Shorten wants new national war cemetery

Australia should have a war cemetery in the tradition of the Arlington National Cemetery in the United States, Labor leader Bill Shorten says.

The federal opposition leader says as the centenary of World War I nears, it is time to think of a new way to commemorate the sacrifice of service personnel.

Mr Shorten called on Friday for the building of an Australian War Cemetery in Canberra, saying: "I believe such a place would enrich the fabric of our national memory."

An Arlington-style war cemetery now has bipartisan support in Australia, after Prime Minister Tony Abbott suggested one could be built in Canberra in time for the centenary of the Gallipoli landing.

Mr Shorten said he hoped it would be a place where widows, parents, children and others could gather peacefully.

Such a cemetery would become a place of pilgrimage, he said.

"A piece of ground now hallowed by death and gallantry and by those we owe so much, in the heart of our nation," Mr Shorten said.