Aussie war hero blasts ‘woke’ primary school for Anzac Day snub and reveals the worrying prediction about the country that has come true

By HARRISON CHRISTIAN FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA

Published: 03:14 BST, 2 April 2025 | Updated: 03:52 BST, 2 April 2025

An Australian war hero has slammed the ‘woke agenda’ of a public primary school for allowing students to opt out of its Anzac Day service.

Sherwood Ridge Public School in Kellyville, northwest Sydney, asked parents last week to advise if they did not want their children to attend a special commemorative assembly and service at the school on April 10.

The email sent by Principal Jody Sullivan was purportedly to accommodate a small number of Christian students at the school who don’t ‘commemorate war’. 

It’s understood those students who will skip the Anzac assembly will take part in other supervised activities instead.

Vietnam veteran Michael von Berg MC OAM said the move was part of a trend in Australia to undermine days of national significance on ideological grounds. 

‘Australia Day was first – I said Anzac Day will be next and here we are,’ he told Daily Mail Australia.

He called the move by Sherwood an ‘insult, and disrespectful to all of the wonderful men and women who we’ve lost in all wars’.

‘It should be beyond any religion or any sort of woke agenda,’ Mr von Berg said.

Michael von Berg (pictured) was a platoon commander in Vietnam who was awarded a Military Cross for his actions in 1966

‘The kids didn’t come up with it and I don’t think it’s the parents either – I suspect it’s the teachers. 

‘You’ve just got some people that for whatever reason hate our country and hate our flag. And that’s very unhealthy for a country.

‘It’s the woke agendas that haven’t been helped by the government, because we haven’t been hard enough or strict enough in coming down on it.’ 

Mr von Berg was a platoon commander in Vietnam who was awarded a Military Cross for his actions in 1966.

His citation states that he ‘showed a complete disregard for his own safety’ to lead his troops in successfully driving back an enemy attack after they were ambushed in a ravine, saving their lives. 

Addressing the school’s claim that it was offering an Anzac service opt-out to Christian students, he pointed out that many religions were represented in the Australian Defence Force and ‘we had some wonderful padres with us on active service from all denominations’. 

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was question on Wednesday whether schools should allow students to sit out on the day.

‘I support Anzac Day. It’s as simple as that. I’ll be at Anzac Day: I’ll be at the Australian War Memorial, that’s the appropriate place to be,’ he said.

Sherwood Ridge Public School in Kellyville, northwest Sydney , asked parents last week to advise if they did not want their children to attend a special commemorative assembly and service at the school on April 10

‘My job is to support Australians and I support Anzac Day very strongly.’

The controversy at Sherwood Ridge Public School comes a year after a group of teachers proclaimed they wanted to ‘dismantle the Anzac legacy’. 

Pippa Tandy, a spokesperson for Victorian group Teachers for Palestine, said in April 2024 she wanted to change how Australia’s history is taught in schools because she is ‘sick of having to do ideological work for arms companies and the government’.

Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance of the first major military action of Australian and New Zealand soldiers in the First World War.

More than 8,000 Australian soldiers died during the Gallipoli campaign launched on April 25, 1915. This year’s commemorations mark the 110th anniversary.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted the NSW Department of Education for comment.  

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Aussie war hero blasts ‘woke’ primary school for Anzac Day snub and reveals the worrying prediction about the country that has come true

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