Australia is in a strange space where the traditions that enabled our high standard of living are being taken for granted by those who revel in the freedoms our Diggers continue to defend. There are few days as hallowed as Anzac Day. It is not merely a public holiday, it is a moment when Australians pause to honour those who put their lives on the line, whether it was on the shores of Gallipoli, the jungles of Kokoda, or the deserts of Afghanistan.
It’s a day for reflection, for gratitude, and for the quiet acknowledged that our freedoms were paid for in blood. Sophie Greer, the Greens’ candidate for Perth, and her party have decided to mark this solemn occasion with a ‘Greens Party Party’ fundraiser at an inner-city bar and tattoo parlour.
While most Australians will be attending dawn services, laying wreaths, or sharing a quiet moment with family, the WA Greens, under Greer’s banner, are planning to hold a rave dance party to raise funds for their election campaign.
Anzac Day is not a backdrop for political opportunism and decent politicians pause their campaigning. It’s a day when we set aside the petty squabbles of politics to remember the Diggers who didn’t come home, and those who did, forever changed.
For Sophie Greer and the Greens to treat it as a fundraising gig with a side of electronic dance music betrays a profound misunderstanding of what this day means to Australians. It’s not just tone-deaf, it’s a cultural slap in the face.
Greer, a City of Vincent councillor and self-styled ‘community organiser’, has built her campaign on the promise of challenging the status quo. But there’s nothing progressive about trampling on sacred ground. Her party’s decision to party on Anzac Day suggests a worldview so detached from mainstream Australia it is disdainful.
The Greens often lecture us on empathy and inclusion, yet they seem oblivious to the offence caused by turning a day of remembrance into a cash grab. One wonders if they’d propose a similar bash for Remembrance Day, or perhaps a karaoke night to mark the anniversary of the Bali bombings. The very idea is abhorrent.
Australians love a party as much as anyone – our history of larrikinism proves it. But there’s a time and a place, and Anzac Day is neither. The Greens’ fundraiser smacks of the same self-righteous myopia that sees them rail against coal mines while ignoring the economic realities of regional towns.
It’s a pattern – bold gestures that sound radical in inner-city echo chambers but alienate the overwhelming majority of Australians who don’t vote for the Greens. Perth, a city with a proud military heritage and a strong sense of community, deserves better than a candidate who deliberately disrespects Anzac Day to bring attention to herself and her campaign.
Dr Michael de Percy FRSA FCILT MRSN @FlaneurPolitiq is a political scientist and political commentator. He is a member of the Federal Parliamentary Press Gallery, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Telecommunications and the Digital Economy, Chairman of the ACT and Southern NSW Chapter of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, and a member of the Australian Nuclear Association. Michael is a graduate of the Royal Military College, Duntroon and was appointed to the College of Experts at the Australian Research Council in 2022. All opinions in this article are the author’s own.
