Good evening everybody!  First of all, I’m really excited and honored to be here and be able to talk a little bit about a couple of things in the Pacific. As mentioned, this is my first visit ever to Perth, which is crazy for an Indo-Pacific Sailor. I can remember the cruise in 1991. We were on our way home, and we were scheduled to go to Perth. It was great and we were all set. My wife actually had a visa – she was going to come visit me from San Diego. And you go to sleep at night and the heading is towards Perth and you wake up the next morning and say “hey how come we’re heading further to the North?” And sure enough, we got the bait and switch and that’s happened to every deployment I’ve ever made in the Indo-Pacific. So I finally become the head of the entire fleet – and I’m coming to Perth. There’s a whole bunch of reasons why I’m here. I think we’ll get to some of them in the talk that I have here. But we can certainly talk about that in the question and answer period. But I do appreciate you coming out tonight and I look forward to talking to you. I want to thank the Perth US Asia Centre and U.S. Consulate for making this happen. Thank you very much. And all the support here has been phenomenal by my interlocutors here that have followed me and come with me. So I appreciate that. You know some refer to Perth, as I understand it, as the most isolated large city in the world.  Right? I view things a little bit differently.  There’s a term in economics and geography which I think is fitting: “Water joins, mountains divide.”  Perth sits on one of the world’s longest Indian Ocean coastlines, making Australia as much an Indian Ocean nation as a Pacific nation.  As demonstrated by the U.S. Pacific Fleet’s frequent presence here, not me until now, we appreciate Perth’s key role in the Indo-Pacific.  Our AUKUS activities in Perth are part of a wider context of historic levels of U.S. Pacific Fleet activity in the Indian Ocean.  These historic activities include our rotational LCS presence in Singapore, which regularly operate in the Indian Ocean, and our groundbreaking operations with India just last year.  Together we increased our maritime patrol aircraft operations from India and U.S. Navy support ships regularly received maintenance in Indian shipyards, something President Biden and Prime Minister Modi committed to in their September joint statement.  This year, we have already sent ships to India to participate in Exercise MILAN in February and the largest-ever exercise TIGER TRIUMPH in March.  The broader significance of the Indian Ocean is also well known to us – a third of the world’s bulk cargo and two-thirds of global oil pass through its sea lanes.  In the context of our vast Indo-Pacific region, I see Perth as an essential city near the boundary of two highly strategic oceans.  While Pacific Fleet’s activity in and around Perth are on the rise, Perth’s strategic value to Australia and her allies is not new.  It is proven—and it is a matter of historical record.
 
In 1942, during our two countries’ darkest hours together, we established Naval Base Perth.  From Perth, Allied aircraft conducted maritime reconnaissance and strike missions, as well as critical rescue missions for forces under attack in the Philippines.  Fremantle was also key to the Allied war effort in the Southeast Asia Theater.  Naval Base Fremantle opened in March 1942 to host over two dozen U.S. Navy submarines that were formerly stationed in Manila.
 
Ten Dutch submarines also operated out of Fremantle and, in 1944, British submarines started operating from the base.  From Fremantle, Allied submarines held enemy shipping at risk throughout the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia.  In terms of submarine operations, Fremantle was second only to Pearl Harbor.  U.S. submarines operating from Fremantle accounted for approximately one quarter of all US submarine patrols in the Indo-Pacific.  During World War II, Naval Base Fremantle saw 160 American, British, and Dutch submarines pass through the harbor.  Allied submarines operating from Fremantle mounted 416 patrols and sank a total of 377 enemy ships, surpassing 1.5 million tons of shipping. The tally of enemy warships sunk from Fremantle included 19 destroyers, 16 frigates, 4 minesweepers and 9 submarine chasers.  During 1944, the Allied submarine campaign against enemy shipping turned into a rout and Fremantle-based submarines led a major part of this successful campaign. 
 
Despite Perth and Fremantle’s game-changing contributions to the war effort, most people in the twentieth century would have identified Europe as the world’s economic, political, and strategic center of gravity.  Today, that is no longer the case.  It is squarely in the Indo-Pacific, much closer to Perth.
Our dynamic Indo-Pacific region is home to 50% of the world’s populations, 60% of global GDP, and 7 of the world’s 10 largest militaries.  And it is home to the consequential challenges to the security, freedom, and well-being of our two nations.
 
