 Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the Lowy Institute. I'm Michael Fully Love, the executive director of the Institute and I'm delighted to welcome you all to today's speech by Admiral Harry Harris, commander of US Pacific Command. Let me recognize in particular one of my board members Serangus Houston and many other friends of the Institute. Ladies and gentlemen, this time last year I gave a lecture in Beijing and I adapted the title of that lecture from the title of Dean Atchison's memoir of his time as Harry Truman Secretary of State. Atchison called his memoir present at the creation and Atchison's generation of statesmen were indeed the creators of the post-war world. So 70 years later I called my lecture in Beijing present at the destruction because it felt to me that the global order was if not finished at least fraying and at the time 12 months ago I was criticized for being too gloomy but now Admiral I realize if anything I was too sunny. We have seen significant discontinuities in the past 12 months the decision by the British people to leave the European Union which will in my opinion make for a distracted Britain a less liberal Europe and a weaker West. We've seen a remarkable turnover in political leadership we've noted a big shift in national politics and the rise of populist forces so it's been a big year for a foreign policy think tank. Perhaps the most consequential development of course was the election of Mr Trump as President and this has naturally led to a discussion here in Australia about the nature of our alliance with the United States and the future of America's role in Asia and the Pacific. In my opinion the alliance is of strategic benefit to both sides it is not an end in itself but it is a means of protecting Australian security and furthering Australian interests for us I think the alliance is a force multiplier so I'm very pleased today to be hosting the commander of US military forces in the Pacific. On January 20th there will be a new president in Washington but Admiral Harris will still be there in Hawaii so we're very interested to hear from him today. Ladies and gentlemen Paycom covers half the world's surface and it's home to more than half the world's population. Now as Admiral Harris knows when it comes to US presidents I'm an FDR man and on most issues FDR saw the future more clearly I believe than his contemporaries and that's certainly true when it comes to the US role in Asia. In 1941 he gave his State of the Union speech the famous for freedom speech and in that speech FDR said America looks forward to a time in which for freedoms freedom of speech freedom of religion freedom from want and freedom from fear were realized and he said everywhere in the world but here's a little anecdote that very few people know when that speech was being drafted in the White House Roosevelt dictated that that element of the speech himself and when he did that when he he said his confidant Harry Hopkins who was a great man registered a protest at the phrase everywhere in the world. He said that covers an awful lot of territory Mr President I don't know how interested Americans are going to be in the people of Java for instance and FDR replied I'm afraid they'll have to be someday Harry the world is getting so small that even the people in Java are getting to be our neighbors now. So in 1941 when America was still an inward-looking isolationist middle power when it had not yet even entered the war against Germany and Japan let alone emerged from that conflict as the world's super power Roosevelt was already looking forward to a period when the United States not only saw itself as an Asian power but was represented in Asia in force and was a good neighbor to Asian countries and 75 years later PACOM is Roosevelt's idea given form in soldiers sailors and airmen and women. Ladies and gentlemen Admiral Harry Harris Jr was born in Japan to a navy father and a Japanese mother he graduated from Annapolis and also studied at Harvard Georgetown and Oxford. He served in every geographic combatant command he was promoted to admiral in 2013 assuming command of the US Pacific fleet in May 2015 he was appointed commander of US PACOM he's also the the navy's gray owl I'm advised it's longest-serving active naval flight officer he's a highly decorated military officer and a highly regarded strategist. Admiral it's been a big year for the institute as well as the world we've published research that has been read in capitals everywhere we've hosted Vice President Joe Biden Director of National Intelligence Jim Clapper Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and many others but let me say that by hosting you for our final event of the year we're finishing on a high note ladies and gentlemen please join me in welcoming Admiral Harry Harris to the podium. Thanks Michael I've been accused of many things including being old but I've never been accused of being a strategist so thank you for that. I appreciate the invitation to discuss our great alliance today and I look forward to your questions after I'm finished here. The Australia-US alliance in my opinion has benefited both countries and is critical to the future of both countries. This alliance has strengthened peace and prosperity not only in the Indo-Asia Pacific but around the world the balance between our nations are deep from economic to culture to security. That said from a cultural standpoint I think that I speak for many Americans when I say that we just don't get Vegemite. In fact a quick Google search says it tastes like sadness and we all know that the wisdom of the worldwide web can't possibly be wrong so I guess this gives us something new that we can work on together but before going down this path too far I want to