E&OE..................
Sir Charles, Admiral Barrie the Chief of the Defence Force, Lieutenant General Peter Cosgrove the Chief of the Army, Mr Kim Beazley Leader of the Opposition.
Mr Beazley and I are both here today to send a very strong message of unified regard and support for the work that you are about to undertake on behalf of our country. A regiment such as this does not need to be reminded of the physical and mental challenges of battle. A regiment such as this doesn';t want to be reminded of the potential danger you may face. You are to be involved in an unusual but nonetheless incredibly difficult and incredibly important military operation. The terrorist attacks on the United States in September were attacks that have not only unsettled the world and struck terror and unease in to the hearts of men and women and children all around the nation but they were, in a very direct sense, an attack on Australia and what we value and what we hold dear as much as they were an attack on the United States.
It is not something that we can walk away from. A score or more Australians died in the World Trade Centre but above and beyond that, important though that is and tragic though it was, they were going about their daily lives. They were doing the things that free men and women should be able to do anywhere in the world. And what we do need to do is to present to the world a united response and a determined response. You won';t beat terrorism only by military operations. Other things are needed. Diplomatic things are needed. An understanding of the historical causes of discontent. A willingness to assemble a very broad coalition of countries. All of those things are necessary but the military component of it is also crucial. And that is why from the very beginning the United States made it plain that she would want to mount a military operation. And she also made it plain that she would like to have involved in those military operations the forces of a number of countries of which Australia is very proudly one who fought beside the Americans in the last.
The reputation of your own regiment is well known around the world. Yesterday I had the opportunity in Shanghai of talking to President Bush about the progress of the American military operation and he spoke of his forces, special forces and he turned to me and said very warmly I understand your special forces are pretty good Prime Minister. And I said more than that but I certainly endorsed everything he said. So it was no idle comment. It was a comment of a man who had obviously been informed by his own military of the very high regard in which all of you are held.
This is not of course a struggle as some are trying to make it between the forces of Christianity in the west against the forces of Islam. It';s a struggle between people who believe in allowing men and women to live their lives decently and peacefully and live our their dreams and those who would deny them that. And once again we should remind ourselves that hundreds of those who died in the World Trade Centre, were of the Islamic faith. So it';s a very unusual operation but it is a very important operation for the continuity of the sort of life we have taken for granted.
You go into a very challenging environment. But you go superbly trained. You should also go in the knowledge that to the extent that it is humanly possible for a nation to care for and look after those of your family and other loved ones that you leave behind that will occur. I promise you that we will do everything to make it as easy as it possibly can be for those of your families who are left. It won';t be an easy time for them. It will be a time of very considerable anxiety.
You also go as part of a very great Australian military tradition. It';s a military tradition that has won respect in all of the conflicts in which our men and women have been involved. But it is also a tradition which has never sought to impose our will on others but rather to stick up for what is right and to defend what we believe in. I know that many of you recently have been involved in relation to border protection activities. Some of you were involved on the Manoora. Some of you have been involved in relation to the Tampa. Many of you were involved in East Timor. In other words today';s commitment or the commitment that is about to commence is but the latest potentially one of the most challenging of a career that has been very distinguished.
Can I say that I admire the commitment that you men have. A nation needs fit, young, highly trained, intelligent people who are willing to undertake dangerous tasks. We try very hard to minimise the occasions when that sort of commitment is needed but you can';t always prevent it happening on occasions. So thank you very much for your commitment. You go with our thoughts and our prayers. We wish you all well. We wish you all a safe return. You are doing good work for our country and what it stands for. You go in the name of all of us and we hope your mission is successful and that you all return home very safely.
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