The Anzac Day Dawn Services in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide have been marred by booing during the Welcome to Country acknowledgment.

However, there were huge attendances by respectful Aussies across the nation this morning and emotional scenes.

Two Sunrise hosts broke down live-on air after reflecting on their personal connections to Anzac Day and the horrors faced by scores of Australians who fought in the Second World War.

“Goodness me. Hard not to get very emotional watching that,” Micheal Usher said, as he comforted his co-host Monique Wright.

Michael Usher and Monique Wright brought to tears by an Anzac Day story.

Wright, who wiped away tears with a tissue, said she was overcome by the thought of the impact of war on children and men.

“I just think all of the kids that grew up without dads, and even when the dads came back, the horrors that they brought back from war,” she said.

“And those of us who are raising young men, you know, how very different life was.”

For Usher, a woman’s sombre reflection on the Second World War’s lost generation was what moved him most.

“Oh and that dear lady, That’s the bit that got me, where she said, ‘For the man who never came home, for the generation we lost.’”

Cowardly act after booing

In Melbourne, 55,000 attended this morning’s Dawn Service. An estimated 10,000 people lined the march route, lifting attendance to more than across the event’s two parts.

Across the state hundreds of thousands more Victorians paid their respects at the more than 140 services held by RSL Sub-Branches.

“This morning was another powerful event that gave Victoria the chance to honour our veterans past and present and reflect on the great sacrifices of service,” RSL Victoria president Mark Schroffel said.

“A crowd of 55,000 at the Dawn Service is the biggest we’ve seen in years.”

On the disruption during the Welcome to Country Dr Schroffel said it was an appropriate way to recognise First Nations traditions and service ahead of the official proceedings.

“We understand the disrupters left before the end of the service, showing complete disrespect to veterans.

“They were overwhelmed by the vast majority of the attendees who applauded and supported proceedings.”

“In relation to the defacing of monuments across a few sites in Victoria, it is mindless and completely disrespectful to all veterans and their families.”

Army chief’s brutal truth for Anzac Day hecklers

Major General Richard Vagg, acting chief of army, said the heckling would upset those serving the nation.

Major General Richard Vagg, acting chief of army, said the heckling would upset those who had, and were still, serving the nation.

“Anzac Day is a day where I reflect on the service and sacrifice of well over two million Australians that have served in the Australian Defence Force since Federation,” he said on ABC News Breakfast.

“Just about every service person, serving and past, would be upset with that type of behaviour. It misses the point.”

Defence Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles has described the incidents as “deeply disgraceful”.

“I think it’s disgraceful and it’s deeply disappointing,” he told the ABC.

“Acknowledgments to country are just an act of respect, and what characterises today is that it is a day of respect and to boo in that way goes completely against that.

“It is deeply disgraceful.”

Opposition Minister for home affairs and immigration Jonno Duniam called the booing “inappropriate.”

“I don’t think that it is right to interrupt proceedings of any nature, but today of all days, a day where we are reflecting on those who’ve made such a significant sacrifice, the ultimate one, I don’t think is appropriate at all,” he told reporters in Tasmania.

“Go and do what other people do and lawfully protest, make your views known to governments, to those in charge, but don’t do what they were doing at these events.

Former federal MP Craig Kelly took to social media to support the hecklers, saying the Acknowledgement of Country should not be part of Anzac Day services.

“That taboo has now been broken by widespread booing, which will now only grow louder and more widespread each year,” Mr Kelly said.

“2026 should be the last year that the insulting and divisive ‘Welcome to Country’ is ever part of an Anzac Day service.

“The gigs (sic) up.”

Indigenous serviceman Uncle Ray Minniecon, whose grandfather served in the Light Horse Brigade, was booed during the Martin Place service.

He continued to deliver the acknowledgment despite the loud booing which lasted for nearly a minute.

He was applauded when he finished.

Later at Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance, Uncle Mark Brown’s Welcome to Country address was also interrupted by loud heckling and boos from the crowd.

neo-Nazis booed Uncle Mark Brown at the Melbourne Dawn Service 12 months ago.

“Today, I’m here to welcome everyone to my father’s country,” Uncle Mark said as the heckling started.

The booing continued for several seconds before others in the crowd cheered, drowning out the interruption.

Melbourne's Anzac Day Dawn Service was interrupted by loud heckling and boos during Uncle Mark Brown's Welcome to Country address.

In Perth, the RSL WA chief executive apologised to Whadjuk Noongar elder Di Ryder, a female veteran, whose Welcome to Country address was disturbed by some booing from the crowd at the Dawn Service.

Stephen Barton said the booing was disgraceful, eliciting loud applause from the crowd.

