International Guide Dog Day
Guide Dogs Queensland Graduation
29 April 2009
Minister for Disability Services and Multicultural Affairs, the Honourable Annastacia Palaszczuk, MP,
Member for Aspley, Ms Tracy Davis, MP,
Brisbane City Councillor, Ms Amanda Cooper,
President, Guide Dogs Queensland, Mr Richard Anderson, OAM,
Chief Executive Officer, Guide Dogs Queensland, Ms Chris Laine,
Staff, volunteers, sponsors and supporters of Guide Dogs Queensland,
Proud Family members and friends of our graduates,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
In the spirit of reconciliation that we seek to promote throughout Queensland, I acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we are gathered, the Jagera and Turrbal peoples and their descendants.
I greet you today as Governor of Queensland and as Patron of Guide Dogs Queensland - a role which I accepted readily when approached last October by GDQ President, Richard Anderson, knowing broadly about the important work the Association does, but eager to learn more. My husband, Stuart McCosker, who is a veterinarian by training and profession - and was for many years, a small animal practitioner - shared my enthusiasm and interest and has joined me today to gain a better appreciation of and to see first-hand, what your work involves.
I have spoken and presided at many graduation ceremonies over the years, but without doubt this is the most unusual graduation day I have ever attended. You are truly a unique graduating class, whose journey to this graduation point, as a team, has been unusually long and complex and one which has also involved an unusually large number of people.
The number of people involved in training the guide dogs is particularly striking. From the breeding of the puppies, their initial schooling, their time spent with foster families, their sponsoring and the subsequent intensive training with the experts - it is a long haul, not only in time but in effort: patently, it is - and must be - an exacting and painstaking process. Many of you here today - experts, volunteers and sponsors - have contributed directly to this process and even though we are here today to honour especially our graduating teams, this ceremony is an opportunity also to recognise your role publicly and to thank you for your dedication and generosity.
The results of your hard work are obvious by the patience with which Brooklyn, Zac, Buddy, Austin, Winston and Andy are listening to all these speeches. They really are very special dogs. I understand many more enter the training program each year but do not reach this graduation point. So those with us today are clearly brilliant students, have outstanding personalities, and, above all, are very patient with the human race.
In looking at what others have said about dogs, it's clear these qualities have long been recognised. So much so that when the human and canine races are compared we seem to come off a poor second best. The 17th century French philosopher Blaise Pascal makes the unsettling observation that "the more I see of man the more I like my dog". In the following century, the English poet Alexander Pope reminds us that "Histories are fuller of examples of the fidelity of dogs than of friends". Perhaps we should give US President Harry Truman the last, more contemporary, words of human admonishment (as recently echoed by President Barack Obama): "If you want a friend in Washington get a dog".
We can therefore well appreciate that Kate, Michael, Kim, Catherine, Jim, and Roy have formidable new companions.
It's a timely occasion to acknowledge that there are well over 1,000 other vision impaired Queenslanders being assisted by Guide Dogs Queensland. This assistance is provided through a wide range of mobility programs which, by their nature, are highly labour intensive and therefore costly. As Patron, I admire greatly and applaud Guide Dogs Queensland's exceptional effort in raising $10 million each year. This allows the provision of its services - including the guide dogs - to be at low or no cost to the vision impaired. You have been raising funds year-in, year-out since your founding in 1960 and have expanded into a truly Queensland-wide organisation. For that you have earned - and deserve - the gratitude of all Queenslanders.
I know you have yet further expansion plans for the future. They will be needed to cope with the rising number of vision-impaired clients which a rapidly growing and ageing Queensland population is producing. Based on your past record of achievement, I am sure you will meet this challenge and in doing so, you may be assured that I will be your very willing advocate and supporter.
However, this afternoon my immediate and very pleasurable task is to recognise and honour our graduates and to congratulate the new guide dog "teams". To our six graduates, we know that it takes courage and commitment to undertake training with a guide dog and we salute your tenacity, your perseverance and your achievement. This should truly be a great moment of celebration for you and your families and friends.
Any graduation, by definition, marks a change in one's situation and circumstances; it holds out the promise of change and the possibility of grasping new opportunities and undertaking new experiences in the future. Usually - for new graduates - those new possibilities take much time to realise - but for you, the changes should be wonderfully, immediately available and evident, with your increased mobility and new skills bringing obvious change to your lives.
But even more wonderful is the fact that this new part of your personal life journey - whereby you have been equipped to lead more full and independent lives - will be shared with a unique, and exceptional partner and companion.
I congratulate each of our graduates and wish you a long and successful partnership with your canine companions that will be as enjoyable as it will be empowering, bringing lasting benefit and satisfaction to you, as individuals - and, through the enhancement of the quality of the lives you are able to lead within our community - to everyone involved with Guide Dogs Queensland. Congratulations!