Speech to the America250 Reception, Washington DC

Good evening everyone,

It is indeed a privilege to represent Australia’s Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, at tonight’s reception.

I also want to thank the Australian-American Leadership Dialogue for bringing us together once again.

In particular, I acknowledge Julie and Phil Scanlan, and my former parliamentary colleague Tony Smith the best and fairest Speaker of the House in history until of course speaker Milton Dick came along! . Julie you and Phil have through the AALD, built something genuinely special. For more than three decades, this Dialogue has strengthened one of the world’s most enduring partnerships by bringing together leaders who understand that relationships between nations are ultimately built by relationships between people.

This is my second AALD as Australia’s Assistant Minister for Defence, following last year’s Dialogue in Adelaide. I would say that every time I have attended an AALD over the course of my career, I have left with the same impression: this forum reflects the strength, maturity and confidence of the Australia - United States relationship.

Whether it is this week’s insightful discussions or climbing aboard a Collins Class submarine in Adelaide last year with Congressman Joe Courtney, Congressman Trent Kelly and the Premier of South Australia, the AALD continually reminds us that our alliance is not static, it never has been. It is living, evolving and constantly adapting to meet new challenges. One of the challenges I had was getting Joe and Trent to join the press conference with the premier admittedly not too hard as politicians to convince them to speak in front of  mike – but great thanks and appreciation goes to joe and Trent for their commitment tour alliance and AUKUS

The AALD reflective as it is of the broader alliance also creates something increasingly valuable in today’s world: trusted relationships, frank conversations and a shared understanding between friends.

Australia and the United States have much in common.

Though our histories are different, they share a common thread as two former British settlements: the determination to chart our own course and build democratic societies founded on freedom, opportunity and optimism.

Our connections stretch across every part of national life.

For many of us familial – Lydia and kids 

From families to friendships. From business to trade. From universities to scientific research. From the arts to innovation. From diplomacy to defence.

Together, these countless connections form a relationship unlike any other. 

To put it simply – we’re mates.

And today, that relationship matters more than ever.

As we’ve heard through this year’s AALD, the world is becoming more contested, more uncertain and more complex. 

Strategic competition is intensifying. Technology is transforming every aspect of our societies. Economic resilience has become a national security issue. And the rules that have underpinned decades of peace and prosperity cannot simply be assumed.

In times like these, trusted partners matter and that is why the Australia - United States alliance provides such important ballast, not only for our two nations, but for the stability and security of the Indo-Pacific and beyond.

Tonight, as we celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence, we also celebrate the enduring ideals that have shaped both our democracies.

The Declaration of Independence proclaimed ideas that were revolutionary for their time have since travelled well beyond America’s shores.

They inspired democratic movements around the world.

They influenced Australia’s own democratic traditions.

And they continue to guide free societies today.

These principles have brought Australia and the United States together for generations in the shared pursuit of peace, freedom and prosperity.

They are not simply ideals to admire.

They are principles we have repeatedly defended together.

This year marks another important milestone.

Alongside America’s 250th birthday, 2026 also marks the 75th anniversary of the ANZUS Treaty.

For three quarters of a century, ANZUS has stood as the cornerstone of our defence partnership and a powerful statement of our shared commitment to one another’s security.

But our military partnership began even earlier.

More than a century ago, on 4 July 1918, Australians and Americans fought together for the very first time at the Battle of Hamel in France.

It seems fitting that our first battle together was fought, and won, on America’s Independence Day.

In just 93 minutes, Australian and American forces captured all their objectives in what became one of the most successful Allied operations of the First World War.

It was also historic because it marked the first time American troops fought under foreign command, led by Australia’s Lieutenant General John Monash.

Hamel demonstrated something that still defines our alliance today.

Success came not simply from military capability, but from integration.

Australian and American infantry fought alongside tanks, artillery and aircraft in one of history’s first truly combined-arms operations.

Victory depended upon, interoperability, shared planning, resilient logistics, industrial capacity and the most important element of all TRUST

Trust in each other

Trust we had each other’s backs and trust in our commitment and capabilities.

Those same foundations remain essential today.

Australia is the only ally to have stood beside the United States in every major conflict since the First World War.

Our service men and women have stood shoulder to shoulder whenever freedom has been challenged.

From the fields of Europe to the Korean Peninsula, the jungles of Vietnam and then on to the deserts and mountains in the Middle East – I had the opportunity in the year I spent in Iraq in 20023/2004 to work with US military and personnel  - working with Americans out in Ramadi and Fallujah with Sunni Arab tribal forces to convince them to join the fight against Al Qaeda, with the Americans in the northern Kurdish regions.

And throughout those experiences the one constant was the trust we had in each other. 

What struck me then, and what remains with me today, was not simply the professionalism of our forces, but the shared sense of purpose.

Australians and Americans approached our tasks and our mission with the same determination, the same resilience and the same belief – a belief that working together we could not only achieve the desired outcomes but build something better.

I remain incredibly fortunate to have witnessed firsthand what our partnership can achieve.

Today, that partnership continues to evolve. As we look to the next 75 years of ANZUS, we are investing not only in our collective security, but in our shared prosperity.

The work our intelligence communities, militaries and diplomats do together in the Indo pacific to ensure the stability and security of the region – is critical to our shared prosperity

We are strengthening resilient supply chains. Working together on critical minerals. Advancing artificial intelligence, quantum technologies and advanced manufacturing.

Expanding cooperation in defence, aerospace, telecommunications and cyber security.

Developing cleaner energy technologies, driving medical innovation and reaching even further together through our partnership in space. From the legacy of Apollo and Parkes to securing the next frontier for future generations.

These are investments not simply in capability, they are investments in our collective confidence. Confidence that democratic nations working together remain the world’s greatest force for stability, innovation and progress.

Yet ultimately, the alliance has never been defined by treaties alone. Its greatest strength has always been its people.

President John F. Kennedy once observed that America’s confidence in Australia was built during two world wars and in the years that followed as our nations “moved in such concert together.”

That remains just as true today.

Governments may change. Challenges may evolve. Technology will certainly transform. But the trust between Australians and Americans endures.

It is built on shared sacrifice. Shared values. Shared interests.

And a belief in each other

That shared belief that free societies are stronger when they stand together.

So, as I represent Prime Minister Albanese here tonight, I want to echo the words he shared recently at the United States Embassy in Canberra.

For 250 years, the American project has sought to give life to those self-evident truths proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence… that all people are created equal, and are endowed with the inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Those ideals remain worth celebrating. They remain worth defending. And they are assuredly worthy of renewal for each generation that comes after us.

So please join me in a toast.

To the enduring friendship between Australia and the United States. To the values that unite us. To the alliance that has served both our nations so well.

Happy Birthday to the United States of America and here’s to the next 250 years.