Australia's Ambassador to Nepal and his plane-load of "Anzacs". Lest We Forget, like the Ambassador.
Thursday, 02 April 2020
Peter Budd is DFAT's Ambassador to Nepal.
Over the past few days he's been a bit too excited about organising a plane for Australian and New Zealand tourists to get home.
This morning reader David C wrote to me
Good morning Michael,I’ve followed your blog for a long time and thought this may be something you’d be interested in.The Australian Ambassador to Nepal has been tweeting a lot recently about the repatriation flight organised for Australian and New Zealand citizens from Kathmandu to Brisbane. The problem is, he keeps referring to the evacuees as ‘ANZACS’ and the flight as an ‘ANZAC Service'. Referring to a bunch of raggedy backpackers and some Nepalese ‘Australian-citizen-as-insurance-policy’ main chancers as ANZACs is not only offensive, it appears to be contrary to the regulations surrounding the misuse of the word ANZAC. I wonder if you could find out whether the Ambassador sought permission from the Minister for Veterans Affairs to use the word ANZAC for his self promoting tweets and if not, whether his actions constitute a breach of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Code of Conduct that might warrant a referral to his own minister.
Thank you David.
I'd have hoped that His Excellency might have at least some idea about the word Anzac, its protections and what it means for Australians.
Lest We Forget.
Introduction
The Anzac tradition—the ideals of courage, endurance and mateship that are still relevant today—was established on 25 April 1915 when the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula.
It was the start of a campaign that lasted eight months and resulted in some 25,000 Australian casualties, including 8,700 who were killed or subsequently died of wounds or disease. The men who served on the Gallipoli Peninsula created a legend, thereby adding the word ‘Anzac’ to our vocabulary and creating the notion of the Anzac spirit.
The word ‘Anzac’ therefore has a unique place within Australian culture. To stop the misuse of the word ‘Anzac’, a set of regulations was put in place to ensure this important word was treated with the respect and dignity it deserved.
These regulations are the responsibility of the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs. The Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) administers applications to use the word ‘Anzac’.
The Regulations
The Protection of Word 'Anzac' Regulations 1921 (the Regulations) broadly state that to use the word 'Anzac' (or any word resembling the word 'Anzac') in an official or corporate manner, permission from the Minister for Veterans' Affairs is required.