Thank you Lord Mayor, Your Excellencies, Mr Premier, the Defence Minister, General Cosgrove, Chief of the Australian Defence Force, the Leader of the Opposition, service chiefs, Brigadier Maurie McNarn, the Australian National Commander from Operation Falconer, my fellow Australians.
This is a moment for the people of Perth, a city and indeed the capital of a state that has always bulked very importantly in the defence of Australia and has always contributed so magnificently to the military conflicts in which our nation has been involved. It is an opportunity representing all of the people of Australia to express our gratitude and our pride to the men and women of the Australian Defence Forces who have served this country so magnificently and so successfully, not only in the recent campaign in Iraq but also in the war against terrorism in Afghanistan.
It is with enormous pride as Prime Minister that I convey to all of you, all of you serving men and women and your loved ones the congratulations and the admiration of a very proud nation. We live in a world made very different by the scourge of terrorism. We live in a world that is very different from the one we knew as recently as five or ten years ago. But as in the past, Australians have responded to the challenge of changed world circumstances, so it is that this nation responded with our close friends and allies to the changed circumstances particularly following the tragic events in the United States on the 11th of September of which there was a brutal and painful reminder claiming the lives of so many Australians in Bali on the 12th of October 2002.
We reflect today on the deliverance of all of our men and women from the campaign in Iraq, for all of them to come home safe and sound is something for which we will always be deeply grateful. We remember the loss of Andrew Russell serving with the Special Air Service Regiment in Afghanistan. We pay tribute to all of the men and women who've put their lives on the line. Decisions are taken by those charged by the people of Australia with decisions and those decisions having been taken, it falls to the men and women gathered before us today to carry the burden and the danger and the risk of those decisions. That is why occasions such as this belong to the men and women who have marched so well and so magnificently.
And can I say to all of you that you went abroad in our name to do the right thing for our nation and for the world. You defended and represented the values of Australia and not least the great military tradition of this country, which has never been to oppress people but always to defend what is right and just. Today belongs entirely to you. It is a day to salute you, it is a day to honour you and to thank you. And on behalf of all of the people of Australia, I do that very unconditionally and I know with the united support of all of the Australian people.
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