Queensland Teachers Bowling Club 70th Anniversary Luncheon

I am pleased, ladies and gentlemen, to be with you this afternoon as you celebrate the significant 70^th anniversary of the Queensland Teachers Bowls Club.

Now I must at once be candid and confess that unlike my brother John who is with me today, I am not a bowler – not even of the ten-pin variety!

I attended the 100^th of the Graceville Bowls Club earlier in the year – a marvelous celebration.

Bowls Queensland, of which I am proud Patron, presented me with a very fine set of maroon coloured bowls, now proudly displayed at Government House.

As you know, we enjoy beautifully manicured grounds there, and I am itching to roll a bowl on the Cottage lawn – the only problem is people watching!

My being here today reflects my late father’s long-standing attachment to the game: he was a teacher, a bowler, and of course many other things.

But apart from his being a husband and a father, his being a teacher was central to his life, and his being a bowler was as he saw it a very pleasant adjunct.

And so, ladies and gentlemen, continue to enjoy teaching – or reminiscing about it, and continue to enjoy bowling. I rolled the jack successfully at Graceville on the 8^th of February this year, and maybe later this afternoon I will yield to the temptation, notwithstanding prying eyes, of trying out the Cottage lawn!

I look forward to further celebrating the day with you, and to cutting the anniversary cake with Patron, Ms Dulcie Frost. Thank you.