Editing Anzac Day (section)

==Criticism of Anzac Day==
At its inception, Anzac Day faced criticism from the [[Australian labour movement]], and in the country at large, there has been opposition to political exploitation of what was seen as a day of mourning.<ref>{{cite journal|title='Australians for Australia': The Right, the Labor Party and Contested Loyalties to Nation and Empire in Australia, 1917 to the Early 1930s|journal=Labour History|issue=91|last=Kirk|first=Neville|date=November 2006|pages=95–111|jstor=27516154|doi=10.2307/27516154}}</ref> One controversy occurred in 1960 with the publication of [[Alan Seymour]]'s classic play, ''[[The One Day of the Year]]'',<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/04/03/1048962876103.html|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|title=The One Day of the Year, STC|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121108100835/http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/04/03/1048962876103.html|archive-date=8 November 2012}}</ref> which dramatised the growing social divide in Australia and the questioning of old values. In the play, Anzac Day is critiqued by the central character, Hughie, as a day of drunken debauchery by returned soldiers and as a day when questions of what it means to be loyal to a nation or empire must be raised. The play was scheduled to be performed at the inaugural [[Adelaide Festival of Arts]], but after complaints from the [[Returned Services League]], the governors of the festival refused permission for this to occur.<ref name=Shadows>[http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/04/25/1050777403378.html Gallipoli's Shadows, ''The Age'', 25 April 2003] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080502002146/http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/04/25/1050777403378.html |date=2 May 2008}}</ref>

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, related to Australia's involvement in the Vietnam war and other issues, Anzac Day not only sank in popularity but was the focus for the expression of much dissent. (''See {{slink||Decline in popularity}}'')

Anzac Day has been criticised in recent years by a number of Australians and New Zealanders, as, for example, "a day that obscures the politics of war and discourages political dissent".<ref name=McKenna2>{{cite news|url=http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21813244-25132,00.html|title=Patriot Act|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080420235137/http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21813244-25132,00.html|archive-date=20 April 2008|date=6 June 2007|newspaper=The Australian|access-date=16 June 2007}}</ref><ref>[http://www.converge.org.nz/pma/AlternativeANZACs.pdf An Alternative ANZAC Day commemoration] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070620091046/http://www.converge.org.nz/pma/AlternativeANZACs.pdf |date=20 June 2007}}, Peace Movement Aotearoa. Retrieved 16 June 2007.</ref> In October 2008, former Australian prime minister [[Paul Keating]] stated that he believes it is misguided for people to gather each year at Anzac Cove to commemorate the landing at Gallipoli, because it is "utter and complete nonsense" to suggest that the nation was "born again or even, redeemed there".<ref name=Collins>Antonette Collins, "[http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/10/30/2405820.htm Anzac Gallipoli gatherings misguided, Keating says", ''ABC news'', 30 October 2008] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081102043111/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/10/30/2405820.htm |date=2 November 2008}}</ref> [[Kevin Rudd]], the Australian prime minister at the time, rejected Keating's views, saying the Gallipoli campaign is "part of our national consciousness, it's part of our national psyche, it's part of our national identity, and I, for one, as Prime Minister of the country, am absolutely proud of it".<ref>{{cite news|last=Shanahan|first=Dennis|date=1 November 2008|title=Kevin Rudd rejects Paul Keating's view on Gallipoli|work=[[The Australian]]|url=http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,,24584117-31477,00.html?from=public_rss|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081218163948/http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,,24584117-31477,00.html?from=public_rss|archive-date=18 December 2008}}</ref>

