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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-11-01 Daily Xml
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NAVY WEEK

Mrs VLAHOS (Taylor) (15:25): I would like to speak today on Navy Week which occurred between 9 and 14 October. The week involved many activities designed to broaden the community's understanding of the Royal Australian Navy and the diverse roles they perform locally and abroad for our nation and our allies.

Some of the activities in this particular week included an interactive display at Hindmarsh Square, performances by the Navy band, a Navy Week church service and an open day with the Navy for the general public with a visit from HMAS Parramatta at Techport Australia on the Sunday. Over 7,000 people visited the Techport facility on the Sunday, which includes the ASC shipyard where the Air Warfare Destroyer is currently being constructed. It was a beautiful day and more than 2,400 people boarded and toured the HMAS Parramatta on the day.

The open day was supported by 723 Squadron, the defence recruiting section, the Royal Australian Navy Band SA Detachment, the Australian Navy Cadets, and a Navy surf boat, a dive tank, a rigid base inflatable Sea Otter boat—which I had the pleasure of boarding on my trip out to visit the HMAS Parramatta on the Friday morning—the defence community organisations and the Naval Association of Australia.

The HMAS Parramatta has a motto of 'Strike Deep' and it is an Anzac class helicopter frigate built by Tenix Defence Systems and was commissioned in 2003. The 118-metre long vessel, with a berth of around 14.8 metres across its beam, has a maximum speed of 27 knots and a range of almost 6,000 nautical miles. It has an impressive range of firepower options of torpedoes, missiles, guns, electronic countermeasures and radars in addition to a Seahawk helicopter, and the HMAS Parramatta has been on active service in recent times in the Middle East.

The Parramatta is actually the oldest ship name in the Australian Navy and is the fourth RAN ship to bear this name. Parramatta (I) was the first ship commissioned by the Commonwealth Naval Forces—later to become known as the Royal Australian Navy—in 1910. The Parramatta (II) served in World War II and was sunk by a German submarine in 1941 with the loss of 138 lives. Parramatta (III) served between 1961 and 1991 and was a river class destroyer escort.

I would like to personally thank the crew for their assistance and welcome on the voyage as they were exceedingly generous in sharing their knowledge of their life in the Navy. I had the opportunity to observe our progress down the coast to Techport from the bridge of the HMAS Parramatta and it was a remarkable privilege to witness the professionalism and seamless communication that takes place on the bridge of the frigate as they entered the channel near Techport and berthed the warship. The average age of the crew is currently 23—very young—but these are very professional and outstanding men and women that our Navy and our nation should be proud of.

I would also like to place on the record my sincere thanks to the Commanding Officer of Navy Headquarters SA, Commander Alan Williams ADC, the Commanding Officer of the HMAS Parramatta, Commander Simon Cannell, and particularly Mrs Campbell, the Warrant Officer on board, for their time, guidance and opportunity to join the HMAS Parramatta crew of this Anzac frigate class as it travelled down the coast on that Friday morning from Glenelg to berth at Techport. Also joining me were several Navy Cadets, Defence Reserve Support employers and advocates. It was a truly remarkable day and I thank them.

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