of his most significant contributions was in advancing proposals for the creation of a naval intelligence committee, whose duties would be to collect together all available intelligence both from naval officers and from the army intelligence department. Those first appointed to the committee were Mr Hoste from the civilian establishment and Commander William Hall. The role of Permanent Secretary included many invitations to social engagements, receptions banquets and dinners. Tryon's guiding rule in choosing which invitations to accept was to seek out people who might have useful information. He stated that he learnt something from everybody. Rear Admiral Australian Station (1884) In 1884 Tryon was promoted to rear admiral and placed in command of the Australian Station. He left England on 4 December 1884 on board the P&O steamer Indus, arriving on board his new flagship in Sydney 22 January 1885. The growing importance of the Australian colonies (at that time separate colonies under the crown rather than united under one Australian government) meant that the squadron was becoming more important also, so now an admiral was appointed to replace the previous commander, Commodore James Erskine. Tryon's political and social skills were considered important for the role, which involved negotiations with the Australian colonies for financing a fast cruiser squadron in the region. Conflicting interests also existed within Australia, particularly in the northern colony of Queensland, where plantation owners sought to expand their holdings on the northern coastlands using imported cheap native labour. Local 'white' labourers objected to this as it undercut their wages and prospects, and the government also had some objections, preferring to establish a pattern of smaller farms operated by resident owners, rather than absentee landlords creating vast estates. Part of the squadron's duties included patrolling the waters between Queensland and the islands of New Guinea to prevent kidnapping and human trafficking of native labourers to supply new plantations. The South East corner of New Guinea around Port Moresby had only been annexed as a British protectorate the previous year (1884) by Commodore Erskine on behalf of Queen Victoria. The Germans had similarly claimed an area in the north-east corner of the island, and France was using New Caledonia as a penal colony. The convicts would from time to time escape to Australia, where they would cause difficulties. In spring 1885 tension had been growing between Britain and Russia because of the Penjdeh incident in Afghanistan. This