The selection panel commented on the high standard of applications this year and had a challenging task selecting the 8 winners from across the state. Premier Palaszczuk said the Premier’s Anzac Prize engages the younger generation in understanding the Anzac tradition and how the Anzac spirit has helped shape our Australian way of life. “As Queensland marks the centenary of the Armistice that ended the First World War, there is no better way to keep the memory of the fallen alive than by giving young Queenslanders an opportunity to visit the battlefields. These students will now have the opportunity to honour the Anzac tradition in a way that’s very personal and moving by researching and writing about service people from their local area, or those who may have enlisted at the same age as them.”

Education Minister Grace Grace said since the inception of The Premier’s Anzac Prize in 2013, it had provided more than 100 Queensland high school students a life-changing experience. “The program has had a profound influence on its participants and the wider community,” Ms Grace said.

The judging panel for this year’s prize included representatives of the Australian Defence Force, the University of Queensland, Returned and Services League, Queensland University of Technology, Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority, history teachers and the Department of Education.

Michael Senior