“Di, on behalf of RSL and veteran community I offer my heartfelt thank you for that acknowledgment to country,” he said, the ABC reported.

“It (the booing) was one of the most disgraceful things I have ever heard.”

There was also booing at the Adelaide service from a small section of the crowd, but ended quickly.

After the Sydney service, Uncle Ray, a Kabi-Kabi, Gurang-Gurang and South Sea islander man, told the ABC he wanted the hecklers to understand “this always was and always will be Aboriginal land”.

“They should show respect to us as traditional owners,” he said.

He said those who participated in the booing should “understand their place”.

“We have experienced this type of racism for over 230-odd years,” he said.

“It really is a whitefella problem, not a Blackfella problem.”

NSW RSL acting president Brigadier Vincent Williams described the booers as “louts”

“His (Uncle Ray) family have contributed enormously to this nation through the First World War to the current day,” Brigadier Williams told the ABC.

“I’m pretty convinced that none of … that bunch of louts who were booing have ever done anything constructive for our nation.”

He said their actions did not reflect the Anzac spirit or solemnity of the day.

Nightclubs have been accused of disrespecting veterans after using military medals and “R-rated” themes to sell controversial “Anzac” parties.

“Such behaviour is disrespectful and entirely at odds with the sanctity and solemnity that should define this occasion,” Brigadier Williams said.

“Anzac Day is the most sacred date on our national calendar. It is a time for quiet reflection, unity and respect – to honour the service and sacrifice of all who have served our nation.

“It is particularly disappointing because Uncle Ray, who delivered the Acknowledgement of Country, is himself a veteran who has served Australia with pride.

“However, it was heartening to see the many thousands gathered in Martin Place respond to the unacceptable behaviour of a few with a spontaneous and respectful show of support, affording Uncle Ray a rousing round of applause.

“That response reflected the true spirit of Anzac Day – one of unity, respect and shared recognition of service.”

Police in Melbourne have been unable to find the people who interrupted the Welcome to Country.

“Police are aware of two incidents of people booing during The Dawn Service at the Shrine of Remembrance on 25 April,” a police spokesman said.

“As soon as police heard the behaviour, officers moved into the dense crowd however were unable to identify anyone at the time. No arrests have been made.”

Melbourne Acting Commander Troy Papworth said the Anzac Day Dawn Service was a time for solemn remembrance and to show respect for those who served and continue to serve.

“These ceremonies are not an appropriate platform to behave in a manner that will offend others,” he said.

RSL national president Peter Tinley strongly condemned the booing, saying the hecklers “entirely disrespectful” and self-indulgent, saying he was “completely mystified and appalled”.

Mr Marles said Indigenous Australians have been a “critical part” of the ADF and Australia’s military history, and cited Captain Reg Saunders, the first Indigenous officer who served in the Korean War.

“His service and so many Australians service, have played a really critical part in the history of the Australian Defence Force.

“They deserve to be recognised along with every other person who has served in the ADF.”

NSW Premier Chris Minns said the booing took him by surprise, but so did the volume of immediate public support for Uncle Ray Minniecon.

“I’m disappointed by what we saw from a small number of people. Anzac Day should always be treated with the respect, solemnity and reverence it deserves,” the Premier said.

“Whist I’ve never before heard booing like that at a Dawn Service, I’ve also never heard a crowd spontaneously applaud as they did for Australian Defence Force veteran Uncle Ray Minniecon.

“That act made it clear where the vast majority of those attending’s views were. This is a day to honour sacrifice.”

NSW Police arrested a 24-year-old man after responding to an alleged act of nuisance during the Sydney Dawn Service.

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan called the booing at the Melbourne event a “betrayal of everything Anzac Day stands for”.

“It is pure disrespect and to direct that at a Welcome to Country – at Aboriginal servicemen and women who served this nation — is as ignorant as it is shameful,” she said.

“Anzac Day is not a stage for division. It is about service, mateship, sacrifice and we will never let a hateful few take that away.”The Opposition Leader has also said booing at the Shrine of Remembrance was not on.

“To boo at such a place, on such a day, is to forget what the Anzac spirit demands of us: respect for service, reverence for sacrifice and unity in remembrance,” Jess Wilson said.

‘Freedom of speech’

Australian Defence Force Chief of Joint Operations, Vice Admiral Justin Jones, said the booing “might be disappointing” but the military was in place to defend democracy and freedom of speech.

“One of the things that we in the defence force are defending, as I’ve said, is our democracy and freedom of expression,” he told Sky News.

“So, while that might be disappointing, those are exactly the principles that the Australian Defence Force is designed to defend.

