ANZAC Day, and the meaning of Freedom - March 2026

Each Anzac Day, my family along with millions of other Australians rise from their warm beds before daybreak to attend a local Anzac Day dawn service. These services take place in almost every city, town and locality across Australia and New Zealand. We pause to think about what Anzac Day means to us, and to the nation. 

The young men and women who went to fight in foreign lands did so in support and defense of one simple idea: freedom. Freedom to speak, think, act and live their lives without interference from tyrants or oppressors. They fought for a society where they didn’t need permission from a government authority to enjoy a lifestyle of their choosing. They fought so that their children and our children could inherit a world that was better than their own, and where personal choice and personal liberty mattered.

And now here we are, just a couple of generations later, and I can’t help but feel that we don't fully understand exactly what freedom is, or what it actually means. 

Freedom, once defended with bombs, bullets, blood and incredible courage, is now being handed over willingly, piece by piece, often in the name of safety, security, or the “greater good”. We now live in a world where rules, restrictions, and ‘expert advice’ become mandates and laws, often bypassing the democratic process. Trust in authority is demanded, and authoritarian enforcement grows unchecked. Every time we, the people, accept a new rule without objection, and every time we allow another small concession, the space to think and act freely is diminished..

Over the past few years, I’ve seen the same pattern play out on a national and global scale. Governments, bureaucracies and institutions that claim to be acting for our protection, have increasingly assumed the role of arbiters of truth, the curators of acceptable thought, and the enforcers of compliance. What was once individual choice is now conditional. What was once trust in our own judgement is now obedience to rules dictated from on high. And when dissent arises, it is quelled and punished quietly, efficiently, and often without recourse.

It isn’t just governments. Trusted institutions that are meant to serve us, such as the media, corporations, health organisations, police, unions and professional bodies all can enforce the same rigid conformity. The free exchange of ideas becomes monitored, censored, discouraged, outlawed. Those who question the prevailing narrative are sidelined, silenced, or shamed. Slowly, the culture shifts to where fear replaces discussion, compliance replaces choice, and liberty becomes a privilege instead of a right.

I often use a simple analogy about a dog on a chain. The dog is happy on his chain that gives him access to his kennel, his water and feed as well as room to run. Then one day if you remove one link, the dog does not notice. The next day you remove another link, and the dog does not notice. Continue to remove a link a day, and eventually the dog cannot leave his kennel, and he has no idea how it happened. 

It always happens in small increments. A new rule here, another restriction there, a suggestion that quickly becomes a mandate. It happens in everyday life, in ways so subtle we barely notice until it’s too late. And it happens even when we, you and I, believe it when we are told that it’s all for the common good. I continue to be amazed at just how easily people accept rules that once would have shocked and drawn condemnation.

Ronald Reagan once said: “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like (to live) … where men were free.”

Anzac Day is a reminder that freedom is certainly not inherited, nor is it a right granted to us by governments. Freedom is an inalienable birthright that is the default setting in Australia and it must be protected. It is not something to be surrendered, even to well-meaning authority. Freedom requires us to be aware, vigilant, and to have the courage to object when government or institutions cross the line between guidance and control. It requires us to demand full transparency and accountability from those who make the rules, and it requires us to insist that we retain the right  to make our own choices. Liberty isn’t lost when governments overreach. It’s lost when people are no longer willing to shoulder the burden of freedom.

And now as Anzac Day approaches, we should ask ourselves:  Are we truly living in the spirit of those who gave everything for freedom? Or are we, generation after generation, quietly handing it away in return for perceived comfort, convenience, or the illusion of safety?

Freedom is not a guarantee. It is a responsibility. Freedom is fragile. Freedom takes energy to keep.

Freedom must be exercised, it must be protected, and it must be demanded. 

We must honour the sacrifices of those who fought for our freedom by actively defending it. Freedom is not about rejecting rules outright. It’s about maintaining balance. It’s about listening to experts and then being free to question those experts. It’s about cooperating without compromising liberty. And it’s about our right to question authority without fear.