Admiral Griggs, parliamentary colleagues, members of the armed forces and families of members of the armed forces. When HMAS Melbourne left more than six months ago a different government was in place here in Australia. The government that the ship’s company left behind was proud of them; the government that they come back to today is proud of them.
I want to say to all of you – the families of the ship’s company, the friends of the ship’s company – that we in Canberra are immensely proud of the work that your sons and daughters, your brothers and sisters, your fathers and mothers do. We are incredibly proud of the work you do.
The professionalism, the courage, the dedication is simply extraordinary and I know that lots of people question what government chooses to do with our armed forces, but I don’t believe any Australian today questions the professionalism, the valour, the patriotism and the idealism of the men and women of the armed forces of this country.
As Admiral Griggs has pointed out, the work that has been done on this deployment has been magnificent - some half a tonne of drugs intercepted and destroyed – street value of over $1 billion. That money would’ve funded people who wish to do our country, our way of life, the allies that we have - people who wish to do us harm. That harm will not be done because of the work of the HMAS Melbourne, the ship’s company, its allies and supporters in the Middle Eastern area.
On behalf of my parliamentary colleagues from both sides of the parliament: we admire what you do. We appreciate that just as the men and women who go away are serving our country, those who wait behind are in their own way serving our country, they also serve who only stand and wait. Thank you for the support that you have given to your loved ones while they are serving our country, our values, our world.
[ends]