Celebration of 130 Years of Education and the Heritage Listing of Ithaca Creek State School

Councillor Matic; our Principal Ms Webb; School Captains; distinguished guests; ladies and gentlemen. As Governor of Queensland, I am delighted to welcome you all here to Government House this afternoon.

As many of you will know, I was a pupil of Ithaca Creek State School in the 1960s when my father was the school Principal, and it has been a matter of great pleasure for me to re-establish contact since Kaye and I moved into this neighbourhood in 2014 when I was appointed Governor.

We have been warmly welcomed at Lugg Street on several occasions since then – and I will return early next month for the Year 6 Farewell! – so it is a great pleasure to be able to reciprocate by hosting today’s celebration of the inclusion of the School on Queensland’s Heritage Register.

Ithaca Creek now shares heritage status with one thousand, seven hundred and thirty-four unique and special Queensland places on that register – including this wonderful old home which now belongs to all Queenslanders as Government House.

Each of the places on the Register has helped to define what it means to be a Queenslander and it is wonderful that they are now preserved and protected for future generations.

It was particularly pleasing, two years ago, to see the Queensland Heritage Council launch a four-year project to identify the Queensland schools which are the best examples of their type, and to protect them through listing on the Heritage Register.

Ithaca Creek was one of just 107 schools selected as a result of this Queensland Schools Heritage Strategy.

When you consider that there are more than seventeen hundred schools in Queensland (one thousand seven hundred and twenty-three, to be exact!), Ithaca Creek has been accorded a rare distinction and everyone associated with the school can be very proud.

I warmly congratulate the Principal, the staff, the pupils and their parents on the School’s new status – it is fitting recognition of the vital role the school has played in the communities of Bardon, Paddington, Ashgrove and Red Hill for 130 years, and wonderful to know that the elegant classical façade of the school and its many other unique features will now be protected for generations to come.

Thank you, and enjoy this afternoon’s memorable occasion.