At 11pm in London, on this day one hundred years ago, the First World War began.
The First World War was the most cataclysmic event in human history.
Up to twenty million people died, empires collapsed, boundaries were redrawn.
The world as it had been known, in important respects, ceased to exist.
It wasn’t just World War One that made such an extraordinary change to the world of those times.
World War One arguably gave rise to communism, to Nazism, to World War Two and the Cold War.
The events of a hundred years ago still reverberate around our world today and it had a shattering impact on the young Commonwealth of Australia. From a population of under five million people, more than 400,000 enlisted, more than 300,000 served overseas, more than 150,000 were wounded and more than 60,000 were killed.
Of men aged between 18 and 40, fully half enlisted and of those that went overseas, one in five never returned.
This cauldron shaped our nation. Even now, these events shape our nation.
So here we are, in these cloisters, surrounded by names.
But these names are not just a list.
There is a story behind every name and, ultimately, we wish to know all those stories, because those stories – good and not so good – can help to shape us and to shape our times.
It’s great that so many youngsters, as part of this Soundscape project, will be familiarising themselves with the lives of those who are commemorated here.
So many of them – as Dr Nelson has just pointed out – were little older than those who will be participating in the Soundscape project.
One hundred years ago they were people just like us – just like our youngsters today.
It is important to remember what it was like for them. What went through their minds as they enlisted; patriotism, love of empire, a sense of adventure. It’s important, too, to remember what went through their minds when the guns fired; fear, excitement, love of their mates.
It was a terrible war. In one sense a tragic waste but it was for a good cause.
For us at least, World War I was not a war of conquest, it was a war of freedom. It was a war for our allies, for our values. Those who died, they fell with their mates during what they honestly believed was the right thing.
So, we should, over the course of the next four years reflect on the tragedy and the magnificence of the human condition. We should remember the good, the bad, what was achieved, what wasn’t achieved.
We should always, as we reflect, dedicate ourselves to being better people, creating as best we can a better world.
I thank the War Memorial for this project. I thank the ABC and Google for their involvement.
Most of all, I thank all of the young Australians who will be involved in this.
The war shaped our country and our reflection on it will help to shape our future.
[ends]