Minister Urges Shipwreck Group To Cooperate

Minister Urges Shipwreck Group To Cooperate

The Minister Assisting the Minister for Defence Bruce Billson today urged a Western Australian group which has discovered a shipwreck they claim is likely to be that of HMAS Sydney II to fully cooperate with authorities to assist the formal verification process.

Mr Billson has been in contact with the group and they said at this stage they were unable to provide any information about their claim because they have an agreement with certain media outlets.

The group has an obligation under the Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976 to officially register their claim with the Western Australian Museum, which is the Government's delegate in relation to the investigation of \shipwrecks.

The group has been sent relevant documentation that they must complete in order to comply with the Act and has so far failed to comply.

Mr Billson said he is troubled that the group is unwilling to cooperate as it had an obligation to the Australian public to assist in the formal verification process.

"This is an issue of national importance. The HMAS Sydney II remains the property of the Royal Australian Navy and therefore the Australian Government is committed to verifying this claim as soon as possible with the support of Navy," he said.

"This latest claim has raised the expectations of the families of the 645 crew members who were tragically lost when HMAS Sydney went down and I call on the group to fully cooperate so that this claim can be officially examined as soon as possible.

"While we have received the likely positions of the claim through third parties, it is important that these are verified by the group. Any independent verification efforts attempted by the group would not be sufficient to satisfy the requirements of the Commonwealth," Mr Billson said.

Navy's commitment to support all efforts to locate the wreck of HMAS Sydney II are illustrated by the fact HMAS Leeuwin, an RAN hydrographic survey ship, has departed survey duties south west of Darwin to make her way to the vicinity of Dirk Hartog island in Western Australia to investigate the claim.

Leeuwin is fitted with high definition multi-beam and towed side scan sonar equipment that has sufficient definition to determine whether further investigation of the wreck is warranted.

ENDS

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