Snipers watch as PM pays respects

SNIPERS were deployed at the national Remembrance Day ceremony amid heightened security fears as Prime Minister Scott Morrison paid tribute to Australia’s World War I heroes.

The two snipers were stationed on the roof of the Australian War Memorial in Canberra as 12,000 people — four times the usual turnout — gathered to pay their respects on the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I.

Australian Federal Police were also out in force and concrete bollards were set up to block off streets around the memorial.

Australian War Memorial director Brendan Nelson would not comment on whether security was beefed up in the wake of the Melbourne terror attack.

“We take any and all advice that’s provided to us by the intelligence and security agencies,” he said.

Mr Nelson called on all Australians to never forget the sacrifices made to keep our country free and to always aim to be worthy of them.

Mr Morrison praised the bravery and selflessness of World War I veterans in his commemorative address, noting that they were ordinary people with “the same normal flaws and frailties as any other Australian” but their sacrifice had “set them apart for eternity”.

Mr Morrison also highlighted the thousands of returned servicemen and women who died in the years after the war, either from injury or trauma.

“Their struggles were as much an act of patriotism and love of our country as their enlisted service and that is true to this day for those who wrestle daily with these memories,” he said.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten and former prime minister Paul Keating were among the other dignitaries gathered at yesterday’s service.