Madeleine King (Brand, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Trade) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to welcome home the women and men of HMAS Ballarat. They were away for 259 days. I know that because Commander Paul Johnson said it as he arrived on the docks at HMAS Stirling on Garden Island in my electorate of Brand. He said: 'Good to see you after 259 days'—I was fortunate to have been at the pier when they departed on 28 October 2018. There were 190 service women and men serving this country on the HMAS Ballarat as part of Operation Manitou in the Middle East. I was very pleased to join my parliamentary colleague the Minister for Defence Industry, Melissa Price, the member for Durack, on the docks. We had a great time witnessing the great welcome.

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