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For Immediate Release
Office of the Vice President
February 23, 2007
Vice President's Remarks with Australian Minister of Defense Brendan Nelson with Australian Defence Force Personnel
Victoria Barracks
Sydney, Australia
10:15 A.M. (Local)
DR. NELSON: Mr. Vice President, firstly, welcome again to our
country and to Sydney, and to this, the Victoria Barracks, which, as you
can see, is one of our finest and longest established institutions. Air
Chief Marshall Houston, Chief of Defence, Your Excellency, Ambassador,
this morning, we are privileged to be in the presence of a group of men
and women who by wearing the uniform of the Australian Navy, Army and
Air Force define and shape our values -- the way we see ourselves as
Australians and what's important to us. And what these men and women
do, and how they do it and how their predecessors have done it since --
for almost a hundred years or more in our country, we share your ideals,
the belief in freedom, in human dignity, the belief in respecting the
rights and freedoms of other human beings and upholding our
responsibilities to do it throughout the world.
We're also very mindful that we are free people today not only
because of our own sacrifices, but the sacrifices of your country --
particularly in the Pacific, and particularly at the Coral Sea and other
places in 1942. You are very welcome here, sir.
And these are a cross section of our finest men and women from
cooks and stewards and logisticians, infantry, sailors, airmen and
women, loadies, Special Services, the whole variety. Thank you, sir.
And you're very welcome.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you, Mr. Minister. I wanted to come by
this morning. This is the first opportunity for me to visit the
Victoria Barracks, but I've been familiar with the great work of the
Australian Defence Forces since I was Secretary some 15 years ago. One
of the highlights I mentioned was coming down on the 50th anniversary of
the Coral Sea and bringing the aircraft carrier Independence to the
entire battle group for a weekend of liberty, or a week of liberty here
in Australia. It was a great event, and I always think of that when I
see Sydney Harbor out here.
But the fact is, of course, we all remember -- we Americans remember
John Howard was in Washington on 9/11, had given a speech there the day
before 9/11, and after those events of that day, made it clear that
Australia was in the global war on terror right alongside the United
States and many other nations. And I wanted to come by this morning to
say thank you for the work and contribution that your forces have made
in many places in the world, especially in Afghanistan and Iraq. It is
deeply appreciated. We have no better ally either in terms of
competence or in terms of willingness and ability to work together.
We've been doing it for a hundred years, and it's very, very important
that we continue. Obviously in the years ahead, so I came by this
morning simply to thank you for what you've done with all of us.
END 10:18 A.M. (Local)
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