Some critics have suggested that the revival in public interest in Anzac Day amongst the young results from the fact that younger Australians have not themselves experienced war.<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite web|url=http://uninews.unimelb.edu.au/unarticleid_5088.html|title=Gallipoli – remembering and learning|publisher=University of Melbourne|work=The University of Melbourne Voice Vol. 3, No. 1|date=14 April – 12 May 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080708190251/http://uninews.unimelb.edu.au/unarticleid_5088.html|archive-date=8 July 2008}}</ref><ref name=Brunero>{{cite web|last=Brunero|first=Tim|title=Anzac Day is not for kids|url=http://www.livenews.com.au/Articles/2008/04/23/Anzac_Day_is_not_for_kids|work=livenews.com.au|date=23 April 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080424115130/http://livenews.com.au/Articles/2008/04/23/Anzac_Day_is_not_for_kids|archive-date=24 April 2008}}</ref><ref name=Porter>Liz Porter, [http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/cry-anzac-and-let-slip-the-metaphors-of-war-20090418-aavc.html Cry Anzac and let slip the metaphors of war] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904045946/http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/cry-anzac-and-let-slip-the-metaphors-of-war-20090418-aavc.html |date=4 September 2015}}, ''The Age'', 19 April 2009.</ref> Critics see the revival as part of a rise of unreflective nationalism in Australia which was particularly fostered by the then Australian prime minister John Howard.<ref name=Ball>Andrew Ball, [http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/04/23/1082616327419.html What the Anzac Revival means, ''The Age'', 14 April 2004] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090202131551/http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/04/23/1082616327419.html |date=2 February 2009}}</ref><ref name=Smith>Tony Smith, [http://www.australianreview.net/digest/2006/09/smitht.html Conscripting the Anzac myth to silence dissent] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060917134805/http://www.australianreview.net/digest/2006/09/smitht.html |date=17 September 2006}}, Australian Review of Public Affairs, 11 September 2006. Retrieved 5 April 20095.</ref><ref name=Bryant>Nick Bryant, [https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/nickbryant/2009/04/the_revitalisation_of_anzac_da.html The revitalisation of Anzac Day] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090428195950/http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/nickbryant/2009/04/the_revitalisation_of_anzac_da.html |date=28 April 2009}}, [[BBC News]], 24 April 2009. Retrieved 26 April 2009.</ref><ref name=mcdonald>Matt McDonald, [http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/3/1/0/3/4/p310340_index.html 'Lest We Forget': Invoking the Anzac myth and the memory of sacrifice in Australian military intervention], Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Studies Association's 50th Annual Convention "Exploring the Past, Anticipating the Future", New York City, 15 February 2009.</ref> Some historians believe Anzac Day events are now on the decline, although it is likely there will continue to be smaller dawn services and official events in the future. Martin Crotty thought that perhaps it was now a ritual for older, traditional Australians, with old values of mateship and loyalty and even as a "reaction against globalisation"; however, Carolyn Holbrook disagrees, arguing that young people are responsible for the resurgence, and among older people there is a big group of sceptics, [[Baby Boomers]] who were influenced by Vietnam War protests.<ref name=Ausgeog/>

Other criticisms have revolved around a perceived overzealousness in Australian attachment to the event, either from participants unaware of the loss or when the focus is at the expense of remembrance of the contribution of New Zealand.<ref name=King>{{cite news|last=King|first=Jonathan|title=It's Anzac Day – not the Big Day Out|url=http://www.smh.com.au/national/its-anzac-day--not-the-big-day-out-20130419-2i5a4.html|access-date=25 April 2013|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=20 April 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130422021612/http://www.smh.com.au/national/its-anzac-day--not-the-big-day-out-20130419-2i5a4.html|archive-date=22 April 2013}}</ref> In 2005, John Howard was criticised for shunning the New Zealand Anzac ceremony at Gallipoli,<ref name=NZH>{{cite news|title=Australian PM snubs NZ at Gallipoli|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/anzac-day/news/article.cfm?c_id=773&objectid=10122084|access-date=25 April 2013|newspaper=The New Zealand Herald|date=24 April 2005|archive-date=20 November 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121120185625/http://www.nzherald.co.nz/anzac-day/news/article.cfm?c_id=773&objectid=10122084|url-status=live}}</ref> preferring instead to spend his morning at a [[barbecue]] on the beach with Australian soldiers. In 2009, New Zealand historians noted that some Australian children were unaware that New Zealand was a part of ANZAC.<ref>[http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/2355369/Aussies-forget-the-NZ-in-Anzac "Aussies forget the NZ in ANZAC"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100425053123/http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/2355369/Aussies-forget-the-NZ-in-Anzac |date=25 April 2010}}, ''AAP.com.au''</ref> In 2012, a New Zealand journalist caused controversy following comments that Australian World War I soldiers were bludgers and thieves.<ref>[http://www.theaustralian.com.au/in-depth/anzac-day/new-zealand-journalists-bludgers-and-thieves-comment-strikesblow-to-anzac-spirit/story-e6frgdaf-1226335950263/ "Anzac spirit has taken a knock"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425102017/http://www.theaustralian.com.au/in-depth/anzac-day/new-zealand-journalists-bludgers-and-thieves-comment-strikesblow-to-anzac-spirit/story-e6frgdaf-1226335950263 |date=25 April 2012}}, ''AAP''</ref>