Official Opening Ormiston College Centre for Learning and Innovation

Elected Representatives, Chair of the Board, Headmaster, ladies and gentlemen; girls and boys.

I at once acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the lands on which we gather, and pay respect to their Elders past and present – with encouragement to their young emerging leaders.

Thank you all very much for your warm welcome to Ormiston College, and in particular for the spirited musical performance.

It is a pleasure to be here, and may I just say how truly impressive this building is.

It is a beautiful building in its own right, and I congratulate you on creating a space which so perfectly equips the students for 21st-century thinking and opportunities. I am looking forward to touring the building after this official opening.

This, of course, is not a new direction for Ormiston College; it merely cements the College’s standing at the forefront of technological innovation in education.

The opening of the Centre for Learning and Innovation adds to an already impressive portfolio of achievements, from becoming a Microsoft Showcase School to becoming the national winner of the 2018 Australian Education Award for Best Use of Technology.

In my role as Governor of Queensland I have the great pleasure of travelling to communities across the State and being shown the extraordinary things being undertaken in the area of technology.

I have witnessed firsthand the difference that cutting edge technology has made in our hospitals and in agriculture; I have also seen it transform the lives of people living in rural and remote communities, through the impact it has had on the way communication and information is delivered.

New social media platforms have even changed the way the Office of the Governor operates.

Through Twitter, Facebook and Instagram I am able to connect with the people of Queensland in a way that has never been possible before.

However, if I had to nominate the one piece of technology that has had the most transformative impact on the role of the Governor of Queensland from the role’s inception until now, it would be the “old” technology of flight.

Unlike my early predecessors, I have been able to visit almost every region of the state, and have been able to initiate Regional Government House, whereby the operations of Government House are conducted from a Queensland regional centre.

Today there is such an astonishing array of new technologies that flight has almost become mundane.

Students, you are immersed in a world of unparalleled opportunity and complexity.

Undoubtedly the future of the world lies in the hands of this generation, and your ability to harness these new technologies for the benefit of all humanity.

Students, I wish you every luck for your future, and I am excited to see what you will create of it.

It is my great pleasure to unveil this plaque and declare the Ormiston College Centre for Learning and Innovation officially open.