Speech by Minister for Defence Mr Chan Chun Sing for Exercise Wallaby 2025 Appreciation Dinner on 4 October 2025

Special Envoy for Defence, Veterans’ Affairs and Northern Australia Mr Luke Gosling,

Federal Member for Capricornia Michelle Landry,

High Commissioner Anil,

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

A very good evening to all of you.

It is my honour to welcome all of you to Exercise Wallaby 2025 Appreciation Dinner.

I would like to begin by acknowledging the Darumbal people, the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we gather today. I also pay my respects to the other First Nations peoples who join us this evening. In particular, I wish to acknowledge and thank Uncle George James, Chairperson and Elder, and Ms Gloria Malone, Director of the Darumbal People Aboriginal Corporation, for your presence with us. Thank you all very much.

60 years ago, Singapore became an independent nation. Australia was one of the first countries to recognise us. This is also why we also celebrate 60 years of diplomatic ties between Singapore and Australia this year.

But Australia’s defence relationship with Singapore stretches even further back. Two Australian Defence Force (ADF) brigades defended Singapore during World War Two. Thousands of brave Australians made the ultimate sacrifice in the defence of our region. In 1971, Australia became a founding member of the Five Powers Defence Arrangement (FPDA), making a unique contribution to Singapore’s security that remains relevant today.

Shortly after, the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) began training in Australia. That was in 1975 – exactly 50 years ago. Even back then, we knew full well that in order to ensure the operational readiness of the fledgling SAF, we had to overcome our inherent land and airspace constraints. In 1990, we conducted Exercise Wallaby in Australia for the first time, and it involved over 1,200 servicemen then.

In the 35 years since, Exercise Wallaby has grown from strength to strength. Close to 5,200 SAF servicemen and women will participate in this year’s exercise. It will be more than four times as much as the very first edition. The growth of Exercise Wallaby is a tangible and potent symbol of the growth of our defence cooperation.

The scale and quality of training here is underpinned by the expanded Shoalwater Bay Training Area, and we commemorated its completion last year. It is five times the size of Singapore. It boasts state-of-the-art facilities designed to hone our forces’ operational capabilities and readiness. It was jointly developed by the ADF and the SAF, and will benefit both of our forces alike.

The foundations for this unique project were laid down back in 2015 with the launch of the Singapore-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, or CSP as we call it. Such a long-term project is only possible with trusted partners like Australia, who share our commitment to upholding regional peace and stability.

The experience of success has given us the confidence to strive for greater ambition. We will bring our defence cooperation to the next level under what we call the CSP 2.0. It enhances our bilateral access to each other’s military facilities. It broadens and strengthens our cooperation in areas of growing strategic importance - defence science and technology, defence logistics and supply chain resilience, and professional exchanges.

The breadth and depth of these initiatives mark an inflection point in the defence partnership between Singapore and Australia. The SAF’s longstanding training presence in Queensland would not have been possible without the steadfast support of the surrounding local communities.

On behalf of the Singapore Government, I would like to thank you all for welcoming the SAF into the Rockhampton and Livingstone Shire communities, and for extending your hospitality to our personnel over the last 35 years. This dinner is just a small gesture of our appreciation for the gracious hospitality that you have shown us and our soldiers all these years.

The SAF stands ready to partner the local community in all that we do together, and we are always glad to support the ADF’s emergency relief efforts. In recent years, we deployed our Chinook helicopters to help transport emergency supplies and firefighting resources in close coordination with our local partners. The SAF Music and Drama Company also regularly visits Rockhampton and brings some buzz to the local community. This year, they will be here again for the Singapore Sizzle Festival. Please join us there for their live performances and, of course, good food all the way from Singapore!

Singapore and the SAF hope to continue being good guests and best mates for many more years to come.

Finally, I must say something at a personal level to thank all of you. Over the last 35 years, an entire generation of servicemen and women from the SAF has grown up in Rockhampton, and that includes myself. Year in, year out, we do not just train here, but plant the seeds of trust for the future. This is what has enabled us to do so many more things together in recent years.

This did not come about by chance. It came about by the consistent effort and constant cultivation of the relationship between both countries at all levels. From the highest level, between the Prime Ministers, all the way to the people-to-people level. Without all these, it would not have been possible for us to achieve all this. Our cooperation is not just based on mutual interests, but also, very importantly, on mutual trust.

I would like to say a big thank you to all the local community partners, because you have been instrumental in this journey of ours. You might think that it is just about hosting our people in Rockhampton. No, it is not. It is much, much more than that, because in Rockhampton, we have planted the seeds for mutual cooperation and mutual trust between both countries.

So today, in the SAF, none of us are unfamiliar with Rockhampton, none of us are unfamiliar with Australia. We are almost like family.

Now before I end, I would like to propose a toast to celebrate our longstanding bilateral cooperation and the close “mateship” between Singapore and Australia.

Thank you and cheers. I wish you all a lovely evening. Thank you very much.

More Resources

Minister for Defence Visits Exercise Wallaby 2025