2005 Howard government offered $1.3m to bankroll search for missing WWII light cruiser HMAS Sydney II

The search for an Australian warship lost at sea during a battle in the Second World War received more than $1m in funding from the federal government, newly released government documents show. Australian navy light cruiser HMAS Sydney disappeared in November 1941 after a collision with a German raider Kormoran. The foreign warship had been disguised as a Dutch merchant ship before opening fire on the Australian vessel, which later burst into flames, according to existing naval records. Of the more than 600 passengers on board, none survived, after the ship sank off the West Australian coast. On August 1, 2005, the minister for justice and customs Chris Ellison wrote to then prime minister John Howard about a proposal from charity HMAS Sydney Search to conduct a search for the lost warship, according to cabinet documents released by the National Archives of Australia. The search organisation had proposed it conduct the hunt for the wreckage in two phases: the first, a sonar search, and the second, a visual investigation involving remotely operated vehicles. Seven days later, the letter was raised in a cabinet meeting and a “strictly limited” funding commitment of $1.3m was agreed upon to bankroll the first phase of the search, according to cabinet documents. The cabinet also flagged notable factors to be raised in the official announcement, including the “importance of undertaking the search in the 60th anniversary year of the end of WWII” and the “tax deductibility status of the search company”. Asked why the government would invest millions into searching for a lost ship, former Howard cabinet minister Philip Ruddock told NewsWire that it was a matter of understanding the factors at play, including foreign interference. “When you’ve lost vessels, you want to try and establish what has happened, and identifying the vessel is obviously very important to establish that there aren’t other ulterior motives,” he said. After the cabinet’s decision, Mr Howard announced the funding on August 14, 2005, saying the HMAS Sydney II held a unique place in Australian history. “The HMAS Sydney II held a special place of regard with Australia’s wartime population thanks to its earlier successes in the Mediterranean Sea,” he said in a statement at the time. “The finding of the HMAS Sydney II would close a significant chapter in Australia’s wartime history and bring a long-awaited closure to the suffering of the families as well as allowing the proper recognition of the sacrifice made by the 645 crew. “The funding will be used to conduct the sonar search of the seabed of the identified area with a suitable vessel, state of the art sonar equipment and experienced personnel. “It is timely as we commemorate the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II that we endeavour to locate the wreck of one of our great battleships.” For decades, search groups had been lobbying the federal government to provide additional funding to help locate the wreckage in a bid to provide closure for the families of those killed. It had even been subject to a three-year parliamentary inquiry, with a key outcome from the 1999 report recommending the Australian government match public donations dollar for dollar for up to $2m. According to media reports, the Australian government had been asked several times to offer more than its existing $1.3m funding commitment by HMAS Sydney Search to help bankroll the search. A request in 2006 was denied after the government chose to maintain its commitment to the $1.3m figure in a July cabinet meeting that year, according to the documents. Two years later, the wreckage was found by the Finding Sydney Foundation off the coast of WA, using sonar technology.