Address, HMAS Brisbane Commissioning Ceremony
27 October 2018
Can I also acknowledge the Gadigal people, elders past and present, his Excellency the Governor General and Lady Cosgrove, Minister for Defence Christopher Pyne and other parliamentary colleagues, Chief of the Defence Force, Chief of Navy, but in particular can I acknowledge all those who stand behind me now, all those who stand before me now, all those who serve around the world today on Her Majesty’s Australian ships and simply say thank you. We honour your service, the service that you’ve given and the service of those standing behind me are about the provide and the service of those serving men and women all around the world today.
“We aim at higher things” is the motto. Brisbane. Aim at higher things. And that is what we as a nation have done.
In commissioning the HMAS Brisbane today, we realise that vision of looking higher. An even stronger Australia supported by a wonderful and proud navy. It is a proud day, it’s a high water mark for Australians as the HMAS Brisbane prepares to sail into service. Our hard won values and freedoms are contingent on a government that holds the safety and security of its people and the defence of its territory and its interests as its fundamental responsibility. Ringed as we are by the sea, girt indeed, the Royal Australian Navy in close partnership with the Royal Australian Air Force and our valued allies provide that guarantee. But it is an enormous task carried out in an increasingly challenging global security environment. Its effectiveness is also critical to the trade flows that sustain our region’s peace and economic prosperity. So while Australia will always seek to befriend and not to antagonise, we must do so from a position of strength, preparedness and capability.
The Minister for Defence and I, we like building ships. We like it. Because we believe in it. Because those who sail on these ships, they carry our voice, they stand up for our beliefs as a nation and they serve those beliefs all around the world and the very least we can do is support them by ensuring they have the capability – the world’s best capability that you see behind us – to enable them to fulfil that service.
So we look at the today, HMAS Brisbane as a combat management system second to none intricate and integrated to the extent that the simultaneous defence can be deployed against air, surface and sub-surface threats. At the same time we should recognise that the outstanding record of ships bearing the name Brisbane stems from the sailors who have served on board. And here with us today are former Commanding Officers and personnel of the earlier generation guided missile destroyer HMAS Brisbane too. While you may have not worn your RAN uniform for many years, I want you to know that the nation will always be grateful to your service.
In the First World War, the light cruiser HMAS Brisbane (I) participated in the hunt for the German raider SMS Wolf – launching, in 1917, the first aircraft from an Australian warship. In 1969, HMAS Brisbane (II) served with the United States Navy’s 7th Fleet in the South China Sea, providing valuable gunfire support off the coast of South Vietnam. Brisbane (II) would also receive the Meritorious Unit Citation for her courageous service during the first Gulf War in 1991.
And so through the proud pages of history we arrive here today, commissioning the third Royal Australian Navy ship Brisbane. She becomes the second of the Adelaide-built air warfare destroyers to reach this milestone under a project initiated by the Howard Government in 2007. I want to place on record our government’s thanks to John Howard for his commitment and vision for where we stand today.
So here we are, commissioning another great ship into service. Men and women will serve on her wherever their nation calls on them to send. And for that, I’m a grateful Prime Minister, we’re a grateful nation and we thank them for their service.
May God bless all of those who sail on her.
