Admiral Johnston, Secretary Quinn, Departmental Secretaries, Senior Defence and government Leaders both serving and retired, Members of the Diplomatic Corp, ladies and gentlemen, shipmates, family members and friends.

I also acknowledge Mr Dan Kieghran VC. Dan, thank you for your friendship and for being here today. Thank you for your exceptional service to our nation and for being here to support me and my family as we prepare for the next challenge.

Today is a moment of both gratitude and reflection. The past eight years have been a privilege of a lifetime, stewarding the Navy during a complex and challenging period. As Deputy Chief of Navy, Fleet Commander and as Chief of Navy, I have been afforded unique vantage points from which to witness the incredible achievements of our sailors and officers, our Saltwater Diplomats, Sea going Deterrent force and Stalwart Defenders of our maritime interests. As we all know, every Navy achievement is a team achievement, so I would like to thank our Navy team for their hard work and daily sacrifices while we enjoy the comforts of home as you stand the watch at sea. You are world class in every sense of the expression. Thank you for your commitment to service, your unwavering dedication to duty, and your quiet professionalism in often unseen and demanding circumstances. I am proud to be one of you, and to serve and sail with you.

During my time over the past few years focused on fleet optimisation, accelerated capability delivery, and operations at sea alongside our partners and allies to promote stability and prosperity, I have been privileged to serve with a team of very senior Navy leaders that have collectively placed service before self, and put the needs of our Nation before everything.

I would like to acknowledge this team today. Rear Admirals Jonathan Earley as Deputy Fleet Commander, Fleet Commander and Deputy Chief of Navy; 

Christopher Smith as Deputy Chief of Navy and Fleet Commander; Peter Quinn and Stephen Hughes as Head of Navy Capability.

Kath Richards and Rachel Durbin as Head of Navy Engineering

Tom Phillips as Head Nuclear Submarine Capability

Matt Buckley as Head Nuclear Submarine Capability and Deputy Chief of Navy.

And my wingman, Warrant Officer Andrew Bertoncin as Command Warrant Officer in Fleet Command and Warrant Officer of the Navy.

Thank you to all of you for your leadership, your teamwork, your stewardship of our platforms and people, and your tireless work to ensure our Navy remains ready, today, tomorrow and into the future.

I am also so proud to know you and to have witnessed your efforts to strengthen our Navy in so many ways.

To my teams that have supported me in the Office of the Chief of Navy and beyond the glass doors, thank you. You have set the team up for success and made the job an absolute joy. Although the days were sometimes long and tough, you always made them better and I am so grateful to every one of you for your dedication and commitment. I particularly extend that gratitude to those who have organised today’s ceremony, especially Captain Nikki Mann and her team, and the band and guard and every sailor and officer on parade. To our APS colleagues and industry partners thank you for your service to our Navy and our Nation. We are a stronger Navy, and a safer nation, for it. And to my Senior Leadership colleagues across the Defence Enterprise, particularly my fellow service chiefs throughout my tenure, thank you for your service, your support, partnership, your patience over the past four years. The Nation rarely hears of your successes, and should they know more, you would receive the praise you so often deserve. Until then, please accept my thanks and profound respect.

To our family members here today, spouses, partners, children, parents thank you. Our power at sea is derived from your strength at home. Your contribution is rarely visible but always deeply felt. We, all of us, are profoundly grateful.

On a personal note, I owe an immeasurable debt of gratitude to my family. To my wife Jodi, and our children Jessica and Joshua, thank you for your enduring love, sacrifice and steadfast support and buckle up, there’s four more years of that to come. I simply could not have performed this role without you and the same applies as we look ahead. To my mum watching online in Adelaide. Thank you. You raised a resilient and determined boy and I hope I have made you proud.

To Vice Admiral Matt Buckley, thank you for your outstanding service to our Navy and our Nation over so many decades, and congratulations on your promotion and appointment. I am proud to call you a shipmate and friend, and to hand over the weight, and the watch, as Chief of Navy to you today. I know that Navy will be in capable, steady and competent hands, and I wish you, Ingrid, Xavier, Joel and Marcus the best of success over the next four years as you steward the Navy into our shared future. I look forward to serving with you, and to supporting you during your Command.

On reflection, when I assumed Command of our Navy, on what feels like yesterday but was four years ago. I set a challenge for our team to put the Navy in front of the Nation every single day. So, whether this was through partnering with Honorary Commander Russell Crowe and the South Sydney Rabbitohs, Michael great to see you and Jacqui here representing the bunnies and their moving annual tributes to our sailors and their families in the Anzac round every year; the fantastically researched books written by our unofficial historian Mr Mike Carlton; Working with Endemol shine and the NCIS Sydney team; The Royal Fleet Review; working with AMDA and Industry through the INDOPAC and Indian Ocean Defence and Security Conferences; the quiet revealing of our multiple first of class missile firings and unscrewed systems advances.

The Navy 125th, Exercise KAKADU Fleet Review and other activities around the nation to commemorate 125 years of naval service, since the establishment of the Commonwealth Naval Force in 1901. The goal has always been to showcase to the nation whom they serve, the incredible dedication, capabilities and commitment of our sailors and officers to ensure the safety, security and prosperity of our nation alongside our Army, Air force, APS and industry partners. I hope in some small way our sailors and their families feel a little more understood, a little more seen, a little more appreciated and a little more supported. It has always been and must always be about you.

Our Navy’s greatest work happens over the horizon, out of sight and out of mind, 24/7, 365. We have an obligation to explain our purpose to justify the significant investment of taxpayers’ dollars to assure our readiness.

On that note, Vice Admiral Buckley, Matt, Shipmate, I pass that challenge to you. To always remember our job is to serve those that serve our nation. With that done, I stand relieved, the watch, and our Navy, we entrust to you.