Veterans Say Call Off Anzac Day

Australia's old soldiers want the public holiday held in their honour abolished because, they say, people have too much frivolous fun which draws attention away from the seriousness of the occasion.

Anzac Day on April 25 is a popular event in Australia and New Zealand, whose veterans are also commemorated. But senior members of the Returned Servicemen's League, which represents Australia's 200,000 veterans, say the day off work should be stopped.

"The day off only encourages people to go away for the long weekend and forget altogether about the Anzacs and the sacrifices they made. It's a complete waste of time and has nothing to do with the meaning of Anzac Day," Cyril Gilbert, the vice-president of Queensland RSL, told the Australian Associated Press.

The proposal was backed by the Victoria state premier, Steve Bracks, and Andrew Bartlett, the leader of the Democrats party. Victoria and Tasmania are the only states not to take an Anzac Day holiday.

"It's not about a benefit," Mr Bracks said. "It's about commemorating an important historic event that happened in Australia and formed the nation."

Nearly 300,000 people turned out for parades and ceremonies around Australia on Sunday, roughly the same as the number of Australians who served in the first world war - which the day originally honoured - and nearly three times the number of Australian casualties in all its wars.

The prime minister, John Howard, paid an unannounced visit to the 450 Australian soldiers stationed in Iraq: a gesture designed to embarrass the opposition leader, Mark Latham, who has been criticised for promising to bring the troops home before Christmas.

An array of Anzac Day rugby league and Australian rules football matches drew thousands of people to stadiums on Sunday, and two-up - a coin-tossing betting game popular with Australian soldiers in both world wars - brought huge crowds to pubs, where it can be legally played only on April 25.