Well thank you very much Colonel Short. To my colleague Senator Robert Hill, the Minister for Defence, General Peter Leahy, the Chief of the Army, Brigadier Cantwell, the administrator, David Tollner and my other parliamentary colleagues, my fellow Australians.
I am very pleased indeed that I was able to come today and share this very important family day with all of you and to take the opportunity of wishing you well when you go in various detachments over the weeks ahead. You go to Al Muthanna Province in Iraq to undertake very important work on behalf of and as part of the coalition forces in Al Muthanna Province.
It is symbolic and also very important in a real sense that today of course is the day that the people of Iraq vote whether they support or oppose a new constitution. And it is a reminder that the presence of Australian and other forces in Iraq is part of a process of giving to the people of that strife-torn country the opportunity of something that we take for granted, and that is the right to determine our own future. There is something quite inspiring to me, and I know to many around in the world, in the fact that people have to risk their lives in order to cast a vote. Something that Australians find very hard to contemplate and very hard to understand.
I had the opportunity to pay a brief visit in July to your comrades, your fellow taskgroup members who are currently in Al Muthanna Province. Their spirits were high, their behaviour and their attitude was proudly Australian. They have done what Australians do better than any other fighting force in the world, and that is not only be good soldiers but also be good friends to the people of the country where they are serving. No military task is without danger, you all understand that. But this is a task for which you have been superbly trained and prepared. And the safety thus far of all members of the taskgroup who are in Al Muthanna Province now is a tribute to the skill of all of the men and women in that group, its leaders and also the great training that they received and you have received in preparation for that task.
I do have a special word for the families - the wives, the husbands, the children, the loved ones and other friends of those who will be going over the weeks ahead. I know, we all know, that the next six months will be periods of anxiety, we will do everything we can from the top down as part of the defence family to help you handle those periods of separation. Fortunately modern communications brings you into more rapid and immediate contact with those who are serving overseas than used to be the case. But I would not want any wife, any child, any husband, any lover, any brother or sister or parent who is present here today to think for a moment that we are not very conscious of the particular burden that you carry and the great importance of looking after you while your loved ones are away.
Can I finally say to all of the men and women who will be going, that as Prime Minister I am very conscious that in the end decisions are taken by the Government that I head that you can put you in harms way. We hope and we believe that you have been well prepared. The training that you have received superbly equips you for the task. We believe you have all the equipment you need and if we're wrong in that assumption we know that you will let us know, and let us know very quickly and very directly. But I am very conscious of the task that you're undertaking. The Australian military forces always distinguish themselves, we have a very fine tradition in this country, when it comes to our military, we have never sought to impose our views on others, we've only sought to help others. And that is what you will be doing as you go to the Al Muthanna Province in Iraq, you are providing a stable environment, particularly for our Japanese allies in that part of Iraq As your predecessors have done you will become the friends of the local people, not the occupiers or the enemy.
I wish you Godspeed, good luck and above all a very safe return home in six months time. I am very grateful for your professionalism, your nation is very proud of you. I know your loved ones will think of you constantly and I look forward to joining you when you return home. Indeed I thank you very much.
[ends]