Friday 19 May 2023

Mayor, Councillor Gavin Baskett and Winton Shire Councillors, business and community leaders, ladies and gentlemen, welcome.

I begin by acknowledging the Traditional Owners of the lands on which we gather, the Koa people, and pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging, and to any First Nations people here today.

I am so pleased to be in Winton on my first official Vice-Regal visit here. I deeply appreciate your warm welcome, and thank Mayor Baskett and the Winton Shire Council for hosting this lovely morning tea.

The Winton region really is a remarkable part of Queensland, with its unique attractions, breathtaking natural beauty, rich heritage, and of course, its charming and friendly people.

No wonder many thousands of visitors love coming here—and experiencing incredible places like The Waltzing Matilda Centre, and the Australian Age of Dinosaurs, or iconic events like The Outback Festival, the Way Out West Fest and the Vision Splendid Outback Film Festival. 

Last night, I was thrilled to attend a performance of Lady Sings the Maroons as part of the Festival of Outback Opera, under the stars at the Eric Lenton Memorial Recreation Grounds. What a memorable evening!

…But of course, for the people who call the Winton Shire home, it is so much more than a fabulous festival host! The vitality of a region relies on the happiness and wellbeing of residents, and the way the community comes together when times are favourable or challenging. 

As Governor of this State, one of my key roles is to learn more about communities such as yours, by talking to teachers and students in your local schools, and the health staff at the Winton Multipurpose Health Service, meeting with Mayor Baskett and Councillors, and touring the special places that are important to you.

This visit also gives me the opportunity to chat with all of you—people contributing to Winton’s success through your business activities, tourism ventures, and through work with the charitable and community organisations that encourage greater involvement and inclusion.

It is your efforts that build a strong and dynamic community—it is your dedication, passion and enthusiasm that make Winton the endearing, legendary place it is.

I know that your Mayor and Councillors are committed to developing initiatives that will continue to improve your local lifestyle, while also continuing to support the famous tourism experience Winton offers.

Your community may be small in number, but I know you are mighty when it comes to determination and pride!

I thank you all for contributing to this vibrancy, and the positive impact it is having on our entire state and look forward to chatting with you all over morning tea.

Principal, Ms Tully, teachers, staff and students, good afternoon.

I begin by acknowledging the Traditional Owners of these lands, the Koa People, as well as their Elders, past, present and emerging, and any First Nations teachers, students and community members here this morning.

I was delighted to be invited to join your Mayor, Councillor Gavin Baskett, for this visit to St Patrick’s School.

It’s an absolute delight to be here in Winton, which holds a special place in the history of Queensland.

Now I’m sure you already know your town is the birthplace of our nation’s unofficial anthem ‘Waltzing Matilda’, but did you know that first public performance at the North Gregory Hotel more than 128 years ago was in fact a special performance for the 8th Governor of Queensland, Lord Lamington.

Of course, we all remember his name because our favourite chocolatey cake, the lamington, was named after him!

And Queensland Governors have been visiting this beautiful part of our State ever since, and what a treat it is for me to be able to come and visit you all here at St Pat’s on my first official visit to Winton as the 27^th Governor of Queensland.

One of the best parts about being Governor is visiting Queenslanders where they live and connecting with so many different people – and schools are some of my very favourite places to visit.

I have the privilege of meeting the amazing teachers, staff and students like yourselves, and I am always so impressed! I particularly enjoy meeting the young people in our communities, because you demonstrate so much enthusiasm and energy.

Since arriving this afternoon, I can already see what a tight-knit community you have here at your school and the close relationships you enjoy.

And it’s within this beautiful environment of togetherness that your teachers are providing you with the most wonderful opportunities to learn, experience and grow.

I was particularly excited to read about your Coronation Day celebrations, led by your wonderful library team, with your own Coronation Ceremony, crown making, British tea party and parade!

Now I was extremely fortunate to attend the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla at Westminster Abbey in London on behalf of all Queenslanders, but even I was looking at what fun you had, and wishing I could have been a part of it!

I’m sure you will all agree with me that you are lucky to have such wonderful teachers and staff here at St Pat’s who make your learning so much fun. I think we should all give them a big round of applause for all that that they do.

Thank you so much for welcoming me so warmly to your school, I’ve had a lovely afternoon meeting you all.

Principal, Mr Kempthorn, teachers, staff and students, good afternoon.

I begin by acknowledging the Traditional Owners of these lands, the Koa People, as well as their Elders, past, present and emerging, and any First Nations teachers, students and community members here this morning.

It’s an absolute delight to be here in Winton, and while it may be my first official visit to your town, Winton has been important to the Governors of Queensland ever since it was founded.

