2005 Howard government offered $1.3m to bankroll search for missing WWII light cruiser HMAS Sydney II
More than $1 million in federal government funding has been provided for the search for an Australian warship lost at sea during World War II, according to newly released documents.
The Australian navy light cruiser HMAS Sydney sank off the coast of Western Australia in November 1941 after a battle with the German raider Kormoran.
According to available naval records, the foreign warship was disguised as a Dutch merchant ship before opening fire on the Australian ship, which then burst into flames.
None of the more than 600 personnel on board survived the attack.
According to cabinet documents released by the National Archives of Australia, on 1 August 2005, Justice and Customs Minister Chris Ellison wrote to then Prime Minister John Howard about a proposal by the charity HMAS Sydney Search to search for the missing warship.
The search organization proposed to search the wreckage in two stages: the first a sonar search, the second a visual search involving remotely operated vehicles.
Seven days later, the letter was brought up at a cabinet meeting and a “strictly limited” funding commitment of $1.3 million was agreed to fund the first phase of the search, according to cabinet documents.
The cabinet also flagged notable factors to be mentioned in the official announcement, including “the importance of searching on the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War” and “the tax deductibility status of the search company”.
Asked why the government was spending millions searching for a missing ship, former Howard cabinet minister Philip Ruddock told NewsWire it was a matter of understanding the factors at play, including foreign interference.
“When you lose ships, you want to try to determine what happened, and identifying the ship is very important to prove that there were no other ulterior motives,” he said.
After the cabinet’s decision, Mr Howard announced the funding on 14 August 2005, saying HMAS Sydney II had a unique place in Australian history.
“HMAS Sydney II held a special place for Australia’s wartime population thanks to her previous successes in the Mediterranean,” he said in a statement at the time.
“The discovery of HMAS Sydney II will close a significant chapter in Australia’s wartime history and bring a long-awaited end to the suffering of families, as well as allowing the sacrifice of 645 crew members to be properly recognised.
“This funding will be used to conduct sonar searches on the seabed of the designated area with a suitable ship, state-of-the-art sonar equipment and experienced personnel.
“As we mark the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II, it is timely that we attempt to locate the wreck of one of our great warships.”
For decades, search groups had been lobbying the federal government for additional funding to help locate the wreckage to provide closure to the families of those killed.
It was even the subject of a three-year parliamentary inquiry; A key conclusion from the 1999 report recommended that the Australian government match public donations dollar for dollar, up to $2 million.
According to media reports, the Australian government had been asked several times to provide more than HMAS Sydney Search’s current funding commitment of $1.3 million to fund the search.
A request in 2006 was rejected after the government chose to remain committed to the $1.3 million figure at a cabinet meeting in July that year, documents show.
Two years later, the wreck was found using sonar technology off the coast of Western Australia by the Finding Sydney Foundation.