acknowledge Ewan Graham and the Lowy Institute and Michael Full love for bringing this great group of people together. Sir Angus and fellow flagging general officers and distinguished guests and ladies and gentlemen our allies to begin my remarks I'll paraphrase the famous American author and humorist Mark Twain and saying that the reports of America's abandonment of the Indo-Asia Pacific are greatly exaggerated. Let me assure you that nothing could be further from the truth. Our security commitments in this region remain strong. Since November we've conducted exercises with our partners in India Papua New Guinea Indonesia and Japan and during that time I've visited Vietnam the Philippines Sri Lanka Papua New Guinea where I came from just before landing here yesterday and now of course here in Australia and I travel to India next month in January and we continue to fly we in the United States we continue to fly sail and operate wherever international law allows so ladies and gentlemen in the US there's no such thing as a lame duck commander-in-chief. As I've done for almost eight years I continue to serve President Obama my only commander-in-chief. I'll then serve President-elect Trump as my only commander-in-chief and just as I have for President Obama I'll give President-elect Trump and Secretary of Defense Desna Jim Mattis my advice and recommendations on all issues concerning this alliance and this important region of the world that won't change on January 20th and neither will America's enduring interests in the Indo-Asia Pacific. The US has been operating in this region persistently for over seven decades about as long as this speech is going to take. My point is that you can count on America now and into the future. I say this confidently because it's in our national interest to continue our engagement in this vital region as we support the rules-based international order or what I like to call the global operating system. In place since the end of World War II this system has advanced peace and prosperity. It's underpinned by American military presence and our network of allies and partners. Of America's seven defense treaties five are here in the Indo-Asia Pacific including and especially with Australia. Now I'm sometimes asked why I use the term Indo-Asia Pacific instead of the more commonly term Asia Pacific when describing this critical region. My answer is simple. Indo-Asia Pacific more accurately captures the fact that the Indian and Pacific Oceans are the economic lifeblood linking the Indian subcontinent Southeast Asia, Australia, Northeast Asia, Oceania and the United States together. Oceans that were once physical and psychological barriers that kept us apart are now the Maritime Super Highways that bring us together. Arguably no nation knows this better than Australia. A Pacific power and an Indian ocean power. A century ago American naval strategist Alfred Thayer Mahan wrote about how the different maritime regions of the world were more consequential at different points in history. Early history and according to him was written in the Mediterranean. Mahan saw history unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico in the Caribbean Sea during his lifetime. And today I'll echo Secretary of Defense Carter when he says that the Indo-Asia Pacific region is the most consequential region for America's future. This fact alone makes the U.S.-Australia strategic alliance more important than ever before. Since our alliance was formalized in 1951 it's been an anchor of peace and prosperity across 12 U.S. presidential administrations and numerous changes in the U.S. Congress and in Australia's parliament. Our alliance has mutually benefited both countries for 65 years because it's based on shared respect, shared values and shared resolve. And I believe it will be the same with the incoming 13th administration across this alliance. Our two nations have worked, fought, bled and died together. We fought in war wars one and two. We fought communism in the hot wars of Korea and Vietnam and the Cold War through the latter half of the 20th century. We fought together in the Gulf War and for the last decade and more we fought side by side in the long wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. ISIL threatens all law-abiding freedom-loving nations including the U.S. and Australia. So I applaud Australia's leadership in this latest fight. The link between our countries is as important to our future as it has been to our storied past and that's why I remain committed to my part in deepening our defense relationship. It's also worth mentioning that Australia's 2016 defense white paper is an indicator of the high degree of resolve this country has to maintain its national interests including a commitment to increase defense spending over the long haul. Australia's strategic leadership and unwavering commitment to a working with light-minded partners will continue to buttress the global operating system. I for one appreciate and welcome this kind of wise investment. With this defense strategy in mind my good friend Air Chief Marshall Mark Binskin the chief of your defense forces and I signed a document just last night outlining the force posture initiative activities between our two countries for the coming year. Candidly our biggest hurdle was to figure out how to spell defense correctly whether with an S or with a C. Thankfully we were able to work it out. Our intent with this document is to expand and increase opportunities for joint and combined training of our forces located in Australia. Our focus encompasses the enhanced air cooperation activities and the activities of the Marine and rotational force Darwin. I assure you that this alliance is not sitting still so I'll give you just a few of the wave tops from this agreement. We're exploring greater integration of fifth generation fighter deployments to Australia and plan to see significant activities in 2017 that will introduce fifth generation fighter operations and requirements to the Royal Australian Air Force. Another example involves US and Australian personnel performing integrated maintenance and ground support operations on C-17 aircraft a first. Our Marines and Darwin will be just as busy conducting exercises and theater security cooperation events throughout the region side by side with our Australian counterparts. And yet another high level cooperation initiative I'll mention is the fact that Australian major general Greg Bilton is the deputy commanding general for US Army Pacific. That's right an Aussie general officer is fully integrated as a partner at the top of one of my service component commands. Leading US troops is a responsibility that I take very seriously and isn't something that we just give away. I mean I look back here our history with general Monash Monash back in World War One. So Greg Bilton's unique role demonstrates the deep relationship our nations have. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Australian Navy Commodore Ian Middleton's role on my staff at Paycom. For more than three years he's served as the regional and multinational engagement advisor for strategic planning and policy in J-5 if you will. He does a lot of the heavy lifting to make our partnerships work throughout the region. So I look forward to the same high quality work from his relief Air Commodore Phil Champion and when he reports aboard next month. Folks if any of you have been around aviators you'll know that it's hard for us to talk about anything other than well ourselves. So in that in that vein I'll mention that Australia recently received its first P-8A Poseidon aircraft ahead of schedule I might add. As an old P-3 guy who's spent my career in the maritime patrol business I can tell you that this aircraft is highly capable and will improve our interoperability in maritime surveillance and anti-submarine warfare. I'd probably even eat Vegemite if they'd let me get back to flying in such a capable maritime patrol platform. You could turn sadness into happiness. India has also invested in this capable aircraft. It's hard not to imagine the potential for all of us to collaborate on this hard problem that is theater anti-submarine warfare. And we're also reinvigorating our relationship with our Kiwi friends across the Tasman Sea. Just last month the USS Sampson and guided missile destroyer pulled in in Wellington and Auckland for port visits the first US ship to visit New Zealand in over 30 years. This milestone in our relationship could not have come at a better time. USS Sampson joined the HMCS the Canadian ship Vancouver, HMAS Darwin from here and New Zealand's HMNZS Canterbury to respond to the aftermath of the earthquake in Kokoro. This earthquake caused massive damage and I'm glad we were able to help a friend in a time of need. At the end of the day friends help friends and no one should doubt the long-term friendship between the United States and Australia. This commitment is important as we face the extraordinary challenges in this region. In the here and now the self-proclaimed Islamic State is a clear threat that must be destroyed. The main focus of our coalition's military effort is rightfully in the Middle East and North Africa. But as ISIL is eliminated in those areas some of the surviving surviving fighters will likely repatriate to their home countries in the Indo-Asia Pacific. What's worse is they will be radicalized and weaponized. So it's clear to me that ISIL is trying to rebalance to the Indo-Asia Pacific as well. So we must stop them now. But we can't do it alone and to halt ISIL's cancerous spread we must work together with like-minded nations in the region and across the globe. Only through multinational collaboration, partnership with a purpose can we eradicate the ISIL disease before it metastasizes in the Indo-Asia Pacific. But ISIL isn't our only immediate threat in the region. North Korea stands out as the only nation to have tested nuclear weapons in this century. Now I want you to stop for a minute and really think about this. Combining nuclear warheads with ballistic missile technology and the hands of a volatile leader like Kim Jong-un is a recipe for disaster. I know there's some debate about the miniaturization advancements made by Pyongyang but Pekong must be prepared to fight tonight so I take them at their word. I must assume that their claims are true. I know that their aspirations certainly are. So we must consider every possible step to defend the U.S. homeland and our allies. Other significant challenges are posed by revanchist Russia and an increasingly assertive China. Both Moscow and Beijing have choices to make. They can choose to disregard the rules-based international order or they can contribute to it as responsible stakeholders. The U.S. obviously prefers that they choose to respond responsibly. No one including me wants conflict. I've been loud and clear that I prefer cooperation so that we can collectively address our shared security challenges. But I've also been loud and clear that we will not allow the shared domains to be closed down unilaterally no matter how many bases are built on artificial features in the South China Sea. I say this often but it's worth repeating. We will cooperate where we can but we will be ready to confront where we must. Our alliance also deters potential adversaries from unilaterally rebooting the global operating system that has served the many nations in the New Asia Pacific for so long. Deterrence occupies a large portion of my time so I'll give you my thoughts on it. President Reagan once said we cannot play innocence abroad in a world that is not innocent. We cannot play innocence abroad in a world that is not innocent. This statement is as true today as it was in the 1980s. The world is a rough place that has made more stable and prosperous through principled actions of nations like Australia and the United States. When we think about deterrence I recognize that military power and strategic effectiveness are distinct concepts. Military might alone can't guarantee victory. All elements of national power like diplomatic and economic must be involved to bring about the desired strategic ends. And keep in mind that deterrence is in the eyes of the beholder. For deterrence to work all the elements of national power must be applied and understood by adversaries and potential adversaries alike. Because I'm from Tennessee if you can't tell already I'm sometimes accused of simplifying the complex and there's something that's easier to understand. And to that I say guilty as charged. So here's the Harris formula for deterrence. Capability times resolve times signaling equals deterrence. Capability times resolve times signaling equals deterrence. Now all three elements capability resolve and signaling must be present for deterrence to exist. And because we're doing multiplication not addition we're doing multiplication. If any of those are zero you get no deterrence right. If any of these are zero it's multiplication you get no deterrence. And so let me let me get through each of those with you. But capability I mean all elements of national power including the military but not exclusively the military. Resolve is a commitment to use that power when required to to meet national security objectives. And signaling is about communicating resolve and capability through words and actions that the other side receives loud and clear. There's no room for subtlety here. So I'll be blunt in saying that the global operating system that created the endowage of Pacific economic miracle is coming under pressure from revisionist powers. So the question becomes how do we maintain the system and at the same time effectively deterred nations or violent extremists from unilaterally changing it. Three three ways to do that in my opinion. First and foremost is the absolute necessity to maintain credible combat power. History tells us that revisionist powers with growing military capabilities often make use of those capabilities when they believe that the possible gains outweigh the risks and costs. So it's critical that Australia and the United States maintain the capability that ensures access to the shared domains of the air, sea space and cyber under all circumstances. Second we must have the resolve to confront any adversary and defend our allies against both aggression and coercion. We must have the resolve to ensure access to the shared domains we have to meet. The U.S. fought its first war following our independence to ensure freedom and navigation and we did that when we were weak and small. This is an enduring principle and one of the reasons our forces remain ready to fight tonight. We will continue to exercise and protect our rights on the high seas, in the air, in space and in cyber wherever international law allows. Third we must expand our partnerships of like-minded nations to support the global operating system. The principal security network that Secretary Carter often talks about. Now while I've been the PECOM commander I've emphasized the need to enhance multinational partnerships or partnerships with the purposes I like to call it. These partnerships advance national interests outside the confines of the old U.S. hub and spoke alliance model. For example with our Korean and Japanese allies we're finding new ways to defend Northeast Asia especially from the persistent threat that North Korea presents. We can counter violent extremist organizations like ISIL by collaborating with our allies and partners that may have elements in their country sympathetic to ISIL's cause. The Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh, New Zealand, Australia and the U.S. could be a natural partnership countering violent extremist organizations with this purpose in mind. I've also spoken about the benefits of a democracy quadrilateral that enhances security cooperation between Australia, Japan, India and the United States. To this end as we speak Commodore Milton, the Australian one story that I talked about earlier, he's in Tokyo representing PECOM. He's the U.S. representative to the trilateral U.S.-Japan-Australia talks. Finally we should continue to deepen our cooperation with ASEAN to take on other missions of mutual interest from humanitarian assistance and disaster response to counter piracy, to counter trafficking and all its bad forms and counter proliferation. Individually these partnerships work toward their stated goals while at the same time they can collectively enhance the global operating system. This is noble work folks in my opinion. No country should fear our alliances or our principled partnerships as we work together to continue to ensure access to the shared domains. Now folks I've talked too long if any of you can remember all the way back to I don't know 15 minutes ago when I started my talk I made reference to Vegemite remember? So let me close with a cultural reference that does resonate. Mateship. This concept exists beyond friendship it's loyalty and knowing with certainty who has your back. This is an an iconic concept uniquely Australian yet instinctively understood by Americans who come to know this great country and its people. As we commemorate the 75th anniversary of important World War II battles in the next few months to include Pearl Harbor last week and the next year's bombing of Darwin, Coral Sea, Midway, Guadalcanal and a Dakota Trail among others we remember that Australia and American interests and values have intertwined our histories. Our alliance is both defined by its storied past and invigorated by its balanced future. No one issue defines this enduring alliance and because of our mateship we should feel emboldened that we can overcome any future challenges. Ladies and gentlemen it's always a deep personal pleasure for me to be in Australia to discuss our vital alliance. An alliance forged in battle and a stand to defend liberty and one that stands today as a shining example of working to maintain these hard-earned freedoms. I started a discussion by saying that I'll continue to give my best counsel to President Obama and then to incoming President Trump. One piece of advice that I'll provide has been consistent and will never change. The Australia-US alliance matters to our two great nations. It matters to the Indo-Asia Pacific region and in my opinion it matters to the world. No one should doubt the staying power of this alliance to maintain security, prosperity and peace. May God bless each of you, may God bless Australia and the United States and may he keep our alliance on a path of strength for years to come. Thank you very much. Thank you Admiral Harris. You have the largest command of all of them. That was an impressive sweep across that broad swathe of geography and all of its trouble spots and challenges. Let me pick you up on one of them. You mentioned North Korea in particular terms as one of the areas where you may have to confront that issue of whether you have to fight tonight and I think in the Korean Peninsula it means more probably than anywhere else in your beat, but I shouldn't presuppose that in your answer. You talked in your definition of deterrence, that equation that you laid out, capability resolve signaling. What would be your precise advice to the incoming Trump administration on that issue of how you would maintain signaling given the unpredictability, given the leaps and bounds that North Korea has made on the missile and nuclear fronts? That's a great question and one I'm going to dodge and I'll tell you why I'll tell you why I'm going to dodge it because I'm not in the business of giving advice to the president-elect. When he becomes my commander-in-chief and if he asks for my advice I'll give it to him, but the advice that I've given to my chain of command, the National Command Authority that exists today with regard to North Korea is we must maintain this credible combat power that I talked about. We must continue to demonstrate our resolve as an alliance with South Korea and I'm happy to report that the bilateral relationship between Japan and South Korea has grown significantly and that presents in my mind a deterrent to North Korea. I'll be honest with you, I think North Korea has done as much to improve the relationship between Japan and South Korea as anything else and so I think that's the key to maintain credible combat power, to demonstrate our resolve, to continue with sanctions, to increase the sanctions as necessary and to work closely with China on this. I mean China while its influence over North Korea is probably waned it's the only country that has that kind of soft power influence over North Korea so I think we have to work with China and encourage China to continue to pressurize North Korea to give up its nuclear ambitions. Ladies and gentlemen, Admiral Harris has kindly agreed to stay on with us to take questions for about 15 minutes so please concentrate your questions and keep them as short and to the point as possible and identify yourself please too. I'd like to go first at the back of the room to my colleague Hervé Le Maier. Thank you. Thank you Ewen. My question is really to do with how or to what extent revising the one China policy by your next commander in chief would complicate your life. I know you're not in the business of giving advice at least not in public forums but it presents some interesting angles. On the one hand it could be framed as a way of revisionism and thereby work to undermine the rules-based order that you've worked so hard to uphold in the Indo-Pacific region. On the other hand it could also serve a tactical advantage to the US in curbing the military adventurism of China at least by making the risk or the costs higher. If you would care to give your thoughts on that very delicate issue it'd be appreciated. It's a great issue and I noticed that after I arrived in Sydney yesterday there was a big splash on on the news about it. So let me start off by saying that I'm not going to grade the President-elect's homework. You know that's not a place that I want to be in nor is it a place that should be in. With regard to the one China policy it is the US policy, the one China policy framed by the three communiques and the law and the law is the Taiwan Relations Act. So I'm completely comfortable working in that framework and I understand completely my obligations with regard to Taiwan under the law, the Taiwan Relations Act, which governs my relationship with Taiwan. We have a strong mill to mill relationship with Taiwan governed by the Taiwan Relations Act. I meet with my counterparts from Taiwan in Hawaii and we conduct engagement activities with Taiwan on a routine basis in order to meet our obligations under the Taiwan Relations Act. With any any future change to that you know it's it's it would be speculative at best so I'm going to wait and see what happens in January. Meredith Morrell at the back I'll take two questions together and then Ashley Townsend. Thank you Admiral that was a very interesting and entertaining speech. I do have some issues with your conceptualization of Vegemite but we'll leave that aside. So you talked a lot about the rules-based order and the global operating system and I wanted to know do you conceive of that as being absolutely fixed as it is right now or is there any room for evolution or change to some of those rules in that rules-based order and where I'm going here is you described Russia and possibly China although you didn't say so specifically as revisionist powers is a possible that they are able to influence the rules-based order and cause some evolution to it in a positive way is that is that a possibility and the second question the second part of that is signaling how do you signal to China to engage responsibly and to make positive contributions to the rules-based order and do you think the US has been successful so far in being a positive creating positive signals to China? Thanks a lot. Thanks Admiral Ashley Townsend from the United States Study Center it would be remiss of all of us to not ask a question on the South China Sea. In terms of your deterrence framework the deterrence equation it would seem that freedom of navigation operations fall into the signaling category. I wonder how important do you think it is for other countries without grading their homework to also signal in this way given now that the islands are well on the way to being militarized is it still important to signal our capacity to operate freely in international waters along the lines of the rules-based order that currently exists and because freedom of navigation operations can't actually change the the facts on the water so to speak they can't roll back China's islands what other measures do you think the future administration or others in the region should be thinking about to to put pressure on China to change its behavior around those islands? So both questions are related and so hopefully I've written them all down correctly here so I can get after them. With regard to Russia and China can they influence the rules-based international order the global operating system? Sure they can. They can influence it positively or negatively. I would say that their actions in the recent past have been more negative than positive but I hope that they can turn that into a positive influence. So when I talk about China I talk about on the one hand we should give them credit for the good things they've done so if you reach back over the last three years or so you know China was involved or China has been involved now for more than a couple of years for 22 iterations of the counter piracy operations off the coast of Africa that's a positive they were involved in the and the removal of chemical weapons from Syria that's a positive and they were involved in the search for MH370 right here in off the coast of Australia they're on your opposite coast they have the largest number of ships there other than any country except for Australia's and that's a clear positive they've been participants in RIMPAC now the RIM of the Pacific exercise in 2014 and 2016 in 2014 they brought four ships invited and a fifth ship uninvited probably you know it's a neutral I guess and and this this year they brought only those ships they were invited to bring so that's a positive so these are good things that China does and we should give them credit for to acknowledge that and they positively influence the global operating system and the world's based international order. On the other side of the equation though on the other hand on the negatives is their assertive aggressive behavior in the South China Sea their their supportive or their their conflicts with India along their their long border and other things like that which I view as a negative but the military space and when when we're dealing with China is only a fraction only a part more than a fraction but it's only a part of the overall relationship that we have with China that Australia has with China and that the rest of the world has with China and no one is asking let alone me no one is asking Australia to make a choice between China and the United States you know I said earlier today that Australia is more than capable of chewing gum and walking at the same time and so you know we're not asking you to make a choice and I think that that the the alliance though matters as I spoke in this in my remarks earlier the alliance matters and it matters fundamentally not only to each of our countries but to the region in the world itself so how do we signal China we signal them across all elements of national power you know so this gets at the issue of whether other countries should do freedom of navigation operations and that's up to each country this is a decision that Australia has to make that Japan has to make that Vietnam or Philippines you know it's it's up to each country but at the end of the day what we're about is ensuring the furtherance the continuance and the furtherance of this rules-based international order so you have to make your own decisions on whether you're going to conduct freedom of navigation operations in the way that we do or not but that's one way of signaling China the most important measure of signaling in my opinion is in the diplomatic and political space spaces so you know I talked in my speech about this equation but I also said that that the military piece is is is distinct from other elements of national power in in regard with regards to signaling and I think that's where government to government activities matter you know our opinion of China matters to China how we talk about China globally matters to China so I think there's there's there are other ways to signal China that were displeased with their activities in the South China Sea even as we compliment them and acknowledge the good things that to do in in other parts of the security space to the question of should others signal in this way in the freedom of navigation operations I think so but but that is again up to each individual country to make that decision so freedom of navigation operations itself has been characterized lately lately in the last couple of years as a tool for deterrence but it's not that it's simply a tool to ensure that our freedom of navigation is maintained globally and so we conduct freedom of navigation operations not only against what we view as improper maritime claims by China we conduct freedom navigation operations against claims that we think are invalid by a whole host of countries including our friends because if you don't exercise freedom of navigation in an international law then then you could lose that freedom of navigation so that's the only purpose of freedom navigation operations is to is to challenge those claims that we think are invalid in order to underscore and support underpin freedom of navigation globally and I think at the end of the day and I've talked to my counterparts in China about this you know our conduct of freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea benefit all maritime nations including China as China's navy grows bigger and has a more global reach if you will they're going to appreciate the freedom of navigation concept in other countries and other regions of the world so this helps not only us in Australia and our friends allies and partners but also China for that matter I think they just need to take a little bit longer view in my mind time to take one brief question I saw David Rose hand up first in their front row just wait till there's a mike on the way fellow fellow veggie might skeptic as well as happens you touched on fifth generation integration in northern Australia I just wonder if you can give us some specifics on that over 2017 and perhaps just expand on the theme a little bit and share with us your hopes for expanding us high-end air power in in Australia including in cocos killing island so what I was getting at with the fifth generation integration is f-22s this year or in 17 which I think is a very positive indicator of the seriousness of of our EAC thing that we're doing because the f-22s are current fifth generation fighter and it's extant now and and good numbers so we're going to bring down some f-22s to work with Australia to demonstrate the airplane and this and some of the unique maintenance and other aspects of fifth generation airframes so I think that's a positive and then f-35s would be coming not not not scheduled next year but f-35s of course coming in our inventory and in your inventory so this is this is a positive and f-22s will start to lead that way I think that the the other common airframes that we have again underscore our interoperability and the seriousness of our relationship including the p-8s I think you just got your first p-8 we've got ma-60 Romeo helicopters the the the wedge tail a surveillance aircraft and all of that these are these are high-end aircraft that that enable us to operate closely together which I think is important in this alliance April I'm going to stretch your patience and ask just one more question to the lady in the third row just wait a second the microphone's nearly there thank you hi Jenny Golubeva with abc news um if um if we look at an improved relationship with uh russia under an incoming trump administration what effect will that have on international issues including in the south china sea so again I don't want to speculate on on uh the the the incoming administration in any way you know it's improper but I will just say generally uh that any improvement in our relationship with russia uh is is is helpful right but you know russia you know we have the the relationship we have with russia is where it is today because of russia's activities and their actions so if we can improve that and and still achieve our strategic aims with regard to their actions that have caused us to be in the place we're in then I think that's a positive uh and russia is a great power and and I think that you know that that anything we can do to uh to improve that is a positive as long as we uh maintain the steadfastness of our resolve in regard to the actions that russia has done thank you Admiral Harris could you just state the podium for one more minute and I'll invite Michael fully love to give some closing remarks well ladies and gentlemen ladies and gentlemen I think you'll agree today was uh that was a very interesting a very substantive and even a very amusing speech and let me do two things quickly first of all let me thank Admiral Harris for for for his speech and for taking our questions I like the idea of the global operating system admiral I'm afraid that the 2016 version of the gos has a bug in it um I have to correct you Vegemite doesn't taste like sadness Vegemite tastes like victory um but but I would like to thank you for conceding ground uh in those difficult negotiations and conceding that defense is spelled with a C not an S it takes a strong man to compromise Admiral Harris so I'd like to thank you ladies and gentlemen please join me in thanking Admiral Harris secondly and just quickly I think historians will look back on 2016 is a very important year in international history it's been very busy for us and I would like to take this opportunity to thank everybody who supported our work this year from my chairman Frank Lowey our board represented today by Serangus Houston my colleagues at the institute who've done remarkable work but also to you our supporters our audience our listeners um and our readers thank you all I wish you all a happy Christmas arrest for break and we'll see what 2017 brings thank you very much thank you