Royal Queensland Regiment
Reception for participants in Operation ANODE
28 March 2009
Regimental Colonel, Royal Queensland Regiment, Brigadier Rod Hamilton CSM, RFD,
Contingent Commander, Operation ANODE and Staff Officer Headquarters 11th Brigade, Lt Colonel Mark Flanagan,
The representative of the Commander of the First Division Deployable Joint Force, Lt Colonel Chris Austin,
Commanding Officer 9th Battalion, Lt Colonel Michael Bond,
Commanding Officer 25/49th Battalion, Lt Colonel Duncan Schultz,
Commanding Officer 31st/42nd Battalion, Lt Colonel Peter Power,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
In the spirit of reconciliation that we wish to see respected and promoted throughout Queensland, I acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we are gathered, the Jagera and Turrbal peoples and their descendants.
It is a pleasure, as Governor and in my role as Honorary Colonel, to welcome members of the Royal Queensland Regiment to Government House to this reception in honour of the representatives of the 140 members who formed part of the Solomon Islands peace keeping Task Force ANODE. As a former diplomat and Australian Ambassador to the United Nations I know absolutely - in a political and policy sense - the importance of this particular operation. I also know - first-hand - what an exceptional reputation Australian's armed forces have built up over the years as peace keepers in so many parts of the world.
The Battalions which now make up the Royal Queensland Regiment have a long and distinguished history of serving overseas and having been involved in almost all the major battles Australian troops have been engaged in. To name just some of the Battle Honours of those Battalions - in World War I, in the landing at ANZAC Cove; in France and Belgium, at Pozieres, Bullecourt, Ypres, Passchendaele; in Europe during World War II, the Defence of Tobruk, and Syria; in the Pacific War the Kokoda Trail, the liberation of Australian New Guinea, Tsimba Ridge, Borneo, Balikpapan and Milne Bay (in relation to Milne Bay, Mr McCosker and I visited the Milne Bay Military Museum in Toowoomba yesterday and spent several hours viewing the exhibits. It is wonderfully maintained and presented by a dedicated group of military history enthusiasts and volunteers and I would urge any of you who have not had occasion to visit it, to do so).
In more modern times, members of the RQR have served in all the major overseas operations involving Australian armed forces in recent years - including East Timor, Iraq and Afghanistan - and more significantly in relation to this evening's reception, members have been serving continuously in the Solomon Islands since 2005.
The significance of the role you performed in the Solomon Islands during the past year cannot be overestimated. The Pacific is fundamentally important to Australia. It is our eastern gateway, an invaluable global resource, and a region where a number of countries - including several great and emerging powers - have their own economic and strategic interests and ambitions. It is the region where we are considered to have principal responsibility for preserving peace and stability and assisting our neighbours. It is in our national interest to ensure the prosperity and stability of the Pacific island countries and from an international perspective, certainly the international community, including the UN, expects us to be the first to stand up in times of crisis or of need - whether political crises or natural disasters.
The situation in the Solomons has been particularly challenging.
I am sure you are all aware how difficult our involvement through RAMSI has been and how delicate has been the diplomacy needed to stay on course and achieve an outcome which meets the aspirations of the people of the Solomon Islands.
Our work to strengthen the institutions of democracy has been based on a precondition of reasonable security, without which trust and willingness to participate would be absent. It is this foundation which you have had such a direct and successful role in providing. I can assure you that the sort of skills you have developed - the patient work with village communities in understanding their needs and meeting their security concerns - will be much in demand in future roles for reserves who step up for these sorts of operations.
There is already tangible evidence of your success as part of the wider RAMSI operation. Following a reconstitution of the Solomon Islands parliament in 2006, there were a number of changes in government, some renewed unrest, and some testing diplomatic times between the Australian and Solomon Islands governments. But there has been considerable success in our relations with the current government under Prime Minister Derek Sikua. He has emphasised a commitment to rural development, reconciliation and re-engaging with donors. There is also a commitment to hold national elections in April 2010.
In parallel to a greatly improved political climate, built once again on that stability you have helped to provide, the economy has undergone major rehabilitation. It has grown at over 5% per annum since 2004. The recovery can be directly attributed to the return of business investment and the related revival of timber exports. Budget surpluses have been achieved through higher government revenues and better expenditure management. I emphasise again these achievements could not have occurred without providing the business community and the population at large with the basic level of security needed to enable trust in the machinery of government to re-emerge. That is the key element of security which you have so skilfully delivered as members of ANODE.
The tradition of part time service in the Australian Army has a long, proud history to which the RQR has contributed steadily over the years. The role of the reserves has also been changing and evolving steadily. In recent years, this process has accelerated, with the change more dramatic as our wholly voluntary armed forces have been faced with acute manpower and skill shortages particularly during the recent decade of historically low levels of unemployment. Our reserves have met this challenge. With now around 16,000 reserves supporting a full time force of 26,000, one third of all our armed forces are reserves. This creative sharing of careers between the private sector and the armed forces has provided a capability and a range of skills which our armed forces now simply cannot do without.
I know the decision to juggle two careers is not without difficulty - either for you, your employers, or your families. Whether you are in the professions, the trades, public servants, or students, you will each have had your particular challenges. But this gathering is testament to the rewards that come from the very different type of experiences and personal achievements being a reserve has given to you and will continue to do so in the future. Some of your employers would have seen these benefit first hand when they visited you in the Solomon Islands under the "Bosslift" program.
Your experience as a reserve in the future is also going to be a changing one. The creation of a High Readiness Reserve capability will mean some of you will be able to be deployed in emergencies with a speed which may not differ markedly with regular troops. That will certainly expand the range of roles you can be called on for - both in Australia and overseas. Others of you may become members of the Reserve Response Unit which will be available for disaster relief operations. I know that some of you already participate in border protection operations in the far north in cooperation with the Navy.
I am very proud to see - and to honour tonight - your commitment to these expanding and essential tasks which help secure and maintain Australia's security, which contribute to peace and stability in our region and beyond, and which will help meet the needs of those who are victims of natural disasters within and outside our borders - and as Governor, speaking as I am able to do as Head of the State, on behalf of all Queenslanders, I thank everyone here who has served in Operation ANODE and contributed to the gains we are now seeing in the Solomons.
Before I hand over to the Regimental Colonel, Brigadier Rod Hamilton, I would like to take this important public opportunity to thank him for the invaluable advice and assistance he has provided to me and to my predecessor in our role as Honorary Colonel of the Regiment. He has spent six exemplary years as regimental Colonel and I wish him well in his impending retirement.