The Salvation Army Official Launch of the 2015 Red Shield Appeal for Queensland

Premier, ladies and gentlemen, as Governor, and as Patron of the Red Shield Appeal in Queensland, I too extend a warm welcome.

Kaye and I are particularly pleased to join you this morning at the first Red Shield Appeal launch since I was sworn in as Governor last July.

Today’s excellent turnout bears testament to both the great generosity of Queenslanders, and the high esteem in which our people hold the Salvation Army.

The Red Shield is one of the most recognised symbols in Australia. It is inextricably linked in our minds with the many services the Salvation Army so wonderfully provides to our fellow Queenslanders who need a helping hand. 

Many of us would readily be able to nominate some of the Salvation Army’s community programs.

But most would be surprised at the range and reach of the assistance and support the “Salvos” in fact provide.

I will not try your patience by intoning the entire list. But I will highlight this morning two particular aspects of this remarkable and enduring community service.

The first is the Salvation Army’s work in the aftermath of natural disasters. We saw this following the battering Cyclone Marcia inflicted on Central Queensland just a little while ago.

The Salvos were on the ground quickly. Supported by the right support of government and the generosity of the private sector, they provided food and household items to families in need in and around Rockhampton, Yeppoon and outlying communities, and much-appreciated meals for evacuees and emergency service workers.

And along with that assistance, came invaluable non-material support: in comfort and reassurance.

I visited the region soon after Marcia’s fury. I acknowledge today, with heartfelt thanks, the importance and value of the work the Salvos did, and continue to do, in the region. 

In this centenary year of the Gallipoli landings, I note, secondly, the Salvation Army’s long history of support for the Australian Defence Force.

The Salvos have provided a Christian-based ministry, and practical and emotional support, to the men and women of our armed forces, and their families, from the time of the Boer War at the end of the 19^th century right through to the present – in peace and in war.

Throughout my governorship, a theme – I hope – will be mutual support. That is wonderfully exemplified in the sacrificial service of our service men and women, and all who support them.

For that, too, I offer today, to the Salvation Army, a heartfelt “thank you”.  

Speaking of anniversaries, there are two which will fall due this year, for our host.

First of all, this year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Red Shield Appeal itself. This major pillar of the Salvation Army’s fundraising activities began in 1965 with what was then a new concept – the doorknock appeal.

Through first-hand experience, Kaye and I know what a ‘slog’ doorknocking can be, but it does give people the opportunity to express their generosity towards, and empathy with, their fellows, and barking dogs aside, the doorknock as a phenomenon has been extremely beneficial for those served with such devotion by the Salvos. 

I pay tribute to the men and women whose vision and energy created the Appeal and kept it at the forefront of innovative and successful fund-raising in the ensuing half century, and I thank our people for their wonderful generosity.  

There is a second even more seminal anniversary. The year 2015 also marks one hundred and fifty years since the organisation that became the Salvation Army was founded by William and Catherine Booth in the East End of London. 

The Christian ethos and mission born a century and a half ago still burn brightly in the Salvation Army of today’s Australia – justice, hope, compassion and respect for human dignity.

It is our gratitude and admiration for the way the Salvation Army puts these principles into practice which explains our being here this morning.  

It is Queenslanders’ generosity today and throughout the Appeal that will support the Salvation Army’s work in our communities for another year.

As Patron of the Appeal, I join you all in celebrating this year’s significant Salvation Army “birthdays”, and in wishing the Appeal every success.

There is something else I want to say this morning, in very much my own words.

The executive government of the State, which I for a short time am privileged to lead, performs an obviously crucial role in the maintenance of our society. But let me respectfully add this.

Government depends very much on a supplementary, voluntary contribution. No assessment could be precise, but the extent of the voluntary effort is at least immense. It is constant, compassionate, utterly unselfish. It permeates the sometimes dusty corners of society otherwise overlooked.

As at this time especially, I honour as your Governor the sacrificial dedication of our Service personnel, I want also to salute the countless thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, of volunteers who daily supplement important governmental initiatives to ensure we live together as humanely and progressively as we can.

And may I acknowledge, in conclusion, that the Salvation Army epitomises such altruism: from the trenches of World War 1, to the back-alleys of 2015, the Salvos have always been there, and will be there – and if they are not there, they will come if requested. They represent, for us all, the very best essence of the human spirit.

And so it is, with gratitude and optimism, that I now officially open, the 2015 Red Shield Appeal for Queensland.