Gallery | ‘Remembrance Day is not only about loss and the past, it’s about the shared spirit that binds us today’

Mr Tsirigotis served in the Australian Army for 22 years, which also included spending a year in Shepparton in 2012-13 where he worked with the 8/7 th Battalion Royal Australian Regiment.

Unity was the underlying theme of Mr Tsirigotis’ speech.

“Remembrance Day is not only about loss and the past, it’s about the shared spirit that binds us today. It’s about what unites us as Australians.”

He spoke of the estimated 1000 to 1300 Indigenous Australian soldiers who served in World War I despite discriminatory laws that excluded them from enlisting.

He also talked of the Australians of Chinese descent, like Billy Sing, the famed Gallipoli sniper, who fought in World War I, as well as Greek Australians who fought in World War II.

The Jewish community gave leaders like Sir John Monash, while many Muslim Australians served in Gallipoli and the Western Front in World War I, as well as in more recent conflicts.

“Here in Shepparton, and all over Australia, diversity is a strength,” Mr Tsirigotis said.

“On days like today, we can use remembrance to build or as a tool to rebuild understanding and unity to remind ourselves that service and sacrifice know no single language, faith or background.

“The Anzac legacy belongs to all of us.

“Remembrance is not just about the past – it’s about how we live today, and how we carry forward the torch of respect, inclusion, and unity into the future.”

The playing of the Last Post and minute’s silence were poignant parts of the ceremony, as was the wreath laying by various organisations, community groups and school students.

This year’s Shepparton service was an extra special one, with the unveiling of a plaque honouring 30 women who trained as nurses at the old Mooroopna Hospital before serving in World War I on the front line.

Almost 200 people attended the Shepparton service, including family members of some of those named on the plaque.

Some were locals, with the families remaining in the area, others had come from further afield.

Retired Colonel Jan McCarthy, now with the Victoria RSL, but also a former chief of the Royal Australian Nursing Corp, was pleased to recognise the service of the estimated 2500 to 3000 nurses who left the shores of Australia to serve overseas during World War I.

“Wherever the boys were,” Colonel McCarthy said.

“Their whole role was to care for the boys. They worked in horrid conditions.”

She said the nurses in World War I served in base and general hospitals, as well as on trains and canal boats that were transporting wounded soldiers.

“World War I nurses were a magnificent group.”