Media Room: Defence Speech

Monday, 31 March 2008

 

TRANSCRIPT OF MEDIA CONFERENCE WITH THE ACTING PRIME MINISTER AND CHIEF OF THE DEFENCE FORCE REGARDING THE HMAS SYDNEY II COMMISSION OF INQUIRY

 

Subject:  Acting Prime Minister, the Hon. Julia Gillard, and Chief of the Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston announce the establishment of a commission of inquiry, into the loss of HMAS Sydney II. 

 

E&OE

 

JULIA GILLARD:

Okay, can I thank everybody for attending today and can I say we're here to take a step forward in solving what has been a 66 year mystery. Of course, the greatest mystery in Australian maritime history is what happened to the HMAS Sydney. I think all Australians watched with a sense of intrigue when the wreck of the Sydney was found.

 

And for many Australians, the families and loved ones of the brave service personnel who lost their lives when the Sydney was lost, it was a time for reflection and for sadness.

 

But finding the wreck and solving the mystery go together, but solving the mystery requires more. It requires us to now enquire into the circumstances of the loss of the Sydney and to try for all time to solve this mystery, to solve this riddle, to give the Australian nation an answer as to what happened to the Sydney and, importantly, give the loved ones of those whose lives were lost an answer as to what happened when their loved ones were lost on that fateful day.

 

So today I'm here with the Chief of the Defence Force and with the Chief of Navy to announce that there will be a commission of inquiry into the loss of the Sydney. The Prime Minister foreshadowed this and today we announce that commission of inquiry.

 

It will be headed by His Honour, Mr Terence Cole. Mr Cole has been selected because he's an expert in maritime law; he has also served as the Deputy Judge Advocate General of the Australian Defence Force.

 

He will sit as the inquiry by himself. He will sit alone. The inquiry will be conducted in Sydney and ultimately he will report to the Chief of the Defence Force on his findings.

 

This is going to be an extensive and complicated inquiry. There are documents that travel across 23 kilometres of shelf space that must be worked through in the course of this inquiry, because they all pertain to the Sydney, and may include information that is relevant to the inquiry.

 

So it will take some time. But it's a task that is worth doing because do want answers to this very longstanding mystery.

Can I take opportunity to offer my words of praise to the Chief of the Defence Force for organising this commission of inquiry; I think it is an important step to getting the answers that the nation has sought and has wanted to hear for 66 long years.

 

I'm happy, of course, to take questions on this matter, but questions about the details of the inquiry should be directed towards the Chief of the Defence Force, and if there are questions about the Sydney itself, then they should be directed to the Chief of Navy.

 

So are there questions? Yes?

 

QUESTION:

Isn't this going to cover much the same ground that the parliamentary inquiry considered over two years, only with the benefit of pictures?

 

JULIA GILLARD:

Well I'll allow the Chief of the Defence Force to answer that question, but can I answer it in part by saying we are clearly in new circumstances, now we are able to pinpoint and see, through the use of photography, the actual wreck of the Sydney. We know the exact geographic location now, where it is located; we can obviously gain information from the wreck itself. That, of course, has never been available to anybody enquiring into this matter in the past.

 

But I'll allow the Chief of the Defence Force to also deal with that question.

 

ANGUS HOUSTON:

I think that answers the question satisfactorily.

 

QUESTION:

Can you explain though, Defence has taken up the practice recently of putting an arms length person, a civilian judge or someone in charge of its inquiries, what is it about the circumstances surrounding the loss of the Sydney that decided you not to put a - to put someone other than a retired or a senior naval officer or naval architect, or someone like that, in charge of the inquiry?

 

ANGUS HOUSTON:

Well, as you know, with the military justice initiatives one of those was to create a capacity to do CDF commissions of inquiry. One of the characteristics of the way we would do business is to always have somebody with credibility, somebody who has extensive legal background, preferably someone with judicial background.

 

And, of course, His Honour Terence Cole has extensive judicial background and is absolutely the right person to do an enquiry of this nature.

 

QUESTION:

Ms Gillard said that this inquiry will be … and will take time, have you any idea of the timeframe …?

 

ANGUS HOUSTON:

Well, I sat down last week with His Honour Terence Cole and we spent a lot of time going through that. The first step will be to gather all of the information and scope out just what is involved in doing this very complex and comprehensive and complete inquiry.

