Prime Minister Tony Abbott has praised World War II veterans for creating 70 years of peace and prosperity.
Mr Abbott has told veterans on the 70th anniversary of the end of the war that not only are Australians thankful they won but thankful their magnanimity and hard work afterwards had built lasting peace.
"You never let the grim necessities of war harden your hearts or misshape your characters," Mr Abbott said at a special gala dinner for veterans in Brisbane on Saturday night.
"You rose to the challenge of war and you rose again to the challenge of peace, and all of us are your beneficiaries."
Mr Abbott said the veterans and other volunteers had fulfilled King George VI's call for his Commonwealth subjects "to restore what has been lost and establish peace".
He said it may have been their magnanimity or their weariness, but there were no reprisals against the Japanese, victor's justice or reparations that had defined the end of every conflict that went before.
The prime minister said the new world that this generation had brought about was defined by co-operation, goodwill, prosperity and order.
"This is your world. I hope you are proud of it, for we could not be more proud of you," he said.
"You have set a standard of strength and decency, a gold standard to which every future generation should aspire, and I thank you."
Share
