PRIME MINISTER:
Well thank you very much Alexander. Your Royal Highness Prince Harry, Ms. Megan Markle, my ministerial colleagues, Julie Bishop the Foreign Minister and Darren Chester, the Minister for Veterans' Affairs and Mr Dominic Reid, Chief Executive of the Invictus Games Foundation. So many of our servicemen and women, our veterans, thank you. Thank you for your service. Because we know that the best way, in these centenary years, to honour the Diggers and the Tommies of 100 years ago, is to support you, the servicemen and women of today, the veterans of today, and the defence families of today.
And the leadership you've shown, your Royal Highness, in founding the Invictus Games for our sick, wounded and injured veterans has played such an important role in delivering on that promise to your brothers in arms. To all of the men and women who have kept us safe and, who today, keep us safe. All of the Invictus athletes here today, I know a number of you just competed in your national trials in the UK. I wish you success when the team is announced.
But, as you know, we are a sporting nation, and my heart will be with the Green and Gold in Sydney. We've just finished hosting a wonderful Commonwealth Games at the Gold Coast and it really was the friendliest friendly games and now we have the Invictus Games to look forward to in October. You will receive an absolutely rapturous welcome in Sydney. We know how the power of sport is there to inspire and motivate and to thrill and now we see its power to heal.
And we're determined to ensure there will be an Invictus games that we all remember. And it will give us a glimpse of what makes our veterans so extraordinary. It provides veterans who are struggling physically or mentally, purpose, a reason to get out bed and focus on recovery.
Our servicemen and women bear the heaviest load of keeping us safe and protecting and preserving our freedoms. Every freedom we enjoy has been hard won and hard fought for in every generation. And they deserve our strongest and most generous support. And particularly for those who are sick and wounded and injured coming home can be the toughest challenges they face.
Now the Invictus competitors who served in different units in different conflicts and different countries they are united by the Invictus spirit. Unconquerable, indomitable. You are the masters of your fate, the captains of your soul. You've shown valour and courage on the battlefield and now you will shine on the sporting field.
Each athlete has a remarkable story. One of our Invictus ambassadors, Curtis McGrath, was just 24 when he stepped on an improvised explosive device, a landmine, while on patrol in Afghanistan.
Kurtis doesn't remember the blast, but he remembers the moment when he realised his legs were gone. Of the soldiers there that day, Curtis was the most highly trained in combat first aid and remarkably, despite his injuries, he told his mates how to stem the bleeding and ease the pain and on his way to the helicopter, on a stretcher, he said he would compete at the next Paralympics.
Think about that spirit
Well, four years later, he did just that at the Rio de Janeiro Paralympics, and he won gold in the KL2 para-canoe event.
And Gary Wilson, one of last year’s Invictus Games heroes. In 2010, he was just ten days away from leaving Afghanistan when the Black Hawk helicopter he was flying in crashed. Much of his body was shattered: every bone in his left foot was broken, as was his knee, pelvis, two ribs, forearm, jaw and nose. And he suffered traumatic brain injuries.
Miraculously, he survived. His recovery was slow. And at his lowest ebb, a black cloud engulfed him. Life as he knew it was gone. But the same fighting spirit that saw him defeat enemies on the battlefield, saw him beat impossible odds as he recovered.
And when he took to the field at the Invictus Games last year — in shot put, discus and indoor rowing — it was a tribute to his courage, to the courage of his family and friends, the love of his family and friends and to the courage of the soldiers and surgeons, the pilots and nurses who saved his life.
When we talk about the Invictus spirit we’re talking about men and women like Gary and Curtis—men and women like you.
Lucy and I have been personally touched by the experiences of our younger veterans of the wars of Iraq and Afghanistan, through my son-in-law, James Brown, who served in both theatres. A couple of years ago at the North Bondi RSL, I would encourage you Prince Harry and Megan to visit the North Bondi RSL, if you have time in Sydney, he introduced me to a few young veterans, and as Darren knows, we focused them on that message, that commitment to ensure we honour the diggers of 100 years by supporting the veterans and servicemen and women of today.
And we talked about how all too often civilian employers don’t understand the many roles veterans perform within the Defence Force, and how their skills and experience can transfer to civilian life. So drawing from that insight from listening to those young veterans and those servicemen and women who currently serve that James introduced us to, we established the Prime Minister’s Veterans’ Employment Program to bridge this gap between veterans and industry. It’s off to a great start, really we are seeing a rising level of awareness of the extraordinary capabilities our veterans have as they are able to transition from active service into civilian life.
Now that’s our commitment to our men and who men to fight for us, put their lives on the line wearing our uniform under our flag. We believe, and we deliver on this - the best way to honour the diggers of 100 years ago is to look support the service men and women, veterans, and their families of today. That’s our commitment. And it is the best way to honour those who never made it home, and those still searching for peace after war.
So at the Invictus Games in Sydney, we will show all the veterans a great time and the respect and recognition they so thoroughly deserve.
It will be a formidable context, 500 athletes, and they will all be competing in a country and a city which will applaud them for their service and will cheer them on to greater heights in the sporting contest.
Now your Royal Highness, and Megan, Lucy and I would like to present you with some jackets for the Invictus Sydney games.