 

I think it's absolutely fundamental that we must leave absolutely no doubt as to what happened. We have to establish the facts and we will use everything that is available to His Honour to enable to determine with reasonable certainty what happened to Sydney.

 

I think this is very, very important from the families' point of view; it's also important from our point of view because, strange as it may seem, no board of inquiry was conducted during World War II after the loss of Sydney. So this is very much unfinished business and we think that this is the best way to go.

 

QUESTION:

Will the inquiry look at aspects like whether a search was launched in time or whether …?

 

ANGUS HOUSTON:

The detailed terms of reference - at the moment there is just one term of reference and that is to inquire into the circumstances that led to the loss of HMAS Sydney and all of her crew.

 

Now, as we scope out what needs to be done, we'll get into what's within the scope of the inquiry and so forth. And the terms of reference will obviously be expanded to include items such as that.

 

QUESTION:

[Inaudible question]

 

JULIA GILLARD:

Well of course His Honour Terence Cole has been selected for this inquiry because of his expertise in maritime law, because of his work with the Australian Defence Force.

Can I say in relation to past royal commissions over which His Honour has presided, our argument hasn't been with the work of His Honour in presiding over those inquiries; our argument in relation to the inquiry in relation to the building industry was about the motivations of the former government in creating that inquiry, and also about its terms of reference.

 

Clearly His Honour Mr Terence Cole is very well qualified for this appointment, he does have expertise in the area, and that will be brought to bear on what is going to be a complicated inquiry, a long running inquiry, and an inquiry of significance to the nation, to our history, to our understanding of ourselves, and also of contemporary significance to Australians who are alive today but remember that fateful day very clearly. They remember the loss of their loved ones and they're still looking for personal answers.

 

QUESTION:

Will this inquiry actually talk to any of the German survivors?

 

ANGUS HOUSTON:

I spoke again to His Honour about this last week, and yes, we would intend to try and find as many of them as we can. Of course, the reality is all of them are ageing and many of them have passed on. But clearly that is a very important thing that we need to do.

 

QUESTION:

Have there been any further surveys of the wreck since you found it and how soon can you see…?

 

RUSS SHALDERS:  

There's been no further surveys, the Geosounder, as you would know, returned to Geraldton to exchange the sonar equipment with which it used to find the wrecks for a remotely operated vehicle. They had some technical difficulties in getting that equipment on board last week. The vessel sailed from Geraldton on Saturday, and as of about 90 minutes ago, they were close to the site but they're weather affected at the moment, there's a cyclone just been through that area, and they've not yet been able to deploy the remotely operated vehicle.

 

Once the weather abates to a point where they can put the vehicle into the water, their plan is to search - well to use the vehicle to search the Sydney initially, and then the Kormoran and then the battle site. They believe that they can achieve that between now and about 11 April, and as we get the imagery it will be transmitted back to Australia where it will be freely available on the Sydney search website.

 

QUESTION:

Would you be having input - in particular questions that you feel as a sailor of experience, coming from a maritime position, you would like to see answered? Do you think are likely to be answered by this enquiry?

 

RUSS SHALDERS:  

As the Acting Prime Minister said, the mystery continues. It came in two parts, where was the Sydney, where was the Kormoran? We've now resolved the first part of the mystery; the second part of the mystery is what happened and why?

 

It would be speculation to try and attempt to answer that why question at this stage, but that's the pressing question, certainly in the Navy's mind, and I think in the mind of most Australians that are aware of this situation. Why was it, how could it be that the Sydney sank almost without trace?

 

I think the current investigations and certainly Terence Cole's inquiry will hopefully go towards answering that why question; how could it happen? That's the question that I would like to understand and I'm sure the rest of the Navy would as well.

 

QUESTION:

Terence Cole will obviously have as long as it takes to try and solve these riddles … what time frame would we be looking at, are you thinking of next year, 2010, I mean, has he indicated … ?

 

ANGUS HOUSTON:

As the Acting Prime Minister said, it's going to take a long time. I mean 23 kilometres of shelf space with documentation, that gives you some idea of how much material has to be looked at. But it's important that we get this right, it's important that it be a very complete inquiry.

