104-year-old veteran face of Anzac day campaign

​​The City of Canterbury Bankstown is calling on the community to “stand with Bert” this Anzac Day to honour and remember the men and women who served our country.  

For the first time in more than a century there will be no mass gatherings at dawn services, no marches and no reunions.  

To commemorate Anzac Day, Council today launched its Stand with Bert campaign, with one of Australia’s oldest surviving WWII veterans.

At 104 years old, Albert “Bert” Maurice Collins, a Bankstown local, will stand at his front gate at 6am and recite the ode, and is urging others to do the same.

Mr Collins said he was gutted he couldn’t march this year.

“The fact that I can’t march has never ever happened before,” Mr Collins said.

“Now this scourge (coronavirus) is with us ... but I hope everyone who is able to walk can still make their way to the front gate and face east to remember Anzac Day in the early morning.

“A lot of people went through a lot of hard work and lost their lives, male and female, and I feel so disappointed Anzac Day will be different this year, but we must do these things to extend the honours to which these people are entitled.”

Canterbury-Bankstown Mayor Khal Asfour said while these are unprecedented times we’re living in, people can still find ways to honour and remember the service men and women, including Bert.

“I’d like to invite each and everyone of you to Stand with Bert this Anzac Day at your front yard, near your fence or at your letter box, to pay our respect to those who sacrificed everything for a better nation,” Mayor Asfour said.

“Through thick and thin, our community has always stood together with mateship, humour, ingenuity, courage and endurance. These are the qualities that make up the Anzac Spirit, and as a community, I know that nothing can take that away from us, not even these tough times.”

To find out about other ways you can still observe this Anzac Day, visit cb.city/standwithbert

Photos and a pre-recorded video interview with Bert are available upon request. Please contact the Media Team on 9707 9965.