PREPARATIONS for Swan Hill’s Anzac Day centenary services on Saturday are moving along well, with event organisers and police alike expecting the events to be trouble free.
Despite the weekend’s raids and arrests in Melbourne over an alleged Anzac Day terror plot, local police are confident the day will unfold without any threat to residents’ security.
The reassurances came as it was revealed the vice consul from the Turkish Consulate, Kerim Birinci, will be the guest speaker at Swan Hill’s main Anzac Day ceremony, which follows the march at 10am.
“There will probably be a few more police around, but it won’t be noticeable,” a police spokeswoman said.
“Everything’s being monitored by intelligence and through the community, but we’ve got no reason to be any more concerned than anywhere else,”
Swan Hill RSL Sub Branch president Barry Townley says it has been “very stressful” organising the event, but with 14 or 15 descendants of World War I diggers marching it would all be worth it.
“The dawn service will be the highlight,” he said.
“It’s got a huge meaning and it’s an eerie feeling when it becomes dark in the dawn — it’s usually brisk and chilly — and when they give the Last Post it’ll be an overwhelming feeling.
For more on this story, grab a copy of Wednesday’s Guardian (April 22).
