New Zealand PM leads Anzac Day commemoration

New Zealand paid tribute to its war dead early on Sunday as it marked Anzac Day, the annual commemoration of the day in 1915 when the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps landed on Turkey's Gallipoli peninsula in an ill-fated campaign that provided the soldiers’ first combat of World War I.

Speaking outside the Auckland War Memorial Museum and before laying a wreath during a dawn service, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern paid a special tribute to the women of the country's Defence Force.

Ardern noted the significant strides that women have taken since they were first included in the military.

In neighbouring Australia, Prime Minister Scott Morrison attended a dawn service at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.