Reception on board USS Blue Ridge
Thursday, 29 May 2025
USS Blue Ridge, HMAS Kuttabul
Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC KC, Governor of New South Wales
I pay my respects to the Gadigal and Cammeraygal, Traditional Owners of the lands and waters on which we gather tonight, and to their Elders past, present, and emerging.
- Vice Admiral Fred Kacher Commander U.S. Navy SEVENTH Fleet
- S. Chargé d’Affaires, Ms. Erika Olson
- Rear Admiral Chris Smith AM CSM RAN, Commander Australian Fleet
- Captain Nicholas DeLeo, Commanding Officer, USS BLUE RIDGE
- Consuls-General, Special Guests - all[1]
It is an honour to be here with you tonight at HMAS Kuttabul, celebrating the visit to Sydney of the USS Blue Ridge, the flagship of the US Seventh Fleet and the oldest operating ship in the US Navy. It is wonderful to welcome you back after a decade since the Blue Ridge’s last visit and especially here at HMAS Kuttabul which has a special significance in Australian/US relations.
This coming Saturday is the 83rd anniversary of the night in which three Japanese midget submarines stole into Sydney Harbour on 31 May 1942.
One of the midget subs fired at the USS Chicago anchored just off the point from here. Just missing the Chicago, the torpedo hit a sea wall, resulting in the sinking of HMAS Kuttabul, a Sydney ferry which had been converted into a barracks ship for allied naval personnel.[2] 21 Allied personnel lost their lives,[3] and the confidence which a safe harbour usually provides was shattered. On 1 January 1943, in memory of those who lost their lives that night, Garden Island was renamed HMAS Kuttabul, Kuttabul being an Aboriginal word which means ‘wonderful’.[4]
The first visit of your Navy to Australia was on 20 August 1908,[5] when the 16 ships of the The Great White Fleet,[6] then on a 2-year goodwill world tour, visited Sydney and Melbourne.
Just as it is impossible to separate the navy from the sea, it is almost as difficult to separate the navy from the geopolitical influences of any given time and so it was in that first decade of the 20th century. By 1906, Britain had completely withdrawn its naval presence from the Pacific to the North Sea with serious implications for Australia’s defence given that Australia had no navy and Japan was seen as a significant threat in the region.
It was in this context that our then Prime Minister, Alfred Deakin, invited the Great White Fleet to our shores.
To say that the visit was a success would be an understatement. In celebrating the occasion in the manner Australians are wont to do, the crowds came, there was an official welcome by the Governor-General,[7] and the Governor, Admiral Sir Harry Rawson; there were receptions, fireworks, parades and a public holiday.
Tonight is somewhat similar if a little scaled-down with the occasional twist or two. For a start, you are providing the reception (for which we say thank you). There is a Governor to welcome you but no Governor-General tonight; our light festival VIVID is beaming its many colours across the harbour, but unfortunately you missed the fireworks which were last Friday night and our public holiday is still a week away – but with those tweaks, we trust you still feel a welcome which is as warm as it was nearly 12 decades ago.
The strategic significance of the friendship between our two countries that was not lost on Prime Minister Deakin in 1908 has continued since.
It was of crucial importance during World War II. Formal Diplomatic relations were established on 8 January 1940,[8] a defence alliance was established in 1941–1942, and in 1951 the formal ANZUS Treaty was entered into.[9]
Jumping forward some 80 years to today, geopolitical uncertainties continue to underpin the importance of our strategic partnership in the region, with AUKUS being the most recent in a long list of formal collaborations and engagements. [10]
Perhaps not so well known, associated with AUKUS is the new AUKUS Fulbright Program, which will produce the next generation of US and Australian experts in critical fields including nuclear science, cybersecurity and quantum technologies. This is an important addition to the Fulbright program which this year celebrates its 75th anniversary.
Whilst our strategic defence arrangements are critical, our long-term trade, investment, parliamentary,[11] education and cultural exchanges ensure that our relationship is based on mutual understanding underpinned by genuine friendship.
This leads me to the only moment of sadness in tonight’s proceedings, which is a de facto farewell to Consul-General Christine Elder. Christine, you have been an outstanding representative of your country. You have worked tirelessly within your consular domain and extended your personal friendship and the friendship and goodwill of your country well beyond your consular role.
I extend to USS Blue Ridge, and all who sail on her, the deepest thanks for so effectively contributing to the security of the Indo-Pacific. Dennis and I wish you all the very best as the ‘Finest in the Fleet’[12] returns safely home.
[1] Cross-section of US community in NSW has been invited.
[2] https://dictionaryofsydney.org/artefact/hmas_kuttabul
[3] https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/E84301
[4] https://www.warmemorialsregister.nsw.gov.au/content/hmas-kuttabul-memorial-garden-island
[5] 20 August 1908:
[6] Also refer Official Program:
https://gallery.records.nsw.gov.au/index.php/galleries/the-great-white-fleet-1908/#
[7] The Right Honourable Henry Stafford Northcote, 2nd Governor-General 1904-1908
[8] 8 January 1940
[9] 1 September 1951 also see the Foreword to Great White Fleet to Coral Sea: Naval Strategy and the Development of Australia-United States Relations, 1900–1945, DFAT, https://www.dfat.gov.au/sites/default/files/great-white-fleet-to-coral-sea.pdf
[10] September 2021: https://www.defense.gov/Spotlights/AUKUS/
[11] In 2022, there was a visit to NSW by a California State Senate and Assembly delegation and then a reciprocal visit by NSW Speaker of the Legislative Assembly earlier this year. (2025)
[12] “Finest in the Fleet” is Ship’s motto