I begin by acknowledging the Traditional Owners of the land on which we meet and I pay my respects to their elders past, present and emerging.
Thank you, Aunty Serena Williams, for that beautiful welcome to country.
I'd like to acknowledge all our distinguished guests, including my colleagues from across the Parliament.
I especially want to thank the veterans and serving personnel of the Australian Defence Force and the families who provide them with support.
And I extend a big welcome to all nominees here at tonight's National Veteran Employment Awards, an event that is now firmly cemented as an important fixture on the calendar.
Earlier this month, I had the great privilege of joining veterans here at the event marking 25 years since the dawn of our nation's mission to Afghanistan.
Each time I enter this hallowed space, I reflect on how one of the most crucial elements of Canberra's layout it is that the Memorial and Parliament House face each other across Lake Burley Griffin.
If you draw a straight line across the lake, past Old Parliament House to the doors of new Parliament House, and then you go through the Great Hall, you hit the Cabinet office straight through the middle, right through to the Prime Minister's Office.
There is a plus from having a designed city, but it is also incredibly significant.
One of the things I do for my host visitors from other nations here, is that I take them from my office and I go through why this is so significant that our democracy and our freedom you can see with that straight line, with that design, for our great capital city, 100 years ago, which we will celebrate next year.
This very deliberate positioning serves to reminds us all - and this newly renovated Australian War Memorial - generation after generation - that the spirit of democracy embodied by our national Parliament is built upon the spirit that permeates these walls.
And that is the spirit of generations of Australians who have served in our name, showing through their own example the best of our national character.
As we gathered that day to reflect on Afghanistan, we were reminded again of what Australians in war have faced.
And we were reminded about the vital difference Australians have made.
It was a deeply moving event, but it also had the energy I always feel when I have the honour of being in the company of veterans and their families.
And it is an energy that speaks of courage and camaraderie, resilience and selflessness.
It also speaks of leadership and ingenuity. It speaks of a capacity for quick thinking under extreme pressure, and long-term, strategic thinking.
People who know when to think outside the box, and when to reach for the box. The capacity to think clearly even when under extreme pressure.
The knowledge of how to build a team, and the instinct to operate within one.
It is a training ground without parallel.
Yet there is no denying that the transition from military to civilian life is often far from smooth.
For many of our veterans, the challenges can be significant.
And the tragic truth - laid so starkly bare by the Royal Commission - is that for far too many veterans, they can prove overwhelming.
As a nation, we must be guided by this straightforward philosophy: Our veterans stepped up for us, so we must step up for them.
Not just because our gratitude should take meaningful and practical forms - but also because our veterans have so much to offer.
A key of the transition is a path to employment. The Veteran Employment Program - and the wider veteran employment community - are vital in ensuring that happens.
And what they help tap into is the vast suite of serious qualities, skills and experience that veterans keep carrying with them when they've left the uniform behind, all of it underpinned by a powerful work ethic and the Australian Defence Force's values of service, courage, respect, integrity, and excellence.
These are great assets, and essential ingredients for the better future we are building as a nation.
Together, we are reaching for the best version of Australia we can.
Tonight's awards shine the spotlight on how you are helping bring that better Australia closer.
They honour the partners and families who serve our nation too.
And we express our appreciation to the organisations, employers and individuals for the work they do to support veteran employment and clearing the path forward into post-military life.
Tonight is also about recognising those employers with the clarity of vision to see all that you bring.
There's a great truth that we keep circling back to. That Australia is blessed with an extraordinary abundance of resources - but the greatest one will always be our Australian people.
We see that in all the nominees tonight, a hugely impressive group embodying so many of the qualities that make ours the greatest nation on earth.
Congratulations to everyone who was shortlisted. Thank you families.
Now let's meet tonight's winners.
