Queensland residents draws to the attention of the House that Anzac Day events across the country were cancelled in 2020 due to Government regulations. Since then, we have seen crowds of up to 50,000 people at footy games, mass gatherings of 30,000 BLM protesters on our streets, crowds of 10,000 at music festivals and thousands thronging Queensland beaches over summer. Given these mass gatherings, it appears to be inconsistent for the Queensland government to impose drastic restrictions on this year's Anzac Day celebrations. The march has now been moved to the Ekka show grounds, made a "banner-only", mostly veteran-free event, with just 350 'special invitees' allowed to watch. Of those 350, only 20 places have been allocated to veterans from regional and rural areas. We are told it is for veterans' "protection", but veterans are deeply upset. Many veterans feel that issues of personal "health and safety" are matters for they and their families to decide, not the Government.

Your petitioners, therefore, request the House to support our Veterans and ask that the Government revise its current COVID-safe Blueprint for Anzac Day 2021. We ask that the House take note of the need for fairness and consistency when applying state laws on mass gatherings and social distancing. We also ask that the overt bias against regionally based veterans be redressed.