The 100^th anniversary of the Anzac landings at Gallipoli is one of the most significant commemorative events in our history. It is rightly our obsession. Over the course of the century, and particularly the past 25 years, Anzac Cove, Lone Pine and the Gallipoli Peninsula have become places of pilgrimage for thousands of Australians.

In the past 10 years alone, more than 50,000 Australians and New Zealanders have made the journey to Gallipoli to join commemorative events on Anzac Day.

To that number will be added many Hume residents this year who have responded to a nationwide effort to see as many direct descendants of WW1 soldiers as possible make the trip to Gallipoli.

The Gallipoli campaign lasted just over nine months and 8,700 men were killed.

It was not the government which decided 25 April would become a date of commemoration – it was the soldiers and the families of those killed, who called on government to mandate the commemoration.

As they sound the Last Post this Anzac Day, consider that this centenary commemoration is a unique opportunity to join with the community.

It is the community which has continued to demand a place and time to remember, to find a way to acknowledge service and sacrifice, to tell the stories of ordinary men and women who did extraordinary things.

Let us use this time in our history to better understand our strength as a young nation and, in the spirit of the Anzacs, our potential to stand together as a community.

It is our duty to stop and remember those to whom this nation owes such a debt of gratitude and to ensure that our children and grandchildren understand their responsibility to never forget.

Angus Taylor