Australia politics live: ‘Keep the flame of memory burning’, PM tells opening of new Australian War Memorial gallery

Anthony Albanese presided over ceremony in Canberra last night. Follow today’s news live

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A major new gallery at the Australian War Memorial will keep the “flame of memory” burning for future generations, the prime minister told the opening ceremony in Canberra last night, Australian Associated Press reports.

Anthony Albanese was among those on hand last night for the opening of the memorial’s atrium and Anzac Hall, a gallery that focuses mainly on Australia’s commitments to the Middle East, Afghanistan and peacekeeping operations.

That most unadorned of sentences that dwells within us like a heartbeat – we vow to keep the flame of memory burning so brightly that its glow reaches future generations.

Today we adjourned the parliament so that everyone who wished to could come mark the opening of this Atrium and Anzac Hall, an addition to the Australian War Memorial that makes that flame burns so much brighter.

Look at the faces and get lost amid the smiles, the hope and camaraderie – the counterpoint to war’s relentless, inhuman arithmetic. They are its true cost.

Yet, amid this loss and sacrifice, what pulses so powerfully is life, and an abiding sense of what is worth fighting for.

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