Waltzing Matilda was first performed in public for Governor Lamington, in 1900 – and we all remember his name, because of course our favourite chocolatey cake, the lamington, is named after him!

Our longest-serving Governor, Sir Leslie Wilson, visited Winton in 1933 and quite a few Governors since, including my predecessor the Honourable Paul de Jersey AC, who addressed your school assembly, just as I’m doing now, in 2016 – and I wonder, if a few of you here today remember his visit?

One of the best parts about being Governor is visiting Queenslanders where they live and connecting with so many different people – and schools are some of my very favourite places to visit.

I have the privilege of meeting the amazing teachers, staff and students like yourselves, and I am always so impressed! I particularly enjoy meeting the young people in our communities, because you demonstrate so much enthusiasm and energy.

It’s also my opportunity to share with you a bit about what I do as Governor of Queensland and the duties I perform.

Part of my role is in fulfilling constitutional responsibilities as His Majesty King Charles III’s representative here in Queensland. I meet regularly with our Premier and Ministers to inspect and give Assent to important documents which include Bills passed before the Parliament and I preside over meetings of the Executive Council. In fact, just yesterday I presided over an important Swearing-In Ceremony of new Ministers for our State Government Cabinet.

Earlier this week I also hosted five Investiture Ceremonies at Government House, which are very special occasions where I present Australian Honours and Awards to Queenslanders who have contributed significantly to our State.

These Investitures form part of what makes up my ceremonial duties, which also include welcoming visiting leaders and dignitaries to Queensland, attending military parades and remembrance ceremonies.

And of course, along with the constitutional and ceremonial duties are my civic, or community-based duties, which are my very favourite, because they take me all around the State and allow me to meet wonderful people like yourselves, along with our healthcare workers, emergency services, armed forces, volunteers, business and community leaders – our ballet dancers, our footballers – people from all walks of life all doing amazing things.

I get to meet all of these wonderful people and tell them how proud we are of their achievements and thankful we are for their sacrifices, and offer them my support.

You could consider me, perhaps, to be Queensland’s ‘Cheerleader in Chief’.

I do this knowing how important it is as a leader to recognise that we are all part of something bigger, and that we each have a role to play.

If you look around, you will also see that an important part of leadership is surrounding yourself with friends, teachers, parents, carers and mentors who support and encourage you, too.

Leadership is a wonderful thing to aspire to, if you have ideas and energy and a good work ethic.

Remember, no matter how old you are, you can all lead by example and ‘Advance with Honour’, as your school motto says.

Thank you so much for welcoming me so warmly to your wonderful school today and inviting me to be part of such a special assembly.

Principal, Ms Tully, teachers, staff and students, good afternoon.

I begin by acknowledging the Traditional Owners of these lands, the Koa People, as well as their Elders, past, present and emerging, and any First Nations teachers, students and community members here this morning.

I was delighted to be invited to join your Mayor, Councillor Gavin Baskett, for this visit to St Patrick’s School.

Ms Tully has also very kindly offered me the opportunity to read you the story book which we produced at Government House in 2021.

We produced the book because we wanted Queensland children to learn more about what a Governor does and to discover more about our State’s wonderful heritage-listed Government House in Brisbane.

I am the 27^th Governor of Queensland, and the 17th to have the privilege of living in the house and, every year, we welcome many thousands of visitors to see inside the house and take tours of the gardens.

We do this because Government House really does belong to us all, but we know that not everyone will have the opportunity to travel to Brisbane and see the house in person. That’s why we created this story book and called it A Place for All Queenslanders as a way of giving children like you, in regional and remote centres, a way of discovering the story of the house and learning what Governors do.

I’m looking forward to reading it to you shortly, but without spoiling the end, I can tell you that it follows a day in the life of Mac and Mary, two squirrel gliders who live in a large tree in the grounds of Government House.

Together with their kookaburra friend Goodwin, Mac and Mary learn all about the Governor’s constitutional, ceremonial and community duties – and then receive a special invitation from the Governor herself.

I won’t spoil the surprise by telling you what that special invitation is, but I will tell you that Mac was named after the first Governor to live in the house (Sir William MacGregor), Mary was given the name of the very first woman to serve as Queensland’s Governor (Mrs Mary Forde), and Goodwin, the kookaburra, was named after Sir John Goodwin, a very environmentally aware Governor who had the bushland around Government House declared a Sanctuary for Animals and Birds, almost a hundred years ago.

I wish you all success in your studies and look forward to meeting you all, reading you the story of Macy, Mary and Goodwin, and to hearing your stories.

Thank you.