 

I would say that we're probably looking well into next year before we get anywhere near the end of it. Certainly it's very important that the work that the Geosounder's doing continues, and it may be necessary to, later in the year, perhaps in the next weather window, to do further research, take further imagery to assist our understanding of what happened out there on 19 November.

 

QUESTION:

Are you aware of any - talking about the 23 kilometres of shelf space, is this archived material … is there any Navy material or official material that you're aware of from the wartime or since, that has not been made public?

 

ANGUS HOUSTON:

I understand a lot of this material has not been looked at ever before. So this gives you some idea of the challenge His Honour faces. It will be very important to find every piece of material and have a close look at it.

 

QUESTION:

Some families have expressed a hope that maybe some personal effects could be retrieved from the vessel. Is that possible and are there plans to retrieve anything from the ship?

 

ANGUS HOUSTON:

I think first of all you've got to understand that where Sydney is, it's - is a war grave and we don't want to - we don't want to interfere with the site. We respect everybody that was lost at that site.

 

Of course the other very realistic limitation on us is the depth of the water. To actually recover anything at 2,700 metres is extremely challenging.

 

So at this stage we haven't planned to do that. We'll certainly have a look at it, but I think in terms of how we approach it we have to realise that is a war grave and that comes first.

 

QUESTION:

What level of support is the ADF providing to this search of the battle site or is this strictly a civilian…?

 

RUSS SHALDERS:  

The Government has funded the current search to the tune of $4.2 million at this stage. That funding is sufficient to cover the next phase of the search which is the gathering of imagery underway at present. Depending on where we get to and where we might need to go further, further applications may need to be made to government for additional funding.

 

QUESTION:

Ms Gillard, just on a different matter, should the - is the Government considering enlisting the [indistinct words] that will allow it to use guest workers from the Pacific, both as a means to address our labour shortage but also as a means to help Pacific nations requiring these funds, people sending money back home?

 

JULIA GILLARD:

Can I say of course we have the 457 skilled visa system. And the Government is certainly maintaining the ability of skilled people to come to this country and to contribute their skills. There have been integrity problems with the use of that visa. They have been small in number given how large the number of people who come in on the 457 visa is. But they've still been concerning. And the Government has consequently sought to act in that area. And my colleague Chris Evans is dealing with that matter through a review of the 457 visa and integrity arrangements.

 

On the question of guest workers, there has been continuing interest by our Pacific Island neighbours on such a scheme. Obviously from their point of view it would enable money to be remitted back to their home country to families and friends. It's a matter that continues to be on the foreign policy agenda but there have been no conclusions of those discussions.

 

QUESTION:

What's changed since January when Kevin Rudd ruled it out?

 

JULIA GILLARD:

Well the - of course our Pacific neighbours have indicated a continuing interest in this area and of course the discussion continues. There has been no decision taken and I'm sure the Prime Minister, earlier in the year, referred to this, there's been no decision taken to create a guest worker visa.

 

But Pacific nations do raise this issue with us and consequently it is on the foreign policy agenda for discussions.

 

But, as I say, there has been no decision taken and people shouldn't expect to see any quick moves in that area.

 

QUESTION:

Ms Gillard, on COAG, the states insistence in the communiqué, putting a line in that said, the Commonwealth should pay for its own policies how will that affect the rollout of your computer program, your trade centre program now that the states believe there's a greater onus on you paying more of the costs of those particular programs?

JULIA GILLARD:

Well around the COAG table and around the table of the working party which it's been my great pleasure and privilege to chair, the productivity working group that has dealt with the implementation of these promises, there's been a clear understanding that the Commonwealth was making available a billion dollars of resource for computers in schools.

 

Of course states and territories have been making their own efforts in this area. They want children to come out of school ready for the world of work in the modern age, ready for life in the modern age. And of course that requires people to be able to use computers.

 

So they were investing; they're delighted to see a federal government that's prepared to work in partnership with them and invest an extra billion dollars that would not have been available to them had it not been for the Rudd Labor government's promise.

 

We have indicated to them, we understand that to make sure computers are available in circumstances where they can be used, to make sure that maintenance occurs, to make sure that professional development occurs for teachers so the computers are fully integrated into the learning environment, that that takes a strategic co-investment. And we are talking to them about the nature of that strategic partnership.

