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On a mild April morning Martin Place was full by 4am for the start of the dawn service.
The 520 seats at the George Street approach were quietly taken with standing room not only along both sides of the cenotaph but along the entire length of Martin Place in one of the largest crowds in recent years.
The Australian Army band during ANZAC day dawn service in Martin Place, Sydney.Credit: Kate Geraghty
Master of Ceremonies Gareth McCray said: “We are heartened to see so many Australians with us today.”
Among those attending included NSW Governor Margaret Beazley, Premier Chris Minns who read the poem Salute by Sydney Rapier, and NSW police commissioner Karen Webb.
All lights were turned off and the two bronze statues of a soldier and sailor on the cenotaph floodlit as RSL NSW President Mick Bainbridge read the Ode ending with the iconic words ‘At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them’.
After a two-day pilgrimage along a portion of the Kokoda Trail, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has arrived at his destination, the Isurava Memorial, where an Anzac Day dawn service is currently being observed.
Foreign affairs correspondent Matthew Knott is in PNG with the PM, and will provide an update after the ceremony is complete.
Here’s a copy of the speech Albanese will give at the service:
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of Australia’s Anzac Day commemorations.
Many dawn services in the eastern states have already concluded, so we’ll start our coverage with a look back at those ceremonies. The Canberra dawn service at the Australian War Memorial is currently underway.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is also currently attending a dawn service at the Isurava memorial along the Kokoda Trail, where he has been trekking for the past two days.
Stick with us as we cover all the services across the countries, leading in to the parades later today.