Our commercial and intellectual dynamism -- and even our own livelihoods -- depend upon a free and open Indo-Pacific where people, goods, and ideas flow unimpeded across the commons of the seas, the skies, and space.  The rules-based international order, as we call it, has underpinned this interconnectedness and maintained relative peace over the last 80 years while lifting millions out of poverty.
 
That order is based on values and ideals of what is right in the world.  It includes preventing the change of borders by force, maintaining freedom of the seas, and prohibitions against the use of weapons of mass destruction.  The rules-based order is the foundation of a free and open Indo-Pacific.  It is upheld resolutely by like-minded nations, including the United States and Australia, and it is the North Star that our allies and partners rally around.  Without these values and ideals that benefit all of us, we are left with the exercise of national power by the strong over the weak.   
 
Despite the benefits that this order affords, there is still disorder in the world.  From Europe, to the Levant, to the Pacific, we see significant shifts in state behavior:
-           From adhering to rules and valuing order, to ignoring conventions and prizing national power.
-           From primacy of economic development, to renewed emphasis on national security.
-           And from relying on trans-national market efficiencies, to building national resiliency.
 
We see all of these shifts in the Indo-Pacific, and particularly in the People’s Republic of China.  From my vantage point, the PRC’s intentions are clear.  In 2010, then-PRC Foreign Minister Yang expressed Beijing’s view on the primacy of power in its relationships with its neighbors when he said at an ASEAN meeting that “China is a big country and you are small countries, and that is a fact.”  And 14 years later, this attitude still persists. 
 
 The PRC remains fixated on power as it challenges -- and seeks to undermine -- the rules-based order.  It relentlessly pursues what the Chinese Communist Party has dubbed the “Great Rejuvenation of the Chinese Nation,” in which it seeks to build comprehensive national power and assert its position throughout the world.
 
As Beijing increased its power, it has steadily become more confrontational in the Indo-Pacific.  For example, the PRC asserts vast – and unlawful -- claims to waters and features in the South China Sea.  And attempts to reinforce these claims by behaving aggressively towards other nations’ ships and aircraft operating in international waters and airspace. 
 
The PRC’s actions against the Philippine ships resupplying their outpost at Second Thomas Shoal -- which has included maneuvering unsafely, firing water cannons, and colliding with other ships – epitomizes their aggressive approach.  The PRC takes these actions in complete disregard for the Permanent Court of Arbitration’s 2016 ruling that rejected their unlawful maritime claims in the Spratly Islands.
 
The PRC has also sent dual-purpose research vessels into the Indian Ocean for unspecified activities, which was a topic of interest in February at the Indian Ocean Conference here in Perth.
 
Facing a revisionist and coercive PRC, we all have a unique strategic center of gravity. It’s not our ships, it’s not our aircraft or our ground forces, it’s our deep and resilient relationship with allies and partners.  In the Indo-Pacific alone, the U.S. enjoys five treaty allies – Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Thailand, and Australia – along with numerous partners. 
 
The PRC has been the Indo-Pacific’s greatest alliance builder, just not as you would think.  While the PRC has only one ally – North Korea – and a supposedly ‘no-limits’ partnership with Russia, Beijing’s aggressive behavior has helped spur new multilateral relationships throughout the region by countries appalled by their ‘might makes right approach.’ 
 
 The U.S. National Defense Strategy calls our alliances and partnerships our greatest global strategic advantage.  We are acting to strengthen that advantage every day.  In Japan, we're forward-stationing more advanced units and hardware.  In the Philippines, we're expanding U.S. rotational access to new sites through our Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement.  In Papua New Guinea, we finalized a historic Defense Cooperation Agreement just last year and proved our commitment to PNG through emergent HA/DR support.  And with Australia, we're moving out on major posture initiatives in every domain.  Those include rotational maritime patrol aircraft and Marine Corps presence in northern Australia, improving our interoperability and interchangeability during operations and exercises, and delivering on AUKUS commitments.  If that’s not enough for you, we also commissioned a U.S. Navy warship in Australia last year  —the USS CANBERRA.  We coordinate with our Australian allies every day and are interoperable and interchangeable beyond the capabilities of any two nations.  All our recent actions together are historic, and just the beginning. Of note, there’s a two-star Admiral directly in my headquarters. And he’s not like a liaison officer, he is a direct operational report to me and works operational issues all day for me, not just for Australia, it’s for the whole purpose.
 
I see the voice of our common cause in Australia’s inaugural National Defense Strategy.  Australia’s 2024 NDS states that the alliance with the United States remains fundamental to Australian national security.  It commits to deepening and expanding Australian defense cooperation, and working together with the U.S. and United Kingdom under the auspices of AUKUS.  That starts here in Perth, and with the unbreakable alliance between Australia and the United States. 
 
