The Coalition has raised concerns after the Australian War Memorial decided not to play the national anthem at the official opening of its Anzac Hall redevelopment.

Political leaders were joined by a guest list of distinguished military personnel and eminent Australians on Tuesday evening for an event to officially open the $550 million redevelopment.

The event included a Welcome to Country ceremony, as well as musical performances, speeches and curator-led tours, but it did not include a rendition of Advance Australia Fair.

A runsheet seen by SkyNews.com.au shows the Welcome to Country was meant to go for just three minutes, but guests present on Tuesday have claimed it went 10-15 minutes.

Asked about the absence of the national anthem by 2GB’s Mark Levy on Wednesday, Opposition Leader Angus Taylor said the radio host was asking a “bloody good question”.

“I can’t answer that question,” Mr Taylor said.

“It should have been (played). It really should have been.”

The Liberal leader said the absence of the national anthem was even more stark given the Welcome to Country ceremony and acknowledgement of country statements from speakers.

“There was a long Welcome to Country, and as usual, the line-up did their acknowledgements of country – or most of them, at least,” he said.

“This was an important event. It was a $500 million redevelopment of the war memorial, which is such an important memorial to the contribution that our war fighters have made over such a long period of time.

“It is a great project… and it needed to be a commemoration or an opening from across the parliament, with the support of everyone in the parliament.

“We didn’t even have a national anthem. Seriously, we’ve got to do better than that.”

National anthem reserved for ceremonies honouring Australia’s veterans

In a statement provided to SkyNews.com.au, a spokesperson for the War Memorial explained that the national anthem had been played earlier in the evening at the Last Post ceremony – which concluded at 5pm, 45 minutes before guests were scheduled to start arriving.

“The Australian National Anthem is performed every evening at the Australian War Memorial’s Last Post Ceremony,” the spokesperson said.

“The official opening event for Anzac Hall and Atrium, included a Welcome to Country, musical performances, speeches and curator-led tours.

“The event concluded with the playing of Retreat and the ceremonial lowering and presentation of the Australian National Flag.”

The MC of the Anzac Hall opening conveyed this information to guests when closing out Tuesday’s event. But due to the structure of the evening, some attendees had already departed.

SkyNews.com.au also understands the War Memorial reserves the national anthem for official ceremonies that honour Australia’s service personnel, like the Last Post ceremony and Anzac Day commemorations. It is not typically played at events like the Anzac Hall opening.

However in order to mark its significance, the flag selected to fly over the official opening had flown over the Australian embassy in Kabul in 2015-16. It was lowered to “Retreat” by serving veterans.