Ladies and gentlemen, we are here to remember and commemorate a day of immense significance to Darwin, to the Northern Territory, and to our nation.

Immense significance because it was a day that changed Australia .

A day that ranks as one of the most important dates in our history.

It stands with the 26th of January 1788 when European settlement began in this country; with the 1st of January 1901 when the Commonwealth of Australia came into being; and with the 25th of April 1915 when the Anzacs landed at Gallipoli.

The 19th of February 1942 ended an era in our history.

Since 1788 Australia had been a child of Britain, dependent on Mother Empire for our protection.

Suddenly, on that fateful day, we were forced to grow up.

Australia was under direct attack and Britain could not help us.

The Australian Prime Minister made an impassioned call to America for help and that help was generously forthcoming.

After the 19th of February 1942, Australians came to appreciate that, ultimately, our security rested on cementing an alliance with the United States of America.

From a wider perspective, there was a recognition that our survival as an independent nation required a much larger population to occupy the vast expanse of the Australian continent, as well as a re-shaped defence strategy.

The first step to that end was taken on the 2nd of August 1945 - before the war in the Pacific had ended.

That day, the Commonwealth government announced a post-war immigration policy designed to double Australia's population.

That immigration push – given impetus by what happened here, seventy years ago today - transformed Australia's society and economy.

The second step was after 1945.

Australia re-thought its defence strategy and formally aligned itself with the

United States.

At the same time we built an independent defence capability to complement this alliance.

As Australia’s immigration program grew and diversified, our defence and other infrastructure expanded. 

Darwin also matured and developed into the substantial and multicultural city it is today.

For these reasons it is indisputable that the 19th of February 1942 was a day that fundamentally changed Australia.

My friends, we must always remember that war is really a struggle for peace.

At the end of war there should be reconciliation.

How good it is that recently the achievement of reconciliation has been symbolised by the commencement of a peaceful partnership between the Territory and its enemy of seventy years ago.

Peace depends on knowledge and understanding, it depends on us all being aware of just how terrible war really is.

The bombs that fell on Darwin forced us to redefine ourselves as a nation independent of Britain.

And we became an active member of the post war international community of nations.

The situation hastened a new national maturity and a completion of the process of nation building.

That is why all Australians need to know what happened here seventy years ago - and what those events meant for our country. 

I congratulate the Northern Territory on its sustained effort to ensure that the 19th of February 1942 takes its rightful place in our national story; its rightful place in Australian imaginations.

As with Anzac Day, there is a growing commitment to keep alive the memory of what happened in Darwin – and its significance.

As we commemorate this day, we should always remember that it was only one day in a long and bitter war that was fought in and around the Northern Territory.

It was the most dramatic and the most tragic day, and it is right that it symbolises the war in northern Australia.

But we must also remember that it was only one of many days.

In the 18 months after the 19th of February, Northern Territory men and women contributed significantly to Australia’s success in repelling the mortal threat.

We defeated the enemy strategy to isolate Australia from its allies, and force us into surrender.

That was a critical point, but the war in the north did not just involve the military - it was also about a local community.

People who were more profoundly affected by the war than anyone else in Australia.

Civilian people who were killed or whose lives were broken, never to be put back together again.

Today we must also remember them.

As we pledge never to forget, we must always promise to remember that war is not only about soldiers.

That is a central part of the truth and real meaning of this day.

Thank you.