Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has led commemorations marking the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Pacific, delivering a solemn speech at Sydney’s Martin Place where Australians first celebrated the end of World War II in 1945.
Recalling Prime Minister Ben Chifley’s iconic words, “Fellow citizens, the war is over,” Albanese honoured the courage, sacrifice, and resilience of all Australians who fought and those who never returned.
Albanese reflected on the “ordinary people facing the extraordinary” – from the battlefields of Europe, Asia, and the Pacific to the home front, where men and women “performed miracles of production” to sustain the war effort.
Acknowledging the horrors of the conflict, including the prisoner-of-war and concentration camps, Albanese said the courage and unity of Australians alongside their allies “turned the tide” of history.
“As we stand here today, think of everyone who gathered 80 years ago… and the silence of those who never came home,” he said, closing with the timeless tribute: “Lest we forget.”
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