E&OE..................
Thank you very much Mr Bruce Scott. To Brigadier Kelly and Mrs Gabrielle Kelly, Colonel Campbell, Peter Lindsay the federal member for Herbert, ladies and gentlemen of the Australian Defence Force. Janette and I are quite touched to be back at this wonderful military establishment and to have the opportunity after my very brief speech to say a few words to you personally and to express to as many of you as I can the admiration that I have for you and I know that all of the Australian people have for you. And that is something which is expressed across the party political divide. When men and women go abroad as members of the Australian Defence Force they go in the name of our entire country and I have certainly not forgotten the time I spent here in September of 1999 on the eve of the East Timor deployment, at a time when none of us could know quite how that would work out, none of us would know precisely, could know precisely the challenges that you would face. But we did know that you went there well prepared and you had the right to know that you went with the support and the respect and the prayers of the entire nation.
And I';m very conscious as I know you are that we';re meeting today in the aftermath of the announcement that was made yesterday about the commitment of some 1,500 Australian defence personnel side by side with the United States and others in the new fight in relation to the terrible challenge of terrorism. And the men and women who go abroad in the days and weeks ahead as part of that commitment will go with the similar support and the similar respect and the similar regard of all of the Australian people.
I have great admiration for those who commit themselves to service life. It';s not easy. It has its ups and downs like any other career. But at a time such as this all of us are reminded of the debt we owe to you. All of us are very conscious that you so often stand between the way of life we all tend to take for granted and those who might in some way want to take it away from us.
What is being done and what has been done in East Timor has been enormously to the credit of the men and women of the Australian Defence Force. I can say that wherever I go around the world as Prime Minister almost spontaneously people will say what a magnificent job Australia did in East Timor. And they speak not only of the diplomatic initiatives at the political level but very importantly and very feelingly of the professionalism and skill of our armed forces. They did great credit to Australia and I understand from lieutenant Colonel Campbell that some 65% of those who were part of the new deployment have in fact been to East Timor before. Speaking to you and speaking to those who are going for the first time you';ve made all of us feel very proud.
The other thing I want to say is that we promise that your families will be well looked after while you are away. It';s always possible to improve on the way in which military personnel';s families are cared for while they are away. And that side of the operation I regard as equally important as looking after the men and women actually on the ground because if you have peace of mind about the way your families are being cared for it enables you to discharge your very important responsibilities with even greater skill.
Today is a moment of great poignancy for me and for the entire nation. Here I am in one of the great military establishments of this country farewelling many people who are once again going in the name of this country on military deployment under the flag of the United Nations but nonetheless part of a great Australian military tradition which has never sought to impose the will of this country on others but only to defend those things that we regard as dear and important to Australia. And it';s at a time when we are again committing ourselves to a new military challenge. Different in kind from perhaps others but nonetheless potentially very dangerous and one that will require the summoning of all the skill and the training for which the Australian Defence Forces are renowned and respected.
And I know the thoughts of all Australians will be with you and also with those who will go abroad in the next few weeks to join the campaign against terrorism. It is a campaign that has to be fought and it';s a campaign that has to be won because by ignoring it it won';t go away, it will only be encouraged to renew its ferocity and to broaden its targets and to include new victims in its onslaught. And it';s therefore very important that this country joins that exercise.
But to you men and women, thank you very much for what you';re doing for Australia. Thank you for the credit you bring to our country. I wish you well, I wish you all a safe deployment. We';ll look after your families. I wish you all a very safe return. And I want to pay my respect to Brigadier Kelly, to Colonel Campbell, thank them for welcoming us once again to Lavarack. It';s a great military establishment and it';s one that looks after people who do great credit to our country. I thank you most warmly on behalf of all of your fellow Australians.
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