Today on Remembrance Day, as we observe the minute of silence in all its solemnity, we think of that moment 106 years ago as the guns fell still across Europe.
There, in that profound silence that belonged equally to the dead and the living, stood the hope that the world would never know such conflict again.
Although it was not realised, we hold on to hope with the same determination we hold on to memory.
We think of every Australian who has answered the call through the decades.
We think of everywhere they have gone across the world to confront the unimaginable as it became reality.
From trench to desert to jungle to sea, every place they stood and every place they fell is mapped out in our hearts in an atlas of loss and sacrifice.
We remember every name. Every face. Every future lost and every future changed forever.
And we think of the many who were cast into the ranks of the unknown soldier as they were torn from life.
Every young Australian denied the chance to grow old.
We remember every one of them. All who served then – and all who serve now.
We have seen what horrors Australians have defeated. We have seen the difference Australians have made in the world.
We thank all serving members of the Australian Defence Force. And we thank all veterans. Just as they stepped up for us, we must step up for them.
During that minute of silence, let our hearts fill with their names, their faces, their voices. Think of all they were, and all they could have been.
Every Remembrance Day, we carve this sacred moment out from the noise of the world so that we can hear them.
We will not let them fade. Lest we forget.
