The ANI held its Annual Dinner at Hotel Realm in Canberra on 1 June. There was capacity audience to witness the award of the McNeil Prize and listen to the Honourable General Sir Peter Cosgrove deliver the 2021 Vernon Parker Oration.
The recipient of the 2021 McNeil Prize is Mr Ted Huber, who is the Founder and Chairman of Acacia Systems. The McNeil Prize is awarded to “an individual from Australian industry or academia who has made an outstanding contribution to the capabilities of the Royal Australian Navy”. The Prize is sponsored by Lockheed Martin Australia and was presented by the Deputy Chief of Navy, Rear Admiral Chris Smith.
A slideshow of photos taken at the event can be seen here.
Among the slides are photos of former Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove giving the Vernon Parker Oration; the presentation of the McNeil Prize; MC Desmond Woods; ANI President Peter Jones and various guests enjoying the event.
The McNeil Prize is named in honour of Rear Admiral Percival McNeil CB RAN (1883-1951). He was one of the great champions of Australian shipbuilding. McNeil played a pivotal role in the design and construction of the famed Bathurst class corvettes as well as helping to maintain a local warship construction capability in the post-war period.
Ted Huber founded Acacia Research (now Acacia Systems) in 1992 and has supported the RAN for the last 29 years. Ted Huber has an enduring passion for solving the problems of sailors at sea in both submarines and surface ships. He has a rare ability to bridge the gap from intellectual theory to practical systems.
For many years Acacia conducted research on behalf and with the then Defence Science Technology Organisation – now the Defence Science & Technology Group. This has included work in the 2000s on a new tactical data management system for Collins Class submarines. Later Ted Huber was involved in work in the architecture and systems for RAN units to share anti-submarine information. He and his team have also developed the Reflex data management system that captures and visualises all elements of mission data for the Collins Class submarine.
Ted Huber and Acacia have made a major contribution to the anti-submarine capabilities of the Hobart Class destroyers and the fleet with the Onyx Advanced Sensor Tracking Optimisation System. This is a world class multi-sensor data fusion capability that supports the fusion of Fleet sensor data across the active and passive sonar domains to significantly enhance the Navy’s anti-submarine performance.
The ANI President, Vice Admiral Peter Jones said, “Ted Huber has made an outstanding contribution to Navy’s capability over almost three decades. This is a testament to his commitment to the Navy and the nation. Perhaps, his most enduring legacy is the establishment of an Australian owned and controlled, world-leading high technology, sovereign defence industry capability.”
Sir Peter’s Vernon Parker Oration was titled Sharks in the Moat – or Preferences, Prayers and Prudence. He opened the Oration by saying that, “after a working lifetime in what might be deemed the Nation’s security apparatus, for the period 2014 – 2019, because of the job was doing, I was necessarily silent or the very least quite circumspect in canvassing issues concerning Australia’s security needs. During all that time however, I was the keenest possible observer of our challenges and responses and that attention I’ve strongly maintained since I retired as Governor-General in the middle of 2019. Consequently, when I was asked to deliver an oration in the name of Vernon Parker, first President of the Australian Naval Institute, I embraced it somewhat like the line from Banjo Patterson’s great ballad, the Man from Snowy River, “. . . the stock horse snuffs the battle with delight”.
Sir Peter did not disappoint and in a wide -ranging Oration, discussed the need for Australia, to be more resilient – both economically and militarily. He also highlighted the importance of diplomacy while suggesting areas where the Australian Defence Force could strengthen both its shield and its spear.
In thanking Sir Peter Cosgrove for his Oration, Vice Admiral Jones said that Sir Peter is arguably Australia’s most maritime-minded General. The Oration will be produced in full in the next edition of the Australian Naval Review. This will be posted to ANI members in the near future.
