Friday 3 July 2026

Member for Stafford, Mr Luke Richmond MP; Scouts Queensland, Chief Commissioner, Mr Geoff Doo; Branch President, the Honourable Jane Prentice; Vice Presidents Major General Professor John Pearn AO and Mrs Kristy Brown AM; The Brisbane Gang Show Director, Mr John Martin and Producer, Mr Shaun Sandilands; Scouts Queensland Executive, staff, members and supporters; ladies and gentlemen, girls and boys.

I begin by acknowledging the Original Custodians of the lands around Brisbane, the Turrbal and Jagera peoples, and pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging, and to any First Nations people here tonight.

Thank you for your warm welcome this evening. It has been a great pleasure to join you for the Opening Night of the Scouts Queensland Brisbane Gang Show, and what a show it was!

As Governor, and Chief Scout, it’s been wonderful to witness the talent on display tonight, particularly on this extra-special anniversary, marking 75 consecutive years of the Gang Show in Brisbane.

The scale of this annual musical—now one of Queensland’s leading amateur theatrical productions—is truly a marvellous accomplishment. Over 100 cast members – some as young as nine years old – have been preparing, training and rehearsing for many months, in order to be ready for tonight.  

It’s no small thing to step out onto a stage, under the brights lights, to perform, and to shine. Well done to you all.

I’d like to pay special tribute to those in the cast who have taken up this challenge for the first time. You are now part of a long tradition here in Brisbane—and a global tradition, too, because for close to a century Scouting Gang Shows have played across the world, and I have no doubt they will continue to do so long into the future.  

Tonight’s sizeable cast has been supported by an even larger group of people: those volunteers who work behind the scenes. Their tasks are less visible, of course, but they’re just as vital to the smooth running of such a complex show.  

Their roles are many and varied: wardrobe, lighting and sound, stage crew, set construction, front of house, marketing, administration and finance. The list is long, with every task on it crucial to the Gang Show’s continuing success.  

In the long process of preparation for this 2026 season, I’m sure everyone involved has been both challenged and empowered. Those in the cast have come to understand—or been reminded of—the physical and mental rigours of live performance. You have also, I trust, experienced a tremendous amount of fun and friendship along the way.  

Every single person involved in tonight’s performance must, at this moment, feel a mixture of elation, perhaps a little relief, and certainly a lot of satisfaction that the 2026 Brisbane Gang Show is off to such a thrilling start.  

My warm congratulations to Director, John Martin, for your inaugural Brisbane Gang Show, and to all the cast and support crew for this important community event.

I wish you all the very best for the rest of the season.