PRIME MINISTER ABBOTT:
The one place in Australia which best captures the depth of the friendship between Australia and France is this Australian War Memorial.
It is an honour to welcome here the President of France.
We stand together to pay tribute to the sacrifice of Australians in France during two world wars.
The First World War was the crucible which forged Australia.
It also forged an unbreakable friendship between Australia and France.
From a population of just under five million, 420,000 Australians enlisted, 330,000 overseas, 152,000 were wounded and 61,000 never came home.
More than 46,000 died defending France in the Great War and then another 600 gave their lives in France in World War Two.
Almost one in two of Australia’s war dead perished fighting for the freedom of France.
Greater love hath no man than to lay down his life for his friend.
Mr President, you have brought to our Australian War Memorial soil from the town of Villers-Bretonneux.
On Anzac Day 1918, Australian diggers recaptured Villers-Bretonneux – and as one historian wrote, “Thereafter, no German ever set foot in Villers-Bretonneux except as a prisoner of war.”
This soil and this French Oak are a reminder to us that more Australian blood was spilt on the fields of France than in any other country.
When President Clemenceau addressed Australian troops after the Battle of Hamel in July 1918, he declared, “When the Australians came, the French people expected a great deal of you ... We knew that you would fight, but we did not know that you would astonish the whole continent.”
In time, the story of the Western Front should be as well-known as that of Gallipoli, and on Anzac Day just as many Australians should congregate at Villers-Bretonneux as at Anzac Cove.
Gallipoli, after all, was a defeat. The Western Front, a victory.
Today, our foes are different but the unity of purpose between our two countries is the same.
As former prime minister Menzies said, “When countries of the democratic world stand together, “the enemies of freedom shall not pass.”
Our shared history over a century speaks of courage and loss, achievement and friendship.
The school at Villers-Bretonneux carries this injunction: ‘Do not forget Australia’.
Likewise, we won’t forget France.
PRESIDENT HOLLANDE:
Prime Minister, ministers, ladies and gentlemen.
I wanted to come here on the occasion of my first State visit to Australia. I wanted to come to the memorial in Canberra to pay tribute to all the soldiers. I want to forget none of them – the 416,000 soldiers who fought in the Great War – the Australians – and the 60,268 who did not make it home.
France will never forget the diggers; those who fought in the Somme, in Flanders. They fought for their country, for our country and for freedom.
France will never forget the 25th of April 1915 – Anzac Day – when our troops joined the Australian troops and fought together at Gallipoli.
Three years later, on the 25th April 1918, the Australian soldiers retook Villers-Bretonneux where they left an indelible print.
Seeing their bravery in combat after Clemenceau, General Foch, the Commander in Chief of the Allied Forces, said these words, “The courage of the Australians set an example for the entire world. You saved France. We will be forever grateful to Australia.”
A few minutes ago I bowed before the Unknown Soldier at the War Memorial. This Australian soldier who died in the battlefields of France, he is forever our son – a son of France, a son of Australia. France – because this is where he died. Australia – because this is where he was born.
This soldier, together with his comrades of the First World War – the Great War – is the pride of Australia and he is also a figure of remembrance for France.
In a few moments we will be planting a tree – a tree with French soil. It will grow here and it will bear witness to the friendship of our two countries.
The soil we brought comes from Villers-Bretonneux. The Mayor of the town is here together with us today and part of the outcome of World War 1 was played at Villers-Bretonneux.
In the summer of 1918, indeed, a German offensive could have reversed the course of history.
It is indeed the Australians who, in Villers-Bretonneux, made it possible. They saved the town. They freed it.
Amiens – a big city as well – was freed, and Paris protected.
It is in the same soil in Villers-Bretonneux that the Australians soldiers who died there are buried.
Today, as we remember them, they bring some more duties to us when we fight other cultures, when we fight against terrorism, fanaticism, poverty and to protect the planet as well.
And in order not to forget anything, we should always and ever be mobilised.
Thank you, Australia.
France will not forget – ever.
[ends]