One week ago, U.S. Ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy and the U.S. Embassy’s Team Moonshot hit the road for the Autumn Shitbox Rally. Team Moonshot were one of the more than 250 teams who participated in the Autumn Rally from Adelaide to Perth, traversing some of Australia’s most rugged and iconic landscapes.
In order to qualify as a “shitbox” vehicles that enter the rally must be purchased for less than $1,500. Ambassador Kennedy and her team drove 2004 Ford Falcon named “Moonshot”, inspired by President Kennedy’s 1962 speech challenging Americans to land a man on the moon and President Biden’s Cancer Moonshot to end cancer as we know it. Ambassador Kennedy led this drive as part of Mission Australia’s U.S.-Australia Cancer Moonshot Initiative to raise awareness for the research, prevention, and treatment of cancer.
Mission Australia’s Team Moonshot finished the Shitbox Rally a week after they started, tackling nearly 5000km of Australia’s most rugged terrain and iconic landmarks, from the red dirt of regional South Australia, to Uluru in the Northern Territory, to crossing the Nullarbor in Western Australia.
Thanks to the generosity of individuals and corporate donations, the US Embassy team raised more than $340,000 for the Cancer Council. All of those funds go to crucial cancer research in Australia. This makes Team Moonshot the highest-raising team in the Rally’s history.
The Team Moonshot members included Shannon Hick, Lu Zhou, and Ambassador Caroline Kennedy (pictured above at Uluru). Shannon, who is originally from Perth joined the U.S. Consulate Melbourne as Public Engagement Manager in October 2021. Prior to this she worked for over fourteen years in the arts and culture sector in marketing roles at Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and The Wheeler Centre, for Books Writing and Ideas.
An auto enthusiast and avid fan of shows like Top Gear and The Grand Tour, Lu Zhou was thrilled to take part in the Shitbox Rally. A career diplomat of 14 years, Lu has been posted to Seoul, Kuala Lumpur, Washington D.C., Munich, and Dubai before arriving at U.S. Consulate General Perth as Head of Policy.
Not long after arriving Down Under in 2022 to start her posting as U.S. Ambassador to Australia, Caroline Kennedy quickly immersed herself in Aussie culture by heading to a Bunnings sausage sizzle. Participants in the Shitbox Rally were on the tongs and that meeting led us to our Moonshot mission. An attorney and author, Kennedy has published 11 New York Times best-selling books on law, civics and poetry. She is Honorary President of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation and a graduate of Harvard University and Columbia Law School.
“We know that no one country can end the fight against cancer alone, and the United States has no better partner in this fight than Australia,” Ambassador Kennedy said.
“I’ve been so inspired by the people that I’ve met across Australia working in the field of cancer research and treatment, and also working together with U.S. counterparts, and in the Pacific, to treat cancer more broadly. There’s so much to be inspired by and the Rally is a way for groups to come together and recommit, raise funds, and support the research. I’ve got all my gear, and I can’t wait to get out there.”
After arriving in Perth, Ambassador Kennedy visited the Perth Children’s Hospital to spend time with patients and families and learn about the Cancer Council-supported research there. She then joined the team at the finish line and was reunited with fellow Rally goers she spent three days driving with last week from Adelaide to Uluru.
The Embassy’s participation in the Shitbox Rally was a component of the U.S.-Australia Cancer Moonshot Initiative, launched in February 2024 to highlight our shared experience with and collaboration on the research, prevention, and treatment of cancer. The Shitbox Rally is the Cancer Council’s largest community-based fundraiser, having raised over $45 million for cancer research since 2009.
“The sprit and sense of community was a blast and I can’t say enough great things about how the ‘Box rally was organised,” said Ambassador Kennedy at the conclusion of the event.
The Initiative is a tribute to two historic moonshots: In 1962, President John F. Kennedy challenged Americans to land a man on the moon within a decade, saying: “We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.”
In 2022, on the 60th anniversary of that iconic speech, President Joe Biden reignited his Cancer Moonshot – a national effort to end cancer as we know it. The Embassy’s Initiative is a part of President Biden’s Global Cancer Moonshot, recognising that no nation can end cancer alone.
On World Cancer Day this year, the U.S. Mission in Australia launched an initiative highlighting an important dimension of the U.S.-Australia Alliance: our shared experience with and collaboration on the research, prevention, and treatment of cancer. The partnerships between U.S. and Australian researchers and the vital breakthroughs being made by our two nations play a critical role in the fight against cancer.
The Cancer Moonshot also inspired the creation of the U.S.-Australia Cancer Consortium, a public-private partnership to accelerate our collaboration on cancer. The Consortium is focused on innovative cancer treatment and equitable access to healthcare, including through expanded access to international clinical trials.
Ambassador Kennedy has previously met with cancer researchers at the Garvan Institute in Sydney, who are the recipients of funds raised by the Shitbox Rally and distributed by the Cancer Council of New South Wales. The researchers noted the vital importance of maintaining organic, informal collaboration with peers in the United States – including with researchers at the University of California and University of Pittsburgh – as each expert contributes unique strengths and ways of thinking, driving innovation and progress towards a common goal of ending cancer as we know it.
The U.S.-Australia Cancer Moonshot Initiative was made possible through the enthusiasm, support and hard work of Embassy Canberra and Consulates Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. By raising funds, sharing their stories, and spreading the word about Moonshot, our Mission Australia team has gone out of this world to get behind the U.S.-Australia Cancer Moonshot Initiative.
For more information on how you can be a part of the next Shitbox Rally, visit their website www.shitboxrally.com.au
Photographs supplied by U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Australia.