocide that underpins it.

Nonetheless, Abdel-Magied was hounded by politicians, the public, and right-wing media for “desecrating” our soldiers. She essentially fled to the UK to escape the furore. It was a shameful moment in our history. As Anzac Day approaches, I thought it was worth critiquing the day once more.

It is worth noting the origins of Anzac Day and my connection to it.

My great-grandfather landed in Gallipoli on 25 April, 110 years ago. He survived the war. I also grew up in Albany — the last place many soldiers felt Australian soil beneath their feet (my great-grandfather was one of the few to leave from Fremantle).

However, when he left Australia, he was not going to fight for Australia, he was going to fight for the British Empire, of which Australia was a dominion.

The propaganda of the time, which permeates today, stated that he was defending liberal-democracy (somewhat an oxymoron if defending empire). Germans had only slightly less liberal-democratic rights than their British counterparts, whereas our ally – the Russian Empire – was controlled by a tyrant.

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The British Empire joined the war to counter Germany's threat to the European balance of power established since the Congress of Vienna, which favoured Britain. The Gallipoli campaign aimed to break the Western Front stalemate by capturing Constantinople and defeating the Ottoman Empire.

When I visited Gallipoli a few years ago, I realised that the Turks were defending their liberty against an invading force of Australian troops. While invasion forces can sometimes be liberating, like D-Day, the historical record suggests this was not the case for Gallipoli. Moreover, the Turks annually celebrate repelling the Anzacs and others from their shores.

I suspect this personal oversight is due to being exposed to a couple of decades of Anzac Day propaganda.

Politicians have sanctified Anzac Day in recent years, turning it into a jingoist day commanding unquestioned support for all military ventures. The public has largely supported this transformation, possibly due to a widening disconnect between the military and the average Australian citizen.

Professor and IA contributor Carlyn Holbrook wrote a piece published on the same day as Abdel-Magied's remarks.

Holbrook wrote:

'With its invocations to suffering and sacrifice, its quasi-worship of long-deceased young men and its solemn dawn service rites, Anzac commemoration shares many of the elements of conventional religion.'

This ongoing veneration risks causing Australia to lose touch with our imperial foreign policies, thereby stifling debate around past, current, and future military engagements.

It is through the ongoing kindness of the Turks that we can celebrate Anzac Day on their soil. Turkish statesman Ataturk (Mustafa Kemal) said of Australia's fallen soldiers, "your sons are in our bosom". Would we extend the same gesture? Likely not.

The British invasion of 1788 was the only successful invasion of Australia. The subsequent Frontier War would be fought for the next 150 years. Many question this history, despite efforts to memorialise those who lost their lives on both sides at the National Museum.

Contemporary Australia was founded on an imperialist invasion and has continued with imperialist military ventures. We often forget this uncomfortable truth, just as we have forgotten the reality of Gallipoli.

As contemporary Australia was founded alongside the genocide of First Nations people, we have been terrified of invasion.

White Australia wondered if Japan would do the same to us during World War II. Consequently, Australia has actively participated in the imperial project for security and economic dividends. Initially relying on the Royal Navy and access to British markets, Australia shifted its military reliance to the US after the Fall of Singapore in 1942. The UK made a similar shift as its empire crumbled in the decades post-WWII.

Australia has benefited from American military supremacy and their rules-based international order. To secure these benefits, however, Australia has sent troops to conflicts in Vietnam, the Gulf, Afghanistan, and Iraq to support the US as the world's hegemon.

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Australia has been fortunate that the great powers we aligned with largely shared our values and culture, enabling us to prosper as a nation. However, this alignment comes at a cost — fighting imperial wars that have destroyed millions of lives, including those who aspired to live like us.

When we commemorate Anzac Day, we honour soldiers who died in the imperial project that has benefited our society. The dividends came in the form of great powers willing to defend us because we defended their imperial interests, making us their imperial interest.

This thinking continues with discussions about sending peacekeeping troops to Ukraine if a peace deal is reached, aiming to curry favour with Europe in a post-rules-based world order.

Our loyalty to imperialism and alignment with great powers may be backfiring, as seen with AUKUS and the potential conflict over Taiwan. Hosting American B-52 bombers capable of nuclear strikes makes Australia a target for China if war breaks out.

Although I support this military relationship, I have recently questioned it under America's current Trump Administration. Questioning AUKUS and our relationship with the U.S. is almost considered unpatriotic.

If the Anzacs ostensibly died for our liberties, it is so people like Abdel-Magied and myself can freely critique our foreign policy.

This is especially relevant as the America under U.S. President Donald Trump deleteriously reshapes the world order. We need to reconsider automatically joining every major war they engage in and think critically about what causes our soldiers may die for.