ANZAC Cliche

Rain on ANZAC Day is so cliché and yet Melbourne did it again. It is as predictable as an exaggerated pause by any host of any reality television show before announcing an elimination.

Albeit Melbourne did have an extraordinary amount of rain, normally a shower or two will suffice, but not 2012. 15 mm and cold winds to boot. Then again the veterans of too many wars have survived a lot worse than a bit of precipitation while walking down the street. For starters the cheering they heard in the parade was of spectators applauding their bravery and sacrifice not of blood crazed enemy combatants trying to shot their head off.

Channel 7 also could not help themselves when it came to ANZAC Day clichés. AFL. The depth and gravitas of the voice over providing an overly sentimental narrative that attempted to equate the ferocity, importance and history of the game with that of the events of 1915 in Gallipoli.

Note to Channel 7, the key words in the above sentence are “a game”. AFL football is just a game. In fact the ANZAC Day game is just one of 198 games to be played this year – and I am only counting home and away games at the elite level. Yes there are two sides all “battling” for the victory but that is where the similarity ends. When a war can have a half time break where the two sides sit down to eat slices of orange while the kids run around having a modified war, and there are almost 200 wars in a season leading to a finals war series then we can start to make comparisons. Regardless Channel 7 will continue trying to convince us that our lives will be changed by 36 men running after a piece of leather.

Like the Murdoch repeatedly stating that they were unaware of the activities of their journalistic staff, we are just not buying it.

Julia Gillard spoke at services at Gallipoli and South Korea (no this was not another Labour Government stuff up – she really meant to be there to honour soldiers who fought in the Korean War). Is there an official speech all Prime Ministers must recite at dawn services? Gillard used many ANZAC clichés.


"So this is a place hallowed by sacrifice and loss. It is, too, a place shining with honour and honour of the most vivid kind".


"We remember what the Anzacs did in war. And for what they did to shape our nation in peace. This is the legend of Anzac, and it belongs to every Australian.”


"Not just those who trace their origins to the early settlers but those like me who are migrants and who freely embrace the whole of the Australian story as their own.


"For indigenous Australians, whose own wartime valour was a profound expression of the love they felt for the ancient land.


"And for Turkish-Australians who have not one but two heroic stories to tell their children." Ms Gillard said.

As well as thanking the Turks for their treatment of the Australian dead and subsequent honouring of Anzac Cove"
This is a speech that is as predictable to Tony Abbott saying “no” or “big new tax.”
The final ANZAC cliché is drinking and two-up. Some would argue they are traditions not clichés. I agree – for ex service men and women and in the case of the coin throwing game ex service personnel who served prior to 1950. For the rest of us it is a cliché or maybe just an excuse. It is an unfortunate and cruel joke that the parade starts in the cities (near the drinking venues) and takes them out of the area to shines and memorials. With all of the debate about the length of the parade, it would make sense to turn the march around and get them to head towards the drinking holes. How quickly would the diggers move then?
Betting on two up is as cliché as 20-somethings getting completely plastered at the Melbourne Cup, then guys in fluorescent tuxedos walking home barefoot whilst their girlfriend wearing little more than a handkerchief wears his shoes home, carrying her own shoes in her hand