Subjects: Australian Army
E&OE................................
You excellency, General Cosgrove, other distinguished guests, the men and women of the Australian Army, ladies and gentlemen. Today we come, both to give thanks, and also to honour. We come to give thanks as a nation to what the personnel of the Australian Army over the last 100 years have done to give us the life and the peace and the security and the contentment we now as a nation enjoy.
As we go through this great year of centenary celebrations, we will mark and honour many things. But there is no group in Australian society to whom more is owed than those who fought, and in many cases died, and suffered or were wounded in the defence of this country. And nothing I can say, or anybody can say, on behalf of the nation can adequately express the deep sense of gratitude which is owed to that long tradition of members of the Australian Army who have done so much and sacrificed so much for this country.
We do have in Australia a great military tradition. It is not a tradition of brutality or triumphalism, it is a tradition of being willing to sacrifice all to do the right thing in the cause of freedom. And over the last 100 years the contribution made by the members of the Australian Army to that cause has been immense. In many world conflicts, particularly in World War I and World War II, but more recently in Korea and Vietnam and Malaya, so much has been done and sacrificed and so many young lives have been cut short.
And through that 100 years three things have stood out. Valour, flair and compassion. The valour of the fighting men of the Australian Army has been without parallel, and it has earned the deep and lasting respect of people around the world. Their flair and their inventiveness and their individual initiative has made them a great fighting force, and one that has won deserved battle honours in every part of the world. But it is also an Army that has displayed great compassion. The modern Australian Army is not only a suburb fighting force of men and women, it is also a group of Australians dedicated to peacekeeping, dedicated to helping the oppressed and the suffering and the sick, and that was so brilliantly and wonderfully demonstrated under the command of General Cosgrove in East Timor.
So today, as your Prime Minister, feeling a great sense of pride and emotion in the debt that we owe to so many who gave so much let me thank all of you, the men and women, of the Australian Army for what you have done, and let me give you a pledge of behalf of all of the people of Australia. You will always be honoured, you will always be respected, and you will always have a very special place in the heart and in the lives of our nation. You are part of our identity, you are part of our language, you are part of our inheritance. Without you we would not be where we are today.
It is now my pleasure to invite his excellency the Governor General Sir William Deane to present the new Army banner to General Cosgrove as a gift of gratitude and respect from all of the Australian people.
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