The resounding success of the Allied submarine operations from Fremantle during World War II demonstrated the enduring value of Perth’s geography and Australia’s maritime alliances.  Nuclear-powered submarines are far more capable than their World War II ancestors and will be used for a variety of missions.  The wartime antecedent to AUKUS reaffirms the strategic rationale for our contemporary defense, while also underlining the need for our continued planning, teamwork, and innovation.
 
Like Australia’s commitment to AUKUS, our commitment to AUKUS is ironclad.  We have proven that commitment with our actions in the last several years.  We have regularly deployed submarines to Australia, including a visit from USS ANNAPOLIS to Perth in March.
 
Australian sailors have graduated from our Navy’s nuclear power school and are conducting follow-on training already in Hawaii.  Last week, I met with three Royal Australian Naval Officers stationed on U.S. Virginia Class Submarines in Pearl Harbor.  You should be tremendously proud of what they are doing and how they are developing in the Navy Nuclear Power Program.  As a graduate of the Naval Nuclear Power Program, and as I’ve mentioned both to Admiral Hammond, Chief of Navy, and as I mentioned to Admiral Mead who is running your nuclear program, and even to General Campbell, the Navy’s Nuclear Power Program doesn’t care who you are. You either do well or you don’t and there’s no pass because you happen to be a visiting Australian naval officer. And what I’ve seen out of these three men that I met and the success that they get in the program, you have sent quality officers and they are doing very well.
 
Australians have started to embark onboard our submarines at a greater scale.  Australians are at U.S. shipyards learning how to do nuclear maintenance.  Australian service members and maintainers are in Guam learning how we conduct forward-deployed operations.
 
This summer, we are planning to deploy a Virginia-class submarine and the submarine tender EMORY S. LAND to Perth, with Australians embarked, to synchronize submarine maintenance and operations at HMAS Stirling, build expertise, and determine the requirements as we build out the infrastructure.  EMORY S. LAND conducted the first port visit of her Australian deployment in May to Darwin.  She is making her way to Perth as I speak with you today.
 
With all of these initiatives, we are building capacity to support a rotational presence of U.K. and U.S. submarines in Perth known as Submarine Rotational Force-West.  SRF-West is one of AUKUS’s most impactful and within-reach initiatives.  It employs Perth’s unique combination of positional advantage and strategic depth to maximize a key allied capability.  Additionally, as SRF-West preparations continue, we will work together to create new career opportunities and continue to train the local workforce in advanced ship and submarine repair skills.  Opportunities abound for us to work together towards a peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific.  In only two years, we will have delivered a great many things to advance AUKUS, and we will continue to do so. 
 
In the years ahead, AUKUS Pillar II will also bring together our Sailors, our scientists, and our industries to maintain and expand our edge in military capabilities and critical technologies, such as cyber, artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, and undersea capabilities.  We are already building momentum on AUKUS Pillar II with the establishment of the AUKUS Defense Investors Network and the AUKUS Advanced Capabilities Industry Forum.
 
As we do the hard work for the future of AUKUS, we should ask:  What more can we do together?  How can Perth’s location, talented people, vibrant commercial community, and boundless intellectual capital continue to bolster our shared security and increase our well-being?  How can we strengthen the foundations of Perth’s future success? 
 
The cost of war in the Indo-Pacific -- to our safety and security, and to global well-being -- would be astoundingly high.  For example, Bloomberg Economics once estimated that a PRC invasion of Taiwan would cost the world economy $10 trillion—over 10% of global GDP.  We do not seek conflict.  The U.S. Pacific Fleet operates across the Indo-Pacific to deter conflict, and if directed, prevail in combat.  But we don’t do this alone.  Our commitment to Perth and to advancing AUKUS is unbreakable, and the alliance between Australia and the United States is unbreakable, because our alliance is one of principles.  Facing consequential challenges, the United States stands with you, and with Australia, to defend our security, and our freedom. Your energy, ingenuity, and engagement will be essential as we grapple with these challenges - together.  Sharing respect for the past and a hopeful vision for the future, I look forward to linking arms and continuing to work together.  With that, I’d like to open the floor to any questions. I certainly love being here. I think in the big scheme, there’s a little bit of a dark cloud on some of the comments, but what we all need to remember is there’s an opportunity to deter conflict. And in the end, that’s the goal of the whole piece. So thank you everybody.