Speech delivered 14 March 2026, Duntroon, Canberra.

Good evening, everybody. You all look absolutely splendid—and this is a perfect Canberra early evening to be celebrating such a milestone for the Australian Army.

I acknowledge the Ngunnawal as the traditional owners of this beautiful land that we gather on, and recognise any other people with long and deep connections to the lands of Canberra and the region. I pay my respects to elders past and present, and I extend that respect to all First Nations people here this evening—and to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander servicewomen and men who are, and have long been, deeply committed and valued members of the Australian Army.

• I acknowledge General David Hurley AC CVO DSC (Retd) and Mrs Linda Hurley, who made my transition into this role so much easier with their kindness and their warmth of welcome Ambassadors and High Commissioners from the Netherlands, France, Thailand, India, Timor-Leste, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand.
• Admiral David Johnston AC RAN, Chief of the Defence Force, and Mrs Belinda Johnston. We’re joined here by another of your predecessors, Air Chief Marshal Sir Angus Houston AK AFC (Retd) and Lady Liz Houston. It’s wonderful to see you both again tonight.
• Air Marshal Robert Chipman AO CSC, Vice Chief of the Defence Force, and Mrs Alyce Chipman.
• Lieutenant General Simon Stuart AO DSC, Chief of Army, and Mrs Katy Stuart, who has sent a lot of time helping to create this evening, congratulations.
• Air Vice-Marshal Steve Pesce AM, Deputy Chief of Air Force, and Mrs Rebecca Pesce.
• Senior leaders of the Australian Defence Force; servicewomen and men; veterans and your families, all of you are very distinguished guests tonight.
• Representatives of the Department of Veterans’ Affairs; the Australian War Memorial; UNSW; the Australian National University; ASPI; and the Lowy Institute.
• And tonight I would really like to thank all involved in the Army History Unit, the RMC Band, particularly, for their support to me, together with the Federation Guard, which they provide so beautifully and so often. 

It is a great privilege to be with you to celebrate the 125th birthday of the Australian Army, and especially to be here at the Royal Military College, Duntroon, which has played such an important part in my life. 

Had my father not arrived here in 1952—an eager young staff cadet keen to serve Queen and country—and later, as a Captain, met my mother at the Weapons Research Establishment Library in Salisbury, South Australia, I would not exist.

The Army, and especially my early experiences as an Army brat, influenced my life in many ways—from an understanding of service and sacrifice, to rituals of remembrance instilled from a young age, and to witnessing the enduring bonds of friendship among my father’s RMC classmates over more than seventy years.

Reflecting recently with Matt Anderson at the Australian War Memorial, he described the unspoken thread of service running from those who leapt from the Gallipoli landing boats to those who stand ready today.

Simon, in speaking of Army history, you ask that we focus not on the past, but we keep a very keen eye on the future.

I agree, but in looking to the future, there are rituals and values that have endured across 125 years and which continue to underpin Army’s strength. Every person in uniform has chosen unrestricted service—service before self—and all have relied on the generosity of family who release them to serve, with the unwritten promise that they would pick up the pieces if you brought thee consequences of that service home with you, physical or psychological.

Now, it is true that an Australian soldier of 1901 would not recognize the weaponry and technology of today’s army. 

When former Prime Minister Keating interred the unknown Australian soldier, he said that this is a world created beyond the riches of his imagination, and today, nothing could be truer. 

We now live in a world that is constantly changing, and today, is experiencing new tension and very complex environments.

But while the reforms might not be familiar to soldiers of generations past, there would be no mistaking the common bond of the values of service and sacrifice. Officer cadets here at RMC march on the same parade ground as those who have done so for over 100 years, instilled with the same values and discipline and traditions, and prepared now in an innovative and highly adaptable, flexible, modern Army, ready to respond to these new challenges. 

As Commander in Chief, I have the unique and privileged opportunity of seeing Army both from a panoramic nation view and then experiencing, very often, the fine grain of life for soldiers and service personnel. 

The possibilities respect for the past informing the future was made so clear to me in the freezing waters of Anzac Cove at dawn on the eve of Anzac Day almost a year ago.  Standing with my then Army aide-de-camp, Major Katie Higgins, as she dipped her medals as a mark of respect to all the soldiers who had given their lives in that place and elsewhere, was a moment that represented for me the powerful legacy of all that has gone before, embodied now in the modern Army, acting in defence of our modern, diverse and optimistic nation.

I've seen this, again and again, in barracks and represented in the work and character of service personnel right across the country. Earlier this month, at Australia's northern-most regular Army formation, the 1st Brigade at Robertson Barracks in Darwin, I met soldiers from the 5th/7th Battalion, and then, at Mt Isa Army Reserve Training Depot, I met soldiers from Mornington Island, Doomagee, Normanton, Cloncurry and Mt Isa, who serve in Delta Company, 51 Far North Queensland Regiment. They love being part of our Australian Army and the privilege of standing with you, General Hurley, for the presentation of the meritorious unit citation for Operation SOLACE to 1RAR in Townsville, a very special moment of recognition. 

Across my term, I have had the great honor of spending a lot of time with so many of our soldiers.

And every time in their welcome to me, I feel the energy and enthusiasm for the tasks and challenges ahead. 

I recognise the pride in those they serve with and their sense of belonging in this Australian Army.
I see the commitment to Army's values of service, courage, respect, integrity and excellence. 

And I see Army growing serious, adaptive, flexible responses to their needs, particularly the needs of soldiers and, one day, as veterans, and the needs of their families and loved ones.

I see that care is exercised in the modern Australian Army in so many ways. I believe you all put care, kindness and respect at the heart of your roles, just as I have, and some might mistake those words for softness. 

But just like soldiering, care is hard and rigorous, particularly when it's done well and consistently. 

In light of the recent events in Bondi in Sydney, I looked for guidance from the experience of those who showed care and engagement with the future, and who had done so much for our country in much earlier times.

I found it in a soldier, General, Sir John Monash. 

Of course you will know his story – his brilliance and ingenuity in warfare, which arguably shaped military campaigns across the world in the years since the First World War.

But today, as we celebrate 125 years and contemplate the future of our modern, diverse and strong Australian Army, it is his foresight and intelligence in understanding the place of education and civics that also tells us so much about modernity.

That glorious yet simple statue of him at the Australian War Memorial, clothed in a suit, displaying his military medals with his strong, purposeful gaze and simply holding a notebook, suggests the very thing that we're celebrating tonight.

In the moment captured in the statue, he represents a stable axis of a world in flux, committed to nation-building. 

And the text on the base of the statue says simply – nothing from a military perspective – ‘Australia's only hope is an educated population and the ballot box’.

That's what I get to see regularly up close in today's Australian Army, highly educated, highly targeted people who are nation-builders and have put self behind service. 

Service always – that's why it's important that we gathered here tonight for the important, serious moments. 

It is a chance for us all together to say happy birthday, and reflect a little on history. 

Thank those families and partners whose generosity underpins that service and sacrifice. 

And, as the Chief has said, keep a keen eye on the future. 

Happy birthday.