Well, good evening to you all.  And thank you so much for that very kind introduction, Michael.  I am very grateful for your generous words and for the opportunity to be here this evening.  Indeed, I am deeply honored to have been invited to deliver this year’s Lowy Lecture, and, in so doing, to follow in the footsteps of such extraordinary figures as Chancellor Angela Merkel, Prime Minister John Howard, and Rupert Murdoch!

In preparing my remarks for this evening’s event, I was reminded of the story of the young schoolboy whose assignment was to prepare a report on Julius Caesar.  So the young boy diligently researched his subject, and after a few days of work, he proudly stood in front of the class to give his report.

“Julius Caesar was a famous general,” the boy explained to his classmates… “He lived a long time ago… He won some important battles… He gave a long speech… They killed him.”

Suffice it to say, I will do my best tonight to avoid Caesar’s fate….

But, I am a retired four-star general, and this is a microphone…. so I hope you’ll indulge some reflections on the alliance that our two countries have enjoyed over the years and on the challenges and, indeed, opportunities that we now face together.

But let me begin by thanking our host organization, the Lowy Institute, and by thanking Frank Lowy, the extraordinary Australian businessman, philanthropist, and patriot whose name it bears.

Frank Lowy’s life story is, in fact, an illustration of what makes Australia great, and of why Americans feel such an affinity for Australia, despite the vast ocean that separates us.

Indeed, President Obama eloquently captured this sentiment during his visit here last year.  As he noted, Australia and America are cut from the same cloth—inspired by the same ideals of opportunity and equality.  Both our nations have been built in large part by immigrants, who—like Frank more than sixty years ago—arrived on our respective shores often with little more than a dream of a better future and the determination to make that dream a reality....MORE