Chris Hayes (Fowler, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to thank the member for Bruce for moving this motion and allowing me the opportunity to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of the Royal Australian Navy. Our Navy certainly plays an instrumental role in ensuring that international waters are safe to conduct trade and are free of arms and drug smuggling.

I have also had the opportunity to witness first-hand on a number of occasions the bravery, professionalism and dedication of the men and women who play a part in Australia's Navy. In 2010 I visited the gulf region and witnessed first-hand their efforts, along with the air support of the RAAF, in Operation Slipper. Operation Slipper represents the Australian Defence Force's major contribution to the international campaign against terrorism. The Royal Australian Navy makes a significant contribution to the campaign to ensure the maritime security of our gulf region, fighting piracy and illegal trades and ensuring the smuggling of weapons, drugs and, sadly, people is combated.

This year I also had the opportunity of visiting HMAS Stirling at Garden Island Western Australia under the command of Captain Brett Wolski. Whilst the visit was essentially to look at submarines, due to the inclement weather and 20-foot waves, the member for Farrer and I nevertheless got the opportunity to examine in very close quarters issues affecting the naval operations as well as to speak to many of the officers on HMAS Stirling.

Coincidentally, during our stay in Western Australia, the HMAS Toowoomba was in port and working up for deployment to the gulf for another rotation. HMAS Toowoomba is one of our Anzac class frigates and it has made a huge contribution to the multinational task force responsibilities for protecting merchant vessels from pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia. During its role in escorting merchant fleets and conducting patrols in the Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor in 2009, the HMAS Toowoomba responded to a call from a merchant vessel, the BBC Portugal, and successfully prevented an act of high seas piracy. The Toowoomba managed to confiscate a large quantity of weapons from the attackers, including rocket-propelled grenade launchers, AK-47 assault rifles and a G3 assault rifle.

Apart from witnessing the Toowoomba readying itself for another operation to the Gulf region, during our visit to HMAS Stirling, as I also mentioned, we were treated to the most inclement weather, including driving rain and gale force winds. Due to the high damage to the local area, there was a state government request for assistance from naval personnel. Together, the member for Farrer and I spent the next day—as a matter of fact extending into the early hours of the morning—assisting with the clean-up, along with many sailors and officers of HMAS Stirling, of the local area at Merimbula. Apart from the work, this experience gave us the opportunity to see firsthand the Navy's relationship with the immediate community and a level of appreciation for the reliance that we have, as a community, on the men and women who make up our armed forces.

I particularly commend the efforts of our escort officer, Lieutenant Owen Bowey, who ensured that we were well received at every level of this operational base. I certainly came away with a genuine sense of pride in the men and women who are prepared to wear the Navy uniform, to accept the discipline and, above all, to put the nation before themselves. The professionalism and the dedication of the men and women of our Navy was particularly evident over the past couple of days, particularly in the search and rescue mission that has recently taken place off the coast of Western Australia in respect of asylum seekers. The Royal Australian Navy, together with the border protection command and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority and their merchant ships, have been instrumental in saving the lives of more than 110 people at this point.

The Navy's job is certainly a difficult one. We are forever in their debt for their bravery, their selflessness and their dedication. Australia is right to be proud of all those who serve in our Navy.

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