 

The hundred million dollars which we have promised to roll out this financial year will be rolled out. It will be rolled out by 30 June and our state and territory colleagues are working with us in partnership to facilitate that roll out.

 

QUESTION:

Why should they be funding your election promises? They've got their own programs for which they are accountable to their voters and you've got yours. It certainly seems, please tell me if I'm wrong, that the states are saying, well no, these are your policies, you fund them.

 

JULIA GILLARD:

Well, I think that analysis is a bit of a simplistic one, with respect. What the states and territories are obviously saying is, they are responsible for their schools and in running those schools they know that there is a lot to do to make sure that there's appropriate access to computer technology. And they want the children who go to those schools to have that access.

 

And then of course they see the election of the federal government that says, we not only want to work in partnership with you, we want to put a billion dollars on the table to get this shared objective done. And when you have those sorts of discussions, then clearly you want to work together in a strategic partnership and you want to deal with the co-investment issues. That's what we're going to do.

 

We're going to make sure that the hundred million that has been promised for this financial year is rolled out. That's an early promise, it's an important promise and it will be delivered and it will be delivered to those schools who are in most need. That is that they have a ratio of computers to children that is worse than 1 to 8, counting computers that are four years old or less.

 

QUESTION:

There was no talk of sharing though during the election campaign when you went to all of those schools and you and Kevin Rudd were photographed with kids with computers promising this. There was no talk of sharing then.

 

JULIA GILLARD:

Well I think when you see our election promises rolling out you would have seen much commentary from our state and territory colleagues. And that commentary, whether it was in education or whether it was in health or whether it was in water, was all about how they would love to be in a position to end the blame game, and to work with a federal government that was prepared to work with them on things that should be shared objectives and are shared objectives.

 

Our state Labor governments and territory Labor governments want to see Australian kids get a world class education. They want to work in partnership with a federal government that is committed to ensuring every Australian student gets a world class education.

 

QUESTION:

Have the existing state programs failed? Is that why you have such a large number of schools with such poor ratios of less than 1 in 4. Have the states not spent the money wisely?

 

JULIA GILLARD:

This is a huge capital task. It's a huge task to move from a situation where our schools didn't have access to computers to a situation where computer technology for upper secondary students is embedded into the curriculum in everything they do. It's an enormous task.

 

And when you are going to undertake an enormous task like that, from the perspective of the state or territory government, there's obviously concern about the time it is going to take to make sure that every child in those upper secondary years gets the access to computers that we would like to see them have.

 

So the states and territories were working in this area. What they lacked was a federal government prepared to work in partnership with them. What they have now is a federal government prepared to work in partnership with a billion dollars to be allocated to this area, and a billion dollars is a lot of money. And it means that there can be a real difference to access to computer technology for Australian students.

 

I'll take one more and then we'll go.

 

QUESTION:

Given that the Government's campaign against binge drinking, are you disappointed to hear that some members of the Australian swim team got into a bit of pub brawl over the weekend. And should Nick D'Arcy lose his place at the Olympics because of that?

 

JULIA GILLARD:

Look, I'm not going to make specific comments about individual athletes; that's a matter that should be dealt with by sporting officials and authorities.

 

Obviously the Government is very concerned about binge drinking by Australian young people, particularly by teenagers, many of them below the legal drinking age. We're concerned about the role models in sport and, you know, many of our athletes are great role models for Australian children as they're growing up. They give them something that they want to aspire to.

 

We obviously want to work with the sporting authorities, with our great sporting codes, whether it be AFL or NRL or whether it be the netball. We want to work with all of them to create those role models and make sure that they're there for Australian young people to look at as we combat binge drinking.

 

And the Government will continue in that endeavour working with those sporting codes. And those sporting codes are very happy to be working with the Government in this area. They understand that binge drinking is an issue in the Australian community. Yes, it does surface from time to time in the world of sport and it's a matter about which they're concerned.

 

Thank you.

 

Media contact:

Kimberly Gardiner (Julia Gillard):                            02 6277 7320 or 0434 159 842

Defence Media Liaison:                                             02 6265 3343 or 0408 498 664