We are here today to bring together two important strands of Australian history - the place of Gallipoli in our history and the original vision for our Bush Capital.
The Battle of Lone Pine, like the story of Simpson and his donkey, is a part of our national history.
And the story of how the Lone Pine came to Australia, too, is worth mentioning.
93 years ago the Battle of Lone Pine left around 9,000 soldiers lying dead.
The ridge on which this battle took place had had every tree cut down to cover trenches.
Every tree except one - the Lone Pine.
The vision of a lonely tree, silhouetted against the sky as the Australian troops looked up at their objective, evokes much of the hardship of the Gallipoli campaign.
After the battle, at least a couple of Australian soldiers souvenired pine cones as mementoes from the battleground.
And a seed from one of these - the one that Lance Corporal Benjamin Smith of the 3rd Battalion whose brother had died in the battle - finally made it to the grounds of the War Memorial in 1934.
1934 was a year of great events to commemorate Gallipoli.
It was also the year that Turkey's leader, Kemal Ataturk, offered solace to the parents of those young Australians who lost their lives at Gallipoli saying, “After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.”
The memory of Gallipoli - symbolised for us in the Lone Pine and the many trees that have grown from it - is important to all of us; the people from Australia, from New Zealand and from Turkey alike.
While battles raged on the Gallipoli Peninsula, so too they raged in Canberra.
But the battles in Canberra were, of course, of a very different nature.
They were the battles between architects, designers, officials and politicians about the face and soul of our national capital.
These too were hard fought battles.
Walter Burley Griffin was committed to bringing about his vision for Canberra.
A vision that he saw as embodying the spirit of the new nation of Australia and the “bold and radical steps in politics and economics” that the young nation had dared to take.
Part of his original vision was for an International Arboretum at West Lake.
An arboretum that would represent the continents of the earth through its trees.
Today - nearly 100 years later - we are seeing that vision realised.
It is a vision that has had many setbacks along the way - including the terrible fires of 2003.
But today we can celebrate the bringing together of two great stories in our history.
One, the story of sacrifice on the Gallipoli Peninsula and the birth of a nation under the fire of shot and shell.
The other, the birth of the nation's capital and the vision of its designer.
It is a great pleasure to be here today to help plant Lone Pine saplings in the new Canberra International Arboretum and Gardens.
And it is a particularly great pleasure to be able to do so alongside the representatives of New Zealand and Turkey.
Thank you.