Nowadays Anzac Day has a multitude of perspectives: -memorial for war dead and the mass processing of loss/ grief -a public recognition for those who have served Aus in wars past & recent -celebration of war generally -celebration of ancestry (we are real Aussies, not recent blow-ins) -Aussie nationalism -recognition of our British origin ( we fought in WW1 & 2 for the Brits) -recognition of our recent allegiance to the USA (we fought in Vietnam & M/E for the USA interests)
and so on.
So the big question is nowadays: Given that 50% of Australians have either been born overseas or who have had a parent born overseas, is the celebration of Anzac Day unifying or divisive (we/them)
IMO, unlike the USA, we didn't have a war for independence nor did we have a Civil War, so we need a national day to celebrate our war achievements, good, bad or indifferent.
