E&OE..................
Well, thank you very much Captain, Defence Minister, ladies and gentlemen.
I';ve just said to the rest of the ship';s company, this is the third time in the space of thirteen or fourteen years that I';ve been on the Adelaide. I first visited her in 1988 in Sydney when I was Opposition Leader and been on it again recently. Today of course is a visit in different circumstances from certainly the first one and different again from the second visit.
I do want to thank the ship';s company for the tremendous work that they have done as part of operation Relex over the last few weeks. That was a difficult operation and because of the context in which it';s taken place and the enormous public interest and ongoing commentary about the issue of Australia';s response to asylum seekers, it was inevitable that the actions of the navy and of HMAS Adelaide, as part of the navy operation came under great scrutiny and I want to say for my own part and I believe for the vast majority of the Australian people that we were very proud of what you did. It was difficult. It involved sensitive responses and it involved handling a very delicate situation and you did it superbly well and I do want all of you to know from me that that is the very strong view of the Government and I believe is a very strong view of all of the Australian people.
We are committed to a military operation which is a challenging and potentially dangerous one and as you know there will be a point at which you will be deployed as part of that. You will be deployed with the overwhelming support, the respect and the affection of the Australian people. You will go abroad in the name of the whole country and not in the name of one or other shade of political opinion and you';ll enjoy the bipartisan support and encouragement and good wishes of both sides of politics as it should be.
Service life has its challenges, it has its moments of real fulfilment and enjoyment. It has of course its moments of great danger and challenge and I imagine that all of you have a mixture of mixed emotions of anticipation and anxiety and I understand that and I want you to know that when you do go you will go with that sense of the whole community understanding your feelings. We will do our very best, while you are away, to look after your families. I know that in going abroad in these circumstances in one sense you are fulfilling the ambition of joining the services and being involved in some kind of potential action, although that could involve danger, but your training has been for that sort of operation. You are very highly trained. The Royal Australian Navy and all the ADF has a great sense of professionalism and you';ll certainly have tremendous support and your families and friends and loved ones back here in Australia will continue to have very strong support.
I always admire the work that the men and women of our ADF do for our country. In more normal circumstances, and particularly in the abnormal circumstances that we now face, the work of the ADF in East Timor, the work of the ADF in the Gulf over a period of 10 or 11 years and that has been a particular role for the Royal Australian Navy. The work that you';ve done on our behalf in relation to asylum seekers, all of it has been done in a superbly professional manner and I';m very grateful for that and you have my very warm respect and great admiration and I wish all of you well and, of course as always, a very safe return home to Australia.
Thank you very much.
[ends]