His Excellency’s Response to the Presentation of the Address-in-Reply for the First Session of the 55th Parliament of Queensland

On the 25th of March 2015, I had the honour to deliver the Governor’s Speech at the Opening of the First Session of the Fifty-Fifth Parliament of Queensland. As the representative of Her Majesty the Queen, I now extend to you and to the Members of the Parliament of Queensland, my sincere thanks for the formal Address-In-Reply.

It will be my pleasant duty to convey to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second the expression of loyalty and warm regard from the Members of the Queensland Parliament.

The Queen remains a strong and unifying figure for the peoples of our Commonwealth of Nations, and a sign of our shared beliefs in freedom and democracy.

Within our own community of Queensland, I encourage all Members of the Legislative Assembly in their endeavours to promote the well-being and prosperity of our State. On behalf of the people of Queensland, I trust that your efforts will be rewarded with much success.

I have put on display today, for those who may be interested, the Legislative Assembly’s very first Address-in-Reply, delivered in 1860, reproduced from the official papers of our first Governor Sir George Bowen. The sentiments there expressed are remarkably similar, Mr Speaker, to those you have offered today; and that corroborates the enduring stability of our democracy.

And it is a matter of great pride that history should continue to unfold before us today: with Mr Speaker’s permission, the Address-in-Reply has been read for the first time by an Aboriginal Member of Parliament, the Honourable Leeanne Enoch MP.