Friends of Scotland Dinner in support of Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo

Secretary of State for Scotland, the Right Honourable Douglas Alexander MP and your Principal Private Secretary, Ms Hannah Payne; representing the Premier, Deputy Premier, Minister for State Development, Infrastructure and Planning and Minister for Industrial Relations, the Honourable Jarrod Bleijie MP and your Policy Advisor, Mr Aydan Rusev; Minister for the Environment and Tourism and Minister for Science and Innovation, the Honourable Andrew Powell MP; British High Commissioner to Australia, Her Excellency Dame Sarah MacIntosh DCMG, her Private Secretary, Ms Rachael Stubbins and guest, Mr Iain Smailes; UK Trade Envoy to Australia, the Right Honourable the Lord Spellar; representing the Lord Mayor of Brisbane, Councillor Tracy Davis, and her spouse, Mr John Davis; British Consul-General in Queensland, Mr Richard Cowin MBE; representatives of business, industry, and trade from Australia and the United Kingdom; and my Official Secretary, Ms Yolande Yorke.

I begin by acknowledging the Original Custodians of the lands around Brisbane, the Turrbul and Jagera people, and pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging.

For the past week, Brisbane has revelled in all things Scottish, and Graeme and I are delighted to be able to host this celebratory dinner tonight to mark the phenomenal success of the very first visit to Queensland by The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo.

It has been a particular pleasure to have the Scottish Secretary and High Commissioner as our guests here at Government House during that time.

Mr Secretary, you – along with several of our other guests tonight – form part of a long rollcall of Scots with a connection to this house since it was built 160 years ago.

Back then, the room we are seated in was the heart of a family home built for a successful Brisbane merchant, Johann Heussler.

As his name suggests, Heussler was German, but his wife was a Westgarth from Edinburgh, the daughter of the Surveyor General of Customs for Scotland.

Two decades later, Heussler’s home and the large surrounding estate were acquired by another Scot, a former Perthshire farm lad, John Stevenson.

Stevenson had arrived in Queensland as a 20-year-old and quickly became a successful pastoralist and canny investor. Within just 12 years of his arrival, he was elected to the Queensland Parliament and had amassed sufficient wealth to purchase Heussler’s original home and double its size.

Those extensions included the imposing front entrance, the tiled foyer, and the magnificent stained-glass image of Robert the Bruce above the grand cedar staircase.

Another Scot to leave his mark was Sir William Macgregor. Born and raised in Aberdeenshire, he was our 11^th Governor, but just before he arrived, the Government had decided to transfer the existing Government House in Gardens Point to the newly established University of Queensland and build a new one in Victoria Park.

This move precipitated a search for a temporary residence for Sir William and his family and, after inspecting more than a dozen possible properties, the house built by Heussler and Stevenson was chosen. It was to remain Queensland’s temporary Government House for 27 years – that new house in Victoria Park was never built!

In 1992, the Scots again made their mark here when Her Excellency Leneen Forde AC became the first woman Governor of Queensland. Leneen was Canadian-born, but her husband, Angus McDonald, was a retired NSW police superintendent and another very proud Scot.

Under their custodianship, Highland Games were held on the Estate – Angus was reported to be very good at the caber toss although we have no photographic evidence.

Even the very fabric of this room has a Scottish connection.

We have recently stripped half a century of paint from the cedar dados to restore them to their original condition and, three years ago, when a section of the 1865 ceiling cornice was damaged, it was repaired by a meticulous heritage plasterer who had learnt his trade in the castles and grand homes of Scotland.

The Scots have been integral to the development of this State since the arrival of the very first Europeans, 200 years ago, and it is a great pleasure to share the story of the role that this house played in that history.

Tonight, we welcome you as friends to celebrate the success of the Tattoo by sharing the wonderful Scots-inspired menu prepared by our chefs – one of whom, I’m pleased to advise, just happens to be a Scot (and a Macintosh to boot!)

Please enjoy.