It is a real honour for me to address the men and women of the armed forces of the Commonwealth of Australia.
As serving members of our armed forces, you are trained, dedicated, professional, committed and courageous. You are the best of us, and I salute you as you prepare to deploy to the Middle East.
You are deploying in preparation for combat operations, but it is an essentially humanitarian mission to disrupt and degrade the operations of ISIL, and in so doing, to protect the people of Iraq, but more than that, in so doing, to protect the people of the wider world, including Australia.
Regrettably, around the world and in this country itself, there are people who would do us harm. There are people who hate who we are and how we live. They hate our freedom, our tolerance, our democracy. You are there to protect us. You are the long, strong arm of Australia.
In this mission you will have the full support of both the Government and the Opposition. In this mission, we will give you all the support you need. That is what you expect of us and we will deliver for you. We will also do all we can to support your loved ones while you are away. I am very conscious of the fact that they also serve who only stand and wait.
So, good luck and Godspeed. What you are doing is right, it’s just and it’s necessary.
[ends]