National Day?

There is a new public holiday on the calendar, National Day. Last year it was called Remembrance Day and was held on July 25th, this year it has been moved two months forward to April 25th and given a name change.

April 25 corresponds of course with another public holiday celebrated down south, ANZAC day. While this is good news for me - I will go to the dawn service at the war memorial on Monday - I can't help but think why move it at all. July 25 had been PNG's day of remembrance for a long time.

Is this a case of merging the day of remembrance to align it with a more appropriate war remembrance date as the politicians who made the change state? Why ANZAC day then? That is a date for the invasion of Gallipoli in WWI and has got nothing to do with PNG. Why not use the more internationally recognised Remembrance day of November the 11th? Or pick a date significant to PNG, like when the War in the Pacific ended or when the Japanese finally retreated from PNG's shores - perhaps this was the case already with the July 25 date, I am not sure.

And as to why call it National Day, I have no idea.