Anzac Day 2022: Hundreds flock to Kings Park for dawn service

Hundreds of West Australians were undeterred by COVID restrictions to distantly watch the return of Kings Park’s Anzac Day dawn service – the first since the pandemic’s onset.

Several hundred people flanked the State War Memorial on Monday morning during the invite-only event – traditionally one of Australia’s largest dawn services – which was capped at 500 attendees.

The Returned and Services League’s WA chief executive John McCourt last week said only up to 500 invited veterans would be allowed at the dawn service, with the health and safety of older attendees the highest priority.

Mr McCourt, however, welcomed the hundreds of West Australian’s solemnly paying their respects to the country’s service personnel from outside the official proceeding’s perimeter.

“This is what freedom is all about,” he said.

“It is a public open space, we just asked them to keep this distance for the health of older veterans.”

Among those making the early morning journey to Kings Park was Wayne Reeves and his nine-year-old son Luke.

“I come here every year and no matter what they said, we were going to come down and support (veterans) anyway,” Mr Reeves said.

“And once (the official service) ends we’ll go up to the war memorial and pay our respects.”

When asked by his dad why they were at Kings Park, Luke answered: “to commemorate the soldiers who fought in wars and died”.