Official Opening of the Asia Pacific Civil-Military Centre of Excellence

Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre

27 November 2008

Opening Remarks by Executive Director Mike Smith

The Hon Kevin Rudd, Prime Minister of Australia.

Dr Mike Kelly, Parliamentary Secretary for Defence Support & Federal Member for Eden-Monaro, and other distinguished Parliamentarians.

Dean of the Diplomatic Corps, Her Excellency Mrs Martha Ortiz de Rosas and members of the Corps.

The Mayor of Queanbeyan, Councillor Tim Overall, and your fellow Councillors.

Distinguished Guests All, Colleagues, Friends, Ladies and Gentlemen,

For those who don't know me, my name is Mike Smith, and I am the founding Executive Director of the Asia Pacific Civil-Military Centre of Excellence.

In welcoming you here today I would firstly like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land, the Ngambri people, represented by Senior Elder Matilda House.

Thank you all for attending this morning, and particularly those who have had to cross state borders in order to get here.  I would also like to thank so many of you for the encouragement and support you have provided in helping make the Centre a reality. We are particularly honoured to have our Prime Minister make time in his busy schedule to open the Centre.  We very much appreciate your attendance Prime Minister and we know you are personally committed to the future work of the Centre.

I must also say that since occupying the premises at 34 Lowe Street almost three weeks ago my small civil-military team has thoroughly enjoyed working in Queanbeyan.  And given that I have received far more requests to join the Centre than I have positions to fill, it is clear to me that Queanbeyan is a popular place. Having said that, I have some personal fence building to do with the Mayor, having inappropriately missed an appointment with him earlier this week. I hope I am able to redeem myself.

As the Centre matures, its work will focus on improving civil-military collaboration to enhance Australia's prevention, preparedness and response to conflicts and disasters overseas, principally in the Asia-Pacific region.  Our focus will be on improving training and education, on assisting in the development of civil-military doctrine, in conducting action research with relevant partners on civil-military issues, and in recommending the implementation of lessons learned. Comprised of staff from a range of Departments and Agencies ' Defence, Foreign Affairs & Trade, Attorney-Generals, AusAID, the Australian Federal Police, and Emergency Management Australia ' the Centre will be able to assist these agencies, and, through its work, help inform the development of policy. Our initial Strategic Statement, which is inside the brochure your have received this morning, sets out our vision, mission, intent and approach, summarises our business model, and states our values that will guide our efforts. The Strategic Statement also identifies four key focal areas and 10 sectors of influence on which the Centre will prioritise its work, and I am pleased to say that we are already being tasked to assist in some of these areas.  But the Strategic Statement is only the start point, and much hard work lies ahead if the Centre is to make a real difference in contributing to peace and security in a meaningful way.

Following the official opening and morning tea, those who are available are invited to visit the premises from around 11.00 AM.  Although we are functional you will see that we still have quite a bit of work to do, and seats to be filled, before the Centre can become fully operational.

I would like to record my personal appreciation to the Secretary, Nick Warner, and Chief of the Defence Force, Air Marshal Angus Houston, for their support and commitment to this Centre.  They are not present today because they are with the Minister in the United Kingdom.  I would also like to acknowledge the support I have received from the leadership of all Departments and Agencies who continue to contribute to the development of the Centre, and to their staffs who worked so collaboratively with the Centre and Minter Ellison Consulting to produce the Strategic Statement.

For the excellent refurbishment and fit-out of the Centre I would like to thank the Defence Support Group, Affinity Constructions Management, Point Project Management, and Daryl Jackson Alistair Swain Architects. All are represented here today and please accept my apologies for not mentioning all of you by name.

Finally, I would like to thank my own staff, who have worked so tirelessly over the past few weeks, and who have worked closely with Dr Kelly's office to get ready for today.  I am most fortunate to have such a committed and competent team of people. I would like to acknowledge the Centre's Chief of Staff, Alison Chartres from AusAID, our Executive Officer Dr Moreen Dee from DFAT, our Military Advisor, Colonel Neil Greet, my Executive Assistant Cathy Finney, and Randy Knispel who defied all the odds to get our initial website up and running today.  And to Rebecca Shrimpton who is currently on maternity leave, and her wonderful family, I can only say that Australia owes you so much for the hard work you did to turn a vision into a reality ' and sometimes against the odds.

It is now my privilege to invite Dr Kelly to say a few words.  As many of you know, it has been largely his vision and tenacity ' shaped by personal experience in some of the world's hell holes ' that has been the driving force behind this Centre. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dr Kelly.