Zoe McKenzie (Flinders, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I stand up not to make a grievance but to launch into a celebration. Sunday was the much anticipated open day of HMAS Cerberus in my electorate of Flinders—the first one that's been able to be held in six years. The HMAS Cerberus open day was a resounding success, with over 15,000 tickets reserved and snapped up in advance before the day and an additional 3,000 ticketholders coming up and turning up on the day at the gate. In addition, over 100,000 people visited virtually via HMAS Cerberus's magnificent Facebook page, which I cannot recommend highly enough. Not only is it informative but it contains some of the most beautiful photography of the Western Port side of the Mornington Peninsula that you will ever see. Very importantly, some 60 people enlisted to become Navy recruits on the day. I can only hope that will grow from 60 to 600 to 6,000 over time. We need you all. On open day, visitors to the Crib Point base were able to see myriad different displays and demonstrations including marine engineering, RAAF and Army communication, marine rescue, survival at sea simulation, vintage warplane flyovers, vintage military vehicles, helicopter wet winching, drone racing and more. It combined to make a magnificent day out and an introduction to many for a future life in the Australian Navy.

HMAS Cerberus is the nation's premier naval training base and the place where our brilliant Defence Force recruits begin their military careers. Indeed it is hard to meet a member of the Australian Navy without a proud story of their time at Cerberus and the remarkable training it has been providing onsite, one way or another, for over 100 years.

It goes without saying that HMAS Cerberus is an important part of the Mornington Peninsula community. It is a significant source of local employment and a great contributor to our local economy. Many who served continued to live there after their time of active service to our nation. It is important economically. Back in 2017, at the time that the Parliamentary Committee on Public Works was looking into a possible investment into the redevelopment of HMAS Cerberus, the shire indicated that Cerberus contributed $547 million to the local economy and around a thousand local jobs.

The 1,517 hectare site, affectionately known as the cradle of the Navy, is located on the Western Port side of the Mornington Peninsula and boasts a rich and fascinating history that matches its impressive world-class facilities. It was originally purchased back in 1911 at the recommendation of Admiral Sir Reginald Henderson KCB, RN, after extensive study of the Australian coastline for suitable locations for our major naval bases. It was originally called the somewhat less colourful Flinders Naval Depot, but it was commissioned as HMAS Cerberus on 1 April 1920.

Its main role today is in initial training for the Royal Australian Navy across all relevant domains: the Navy Recruit School; Navy marine and weapons, electric engineering and electronics; Navy gunnery, seamanship and ship survivability and survival at sea; Navy maritime logistics; and Navy maritime communications and information systems. Some time ago, three tri-service schools were also established at Cerberus for dental, physical instruction and catering skills, so Cerberus now contributes to the skills and services of the entire Australian Defence Force. In addition to the permanent workforce of around 1,000, Cerberus can welcome as many 1,200 trainees at any one time on the base throughout the year. It is a registered training organisation, partnering with a number of specialist training organisations, local TAFEs and universities, and its qualifications meet the Australian quality training framework, making sure that graduates can travel all around Australia or, indeed, work in many places around the world.

I've had the opportunity to observe some of those classes in action in maritime communications and electrical engineering and have seen how that training is imparted by lots of different media, including highly impressive lifelike computerised simulation, with a focus on practical applications ensuring the graduates have operational preparedness when they graduate.

Between the 1990s and 2017 Cerberus had very little by way of new funding in terms of upgraded facilities or infrastructure. However, the former coalition government invested more than $460 million to upgrade critical underground services and build new technical training, physical training and survival at sea facilities. Many of these works were on display for the first time at Sunday's open day.

I congratulate all involved with this amazing project, especially commander Cameron Eastman OAM RAN, who was project officer for the redevelopment. The redevelopment, funded by the coalition, has ensured that the Navy's premier training establishment, HMAS Cerberus, will be delivering capability well into Australia's AUKUS future. The new fit-for-purpose school of survivability and ship safety is a thing of pure wonderment. One element is a very deep pool and a number of true to life structures designed to teach students, under the direction of highly qualified senior staff, to work in teams to manage floodwaters, to escape from a capsized vessel and to safely evacuate or be rescued at sea in rather daunting storm-like conditions. Students also undergo training in managing fire at sea and combating nuclear, biological and chemical defence attacks. The drills do indeed look daunting at first, but students are trained according to a careful methodology to crawl, walk and then run to build confidence, capability and remarkable human courage.

I have had the privilege of visiting HMAS Cerberus on two occasions in recent months. Firstly, I went with members on the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade: Senators Raff Ciccone and David Van, and the members for Bruce, McEwen and Adelaide, during which the member for Bruce aptly demonstrated the emergency exit through a marine evacuation system super shoot in a suit. I can be paid for access to the video after this speech!

I then attended HMAS Cerberus at the conclusion of Navy Week this year with the shadow minister for defence, member for Canning, Andrew Hastie, only to find that Andrew had been trained by Cerberus Commanding Officer Captain Ainsley Morthorpe, company sergeant major of the Royal Australian Navy, in an earlier part of Andrew's stellar career in the Australian defence forces. I thank Captain Morthorpe, or as we call him affectionately Captain Ainsley, and his colleagues for the remarkable tours and tales of this beautiful site and the importance it has played in the defence of Australia, and the role it will continue to play as AUKUS becomes central to Australia's strength and defence. I particularly thank Captain Ainsley for his remarkable photography, not only of the base, but of the surrounding countryside that he loves so much. He is an asset to our community in so many ways.

With the recent submarine announcements made through AUKUS, it's exciting to think that the future crews of those vessels may start their naval careers in the beautiful Mornington Peninsula in the electorate of Flinders. They will be served no better in their training than what they will find there. I thank the staff, the officers and the recruits of HMAS Cerberus for being so welcoming on each of my visits so far, especially Captain Ainsley and command visit liaison officer Gary Swanton, and for the continued service that you all give to Australia.

Around 4 pm on Sunday afternoon, as I headed towards the airport to come here for this week's sittings, I watched the ceremonial sunset from HMAS Cerberus. It was being broadcast live on Facebook, performed by the Royal Australian Navy Band Melbourne and the precision drill team of engineering officer trainees fresh from their triumphant performance at the Melbourne Navy Week closing ceremony. As someone said to my office manager Julia, who stuck it out until the very end on opening day, 'I am here because it is like being invited into Charlie's chocolate factory.' But if there's something that watching the closing ceremony settled once and for all, it's that the HMAS Cerberus's band is so much better!

Now, I will finish with a small grievance—after all, this is the Federation Chamber's grievance debate, so oddly named! My grievance is that, on Friday night, running around in my best friend's backyard, I took a tumble playing ball with my favourite furry friend, Archie Bear, a mischievous but utterly forgivable West Highland Terrier. So under this tailored pant leg is a series of bandages and braces holding together a rather blue to somewhat purple foot, which, thanks to the good care of the member for Robertson, the Parliament House physio and a local radiology department, we now know not to be broken. But it did quite ruin my weekend, on crutches and ice. So, not consistent with the field of dreams for heroes and adventurers scaling in the commando course at HMAS Cerberus, I missed Open Day, other than what I could watch on Facebook, which I did, and am now counting down the 365 sleeps till the next one, at which, hopefully, I will be able to stand up.

I thank my team, who over the last year have grown so fond of HMAS Cerberus, and particularly Captain Ainsley and his team, who sent me photos throughout the day of their explorations and adventures, involving helicopters, bushmasters, a rock-climbing wall and target practice and watching flyovers sore through the skies above. It was a lovely day.