‘Heartbreaking’: Support for elders

Fellow Indigenous pastor Brooke Prentis counts Uncle Ray as a mentor and says the booing in Sydney and Melbourne causes deep grief.

“It (Anzac Day) is a day I observe with deep respect. Which is why my heart is especially heavy today,” she posted online.

“Uncle Pastor Dr Raymond Minniecon – my mentor, a respected Aboriginal Elder, an Aboriginal Christian Leader, a pastor – was booed at the Dawn Service in the place now called Sydney on Gadigal Country.

“Uncle Mark Brown was also booed in Naarm/Melbourne on Wurrundjeri and Boonwurrung Countries at the Dawn Service.”

The booing would “cut especially deep” for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders who served or had family enlisted, she said.

“It is made all the more painful by the truth that Uncle Ray’s grandfather was a Light Horseman in World War I at the Battle of Beersheba. Both grandfather and grandson are woven into the Anzac story of this nation,” Ms Prentis said.

“To see an Aboriginal Elder, a pastor, and the descendant of an Anzac veteran met with hostility on a day of national remembrance is heartbreaking. This is not who we should be.”

Dawn Services give way to marches

The Anzac Day National Commemorative Service march in Canberra kicked off to the tune of Waltzing Matilda, with Australian Defence Force Academy cadets leading the parade.

They were followed by Governor-General Sam Mostyn, who greeted former Labor leader and Australian War Memorial chair Kim Beazley, upon arrival.

Shortly after, a F35A fighter jet flew overhead and the Returned and Services League ACT Branch joined the march to applause from supporters.

It was a sizeably slimmer crowd to that of The Dawn Service, where about 35,000 people weathered icy temperatures to pay tribute to Australia’s service men and women.

The sun was shining in Sydney as hundreds gathered to watch the Anzac Day march, hundreds gathering at the intersection of Martin Place and Elizabeth St to pay respects to the service people and veterans.

Some held signs reading “thank you” to the veterans, while others waved Australian flags.

Veterans were assisted in walking down the road, as other officials and service members waved to onlookers.

In Melbourne, hundreds gathered to watch the commemorative march as it made its way down Swanston St and across to St Kilda Rd.

Among the crowd was Premier Jacinta Allan, who walked solemnly alongside service members and veterans.

Others watched on as the service people made their way tot he Shrine of Remembrance, where a wreath was laid in honour of the fallen.

Some watching the march were dressed for the AFL Anzac Day match between Essendon and Collingwood, taking place at the nearby MCG.

Historic barracks bathed in red for Dawn Service

Record numbers of attendees appeared at the Dawn Service in the Victoria Barracks in Sydney on Saturday morning.

The building was bathed in red lights and poppies were projected onto the alls as attendees lowered their heads for the fallen soldiers and service people.

Thousands of people were at the historic barracks in Paddington on Saturday morning as members of the Australian Defence Force commemorated the sacred day alongside family members and members of the public.

‘Special place’: Kokoda remembered

Veterans’ Affairs and Defence Personnel Minister Matt Keogh attended a Dawn Service at the Isurava Memorial in Papua New Guinea, to pay tribute to the Australian soldiers who served along the Kokoda Track during World War Two.

Speaking at the service, Mr Keogh said more than 8000 Australians served along the track between July and November 1942.

They were sent to fight at a time when “the Japanese forces were advancing and the threat to Australia seemed very real”.

“In this special place, we remember all those who fought and died on the Kokoda Track and across Papua New Guinea and the significant contribution they made to ultimate victory in the Second World War,” he said.

“We also pay tribute to the families of those who served here and acknowledge the enduring grief of the loved ones of those who never came home.

“We thank all those who have put their lives on the line for our country and stepped up to safeguard our way of life.”

Reason GG breaks Anzac tradition

Sam Mostyn attended the North Bondi service, breaking the tradition of governors-general attending the Australian War Memorial or Gallipoli for the Dawn Service.

The Governor-General accepted the invitation to attend made after the Bondi terror attack, to be with the community.

Fifteen people were shot dead in the alleged terror attack at a Channuka event at Bondi Beach on December 12.

“It was important to me to come here. Josh Farquhar, chair of North Bondi RSL, invited me to be here in the days after the terrible things that happened here in December,” she told Sunrise.

“And it was such a beautiful request because this club has the youngest membership age, so it’s about a 35-year-old average age at this RSL.

“It represents so much of what the modern theatre of war and what modern defence represents, but particularly for the families.

“And so to be invited to a commemoration that’s so modern and so natural and with 30,000 people coming to this beach, many of them with no attachment to defence more to a person who served, but because they want to show deep respect and thanks.”

