Garden Reception to Celebrate International Women’s Day 2026

The 25^th Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia and 24^th Governor of Queensland, the Honourable Dame Quentin Bryce AD CVO; Shadow Minister for Child Safety, Communities and the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence, Ms Corrine McMillan MP; Member for Cooper, Ms Jonty Bush MP; President of the Court of Appeal, the Honourable Justice Mullins AO; Justices of the Supreme Court of Queensland, the Honourable Justice Elizabeth Wilson, the Honourable Justice Soraya Ryan, the Honourable Justice Susan Brown and former Justice, the Honourable Anthe Philippides SC; Senior Leaders of the Australian Defence Force and our frontline services; distinguished guests.

I begin by acknowledging the Original Custodians of the lands around Brisbane, the Turrbal and Jagera people, and pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging, and to any First Nations people here this evening.

I pay special tribute to the Indigenous women around the State who inspire and guide their communities.

Graeme and I warmly welcome you all to Government House as we celebrate International Women’s Day 2026—a particularly welcome occasion, given last year’s event was cancelled due to Cyclone Alfred.

It is a pleasure to see before me an incredibly talented, motivated, and generous group of Queenslanders who not only exemplify qualities of compassion and empathy but also demonstrate a steely determination to improve outcomes for girls and women in this state.

Each one of you is here because you serve others with distinction, across a dazzling array of professions and vocations—the positive effects of which reach deeply into every aspect of our society.

The opportunity for women to make such an impact is, in historical terms, quite recent. In 1929, there were no women elected to Queensland Parliament. Before 1965, women serving in the Queensland Police Service were not able to be sworn in as officers; and it was not until 1966 that the first Indigenous woman graduated from a university here.

Even more recently, the year 1992 saw three pivotal milestones, when the first female officer of the Royal Australian Navy took command of an operational base; our first female judge presided over the Supreme Court of Queensland; and our state’s 22^nd Governor—and first female—the Honourable Leneen Forde—was sworn in.

I must, of course, make mention of the fact that our State has seen more female than male Governors from this point on with the Honourable Dame Quentin Bryce—whom I am honoured to welcome here again this evening––and the Honourable Penelope Wensley becoming our 24^th and 25^th Governors respectively. And as you all know, Dame Quentin went on to become our first woman Governor-General.

This near-reversal of the gender imbalance at our highest levels of governance seems to have pre-empted the call by UN Women Australia this year to “Balance the Scales”.

For all of us here this afternoon, our positions of leadership come with an additional responsibility—to empower the next generation, regardless of gender—to become catalysts for lasting change.

I am a firm believer in the potency of mentoring, expressed not just by the transference of wisdom and knowledge, but also through the support of individualism and creativity—qualities that lead to advanced thinking and innovation.

I therefore commend each of you, not only for what you yourselves have achieved, but for being exemplar role models. