Townsville Welcomes French Navy
On behalf of the Townsville Defence and wider community, I’d like to welcome Captain Emmanuel Mocard and members of the French Military to our city as Mistral-class LHD Dixmude makes its port call.
It is an honour worthy of our garrison city as the broader Jeanne D’Arc group brings almost 1000 sailors and soldiers to the North to take part in joint exercises with the 3rd Brigade and other ADF units.
I know this will be a mutually beneficial time for both nations. Some of my best memories from the Army were the lessons we learnt from other militaries as part of joint exercises, as well as the camaraderie and shared values we were able to enjoy.
Australia’s relationship with France goes back a long way, with our military cooperation and partnership extending back to the First and Second World Wars, when thousands of Australian and French soldiers fought side by side to defend shared values of liberty, democracy, rule of law and protection of human rights.
Our nations have shared interests in the Indo-Pacific region and strongly support a rules-based international order. We continue to assist those in the South Pacific with humanitarian assistance and disaster relief under the France-Australia-New Zealand Arrangement (FRANZ).
We as a city should consider it a great honour to play a small role in building this enduring relationship in this way. I’d encourage anyone who runs into personnel from the French military to give them a warm Townsville welcome.
ENDS