Ms Mostyn, was in Gallipoli for the 110th anniversary last year, said the North Bondi service was beautiful.

About 30,000 attended the service.

Solemn Dawn Services across countryIt was a sad start to the solemn day, where tens of thousands of Australians are gathering across the country for Anzac Day Dawn Service ceremonies to remember the 111th anniversary of the Gallipoli landings.

Several dignitaries attended the service, including NSW Governor Margaret Beazley, Premier Chris Minns and federal minister Tanya Plibersek.

Anthony Albanese was at the Dawn Service at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, where he laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Fallen Soldier.

A RAAF servicewoman, whose family fled the war in Afghanistan, recalled the touching moment her family was saved by the Australian Royal Navy.

Flying Officer Kbora Ali told the service how her father, trapped on a sinking ship in the Indian Ocean, was saved by “courageous” Royal Australian Navy personnel.

Twenty four years since that tiny wooden boat that was saved by the Navy, Ms Ali said she stood “here as a proud daughter, a former immigrant, a former soldier, and now as an aviator.”

More than 35,000 people attended the Canberra ceremony.

The Prime Minister had originally intended to be in Gallipoli for Anzac Day, but cancelled the plans after the US-Iran war started.

Veteran Luke McCallum, ahead of his participation in the veteran’s march, told NewsWire Anzac Day was often one of mixed emotions.

Mr McCallum, a double amputee, recalled his deployment in Iraq in the early 2000s, where his crew got caught up in a suicide bombing on April 24 and lost three American comrades.

“So, from that moment on Anzac Day, things changed for me. The 24th is a bit of a rough day for me, but the 25th now, I’m getting better,” he said.

“A lot of us that were there that day struggle.

“I’m very lucky that some of them are also here in Canberra, so we sort of lean on each other.

Defence numbers helpline

The Canberra Dawn Service was one of Mr McCallum’s favourites because of its location, he said.

“(The Australian War) Memorial is just beautiful and in the early mornings, despite the cold, it’s just amazing,” he said.

The Dawn Service held a special place in his heart, he said, particularly after his experience in Iraq.

“(During the suicide bombing) time zone changes meant we were in action, at the same time that the (Dawn Service) ceremony would have been happening in Australia,” he said.

He recalled his crew holding their own ceremony on the flight deck after the incident, in memory of the soldiers they lost.

BRS attends Currumbin service

Other major services are being held in capital cities, including the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, and at Currumbin on the Gold Coast where Ben Roberts-Smith has been seen.

The 47-year-old was earlier this month charged with five counts war crime murder relating to alleged conduct during his service in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012.

The Victoria Cross recipient has yet to enter pleas to any of the charges, but has denied the allegations.

He was at the Elephant Rock service at Currumbin wearing a suit and his medals, including the Victoria Cross.

Mr Roberts-Smith Speaking to was stopped by dozens of wellwishers after the service, the Courier-Mail reported.

Later he told reporters the support was “overwhelming” and had never considered not being at the service in light of the controversy surrounding his April 7 arrest.

“I never thought about not coming,” he said.

“I was always going to be here.”

RSL Queensland president, Major General Stephen Day, had given Mr Roberts-Smith his blessing.

“He is absolutely welcome to any service that he chooses to join,” Major General Day said on Friday.

Anzac Day services

Across Australia and New Zealand, Dawn Services will be held, marked by the playing of the Last Post, a minute’s silence, and the recitation of The Ode.

Communities will then gather for gunfire breakfasts, marches involving veterans and families, and moments of reunion that sit alongside remembrance.

The first of the Australian ceremonies began in at the cenotaph in Sydney’s Martin Place at 4.20am, with a solemn service, with the march on.

Later in the day, two-up will be legally played in pubs and clubs, while Anzac biscuits are shared and sprigs of rosemary and red poppies are worn in remembrance of those who served at Gallipoli.

Increasingly, commemorations also incorporate purple poppies for animals and an infinity symbol recognising military personnel who have died by suicide.

It has been 111 years since the first Gallipoli landing in Turkey during World War One.

The eight-month campaign backing doomed British efforts to capture the Ottoman Empire’s capital cost 8141 Australian lives. A further 17,970 were wounded.

‘Lest we forget’

The Prime Minister has issued a video message, honouring the original Anzacs and all Australians who have served in the military since.

“Time and time again, Australians at war have embodied the courage, selflessness and mateship that define our national character,” he said.

“What their legacy proves to us is that even when peace seems elusive, it is always worth fighting for. So we gather.

“And as we give thanks for the light of every bright dawn that was their promise to us, we keep tending the flame of memory.

“Lest we forget.”

More to come