Official Opening of the Mary Cairncross Scenic Reserve Rainforest Discovery Centre

Mayor Jamieson, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.

I at once also acknowledge, with respect to Elders, the traditional custodians of these lands, and I thank Mr Murphy for his welcome to country.

It is Kaye’s and my enormous pleasure that we join you for this most significant occasion in the life of the Mary Cairncross Reserve.

In doing so, today I find myself following in the footsteps of some of my distinguished predecessor Governors.

Kaye and I have just driven up the Blackall Range, named after our State’s second Governor, Sir Samuel Blackall.

And it was Queensland’s seventeenth Governor, Sir Henry Abel Smith, who officially opened the Reserve in 1961.

That occasion took place some twenty years after the land was gifted to the Council by the Thynne sisters – Mabel, Mary and Elizabeth, who sought to preserve this remarkable pocket of sub-tropical rainforest in perpetuity, in doing so honouring their mother, Mary Cairncross.

The Rainforest Discovery Centre, which I will soon officially open, is a highly fitting and appropriate addition to this Reserve.

Not only does the Centre take maximum advantage of the magnificent views across the Glasshouse Mountains, but it ensures that future visitors will leave the Reserve with a better understanding of its immense environmental and conservation value, in line with the intention and legacy of the Thynne sisters.

And what an impressive, modern, edifying precinct this is – one of which the entire community can be immensely proud!

As Governor, I also wholeheartedly applaud the community spirit which denotes the ongoing preservation of the Reserve, and this Rainforest Discovery Centre project.

It is the enthusiastic contributions of the Reserve’s many staff and volunteers, the Rotary Club of Maleny members, and members of the Friends of the Mary Cairncross Association, and many others, all of whom ensure it remains such a unique and cherished part of our State, and I know the hundreds of thousands of annual visitors are highly appreciative of your efforts.   

I also acknowledge and applaud the Sunshine Coast Regional Council and the Queensland and Australian Governments for their instrumental financial support, and indeed all the project’s partners for their attention to this region, a region so crucial to defining the psyche of our State.

Ladies and gentlemen, it now gives me very great pleasure, in this 50^th anniversary year since the official naming of the Sunshine Coast region, to declare officially open the Mary Cairncross Scenic Reserve Rainforest Discovery Centre. Thank you.