Ms ADDISON (Wendouree) (14:18): Ballarat is very proud of our veterans, and a number of Anzac services were held across Ballarat, including the dawn service, the Arch of Victory, the Ex- Prisoners of War Memorial, the Sebastopol RSL parade and service and the Ballarat RSL parade and service at the Cenotaph.

Thank you to the dedicated volunteers who organise Anzac events each year, including Allan McKinnon, Bill Bahr, Alan Douglass, Eric Duggan, Gordon Hunt, Gary Snowden, Phillip Hills, Mark Broemmer and Barry Harris, to name but just a few.

The significance of Anzac Day is also not lost on our young people, and it was wonderful to see scouts, guides and students from many primary and secondary schools attending services. Twelve-year-old Angus Le Marshall did a fantastic job playing the bagpipes at the Cenotaph service at 11 am. Angus comes from a long line of pipers going back to his great-grandfather, who was a proud piper and a POW in Singapore during World War II.

This year was also the Reverend John Furness’s final service after serving as a padre for more than 30 years. He will be missed, and I wish John all the best for his well-deserved retirement.

Prior to Anzac Day the Ballarat cemetery unveiled 19 plaques for previously anonymous World War I soldiers. It was moving to see these soldiers being publicly honoured for the first time this Anzac Day.