Thank you Defence Minister, CDF, General Leahy, Admiral Ritchie, Ric Smith the head of the Department of Defence, Brigadier McNarn, ladies and gentlemen.
We have, as Robert said, arranged a number of welcome homes and they have been very special, very happy occasions, not least because we're very happy that thus far Australia has not suffered any battle casualties, and that is a remarkable tribute to the people who commanded this operation. It's also a tribute to the value of predeployment. It's also a generic tribute to the fighting qualities of the fighting men and women of Australia.
We welcome here this morning a group of people who have operated on a smaller scale, but in a very important way. It includes of course Brigadier McNarn who was the Commander of the Australian forces, who along with a number of others has been away for a longer period of time. It involved a period of deployment with the American military in the United States, and then subsequently when the CentCom operation was shifted to Qatar, a period of duty there before the predeployment, and ultimately of course as Commander of the operation.
In the very memorable visit I had overseas a few weeks ago, the highlight of it was undoubtedly the opportunity to meet our men and women in the Middle East, to go to Qatar, to meet them where they had been based, to meet Brigadier McNarn, to imbibe the sense of distinctive Australian-ness that clearly pervaded the operation. To also experience their great pride in the very professional way in which they had done their work, carried out their duty and discharged their obligations. And I want to say again to all of you, and very particularly to Brigadier McNarn who ultimately was the man in the field that had to accept all of the responsibilities, can I say that your nation is very proud indeed of what you have done. You have done it so well, you have done it in such a classically Australian style.
One of the things that did impress me when I was there was that despite the commonality of interest and the shared history and the, I guess, largely shared cultures of our nation and the United Kingdom and the United States, there was absolutely no doubt when I visited our forces, I was visiting distinctively Australian forces serving overseas as a proudly distinctive Australian unit. Part of a coalition operation, but always very Australian, and that was very important to me and I know it was very important to the men and women, and I know that amongst the group here none are happier than the wives and husbands and sweethearts and children, and mums and dads and others, to have them back and to have them back in one piece, and to have them all back is something we can all celebrate.
So can I just also, because this little gathering brings together all of the commanding heights of Australia's defence structure - the Minister, the CDF, the Chief of the Navy, the Chief of the Army, and also the Chief of the Airforce Angus Houston - and it has been a great experience for the Airforce, the first time for decades of really active military participation in this kind of operation by the Royal Australian Airforce - Ric Smith the Secretary of the Department, can I for myself and I know for the rest of the Government thank all of you for the work you have done because the Government having taken the decision, the execution of it on an hourly basis from Canberra was your responsibility and you all did it magnificently, and I want to thank you all for that.
But very particularly can I thank Brigadier McNarn and with some pleasure announce in the formal investiture that will take place at Government House on the 12th of June, but announce his promotion and elevation to, an award of the officer of the Order of Australia, an AO, in recognition of his wonderful service to the Australian Army, his leadership, his command skills in the Middle East, and the inspiration that I know he gave to the men and women who were under his command, and to his wife Richenda and his three children who are present here today and I know are delighted to have him back, you should very proud of him. He is a great Australian military leader. He has done you proud and he has done our country proud, and we're all delighted in different ways to claim him as our own today.
Thank you.
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