E&OE
PRIME MINISTER:
Mrs Jill Green, the launch lady, to the Premier of Victoria, Steve Bracks. How are you? Great to see you. It's always good to be made welcome. My Ministerial colleagues, Rod Kemp and Peter Reith as well as the Defence Minister John Moore Vide Admiral Shackleton, to Admiral Chris Barrie, the Chief of Defence Force and most particularly the five survivors with us today from one of the earlier HMAS Parramattas and we're absolutely delighted to see those former Naval persons with us.
This is a very important moment for the defence industry. It's a very important moment for the Williamtown dock yard. But it's also a very important moment for the Royal Australian Navy and it gives me an opportunity on behalf of the Government and the people of Australia to express my respect and gratitude to serving men and women of the Royal Australian Navy through the years who have done so much to deliver the security and the peace that we in Australia enjoy in the beginning of the twenty-first century.
It's also an occasion to express my thanks to Tenix and to the men and women who have worked so hard on the ANZAC frigate project. It's an example of Australian workmanship. It's an example of Australian engineering skill and it's a demonstration to the rest of the world how modern and state of the art can be the ship building capacity of Australia and Australians.
And it is also very importantly an occasion to remark upon the growing significance of debate in Australia about the future defence arrangements of this country. At the end of this month the Defence Minister and I will release a discussion paper through which we hope to engage the people of Australia in an intensive debate about the future shape of Australia's Defence arrangements and that will be followed later in the year by the release of a white paper to lay out the future defence needs and their scale and their detail for the years ahead.
It's an occasion to say to the people of Australia that in the years ahead, we will need as Australians to spend more rather than less on our defence capability. I think all of you are conscious that the region in which we now live is less rather than more stable than it used to be,and an important element of National priorities for this country in the time ahead will be the focus on the capacity and the needs of our Defence Forces.
And this frigate of course that is being launched today is an important element of it. I know it's an emotional occasion to people associated with the Royal Australian Navy. The Navy has a great tradition which has done great things for our country and today in particular for the people of the Royal Australian Navy to savour, to enjoy. and to reflect upon.
I wish all of those associated with the project well. On behalf of the Government I thank them and I wish the men and women of HMAS Parramatta, a great good fortune and happy sailing in the years ahead.
Thank you.
[ends]