In 1905 Prime Minister Deakin wrote to the Governor-General about the need to create a navy to serve Australian needs as well as those of the British Empire.

DEAKIN ON NAVAL DEFENCE

What is really required is that any defences, if they are to be appreciated as Australian, must be distinctively of that character. At present we are without any visible evidence of our participation in the Naval Force towards which we contribute. Our £200,000 a year would seem in part repaid if we were enabled to take a direct and active part in the protection of our shores and shipping … Where, as in our case, a world-wide Empire depends for very life upon the efficiency of its Navy, an increase of maritime strength would seem to be one of the sagest methods of its equipment for the grave emergencies of international rivalry.

Extracts from a communication from the Prime Minister (Mr. Alfred Deakin) to the Governor-General, 28 August 1905, cited in Gordon Greenwood & Charles Grimshaw (eds), Documents on Australian International Affairs 1901-1918, Thomas Nelson, Melbourne, 1977, pp. 129-130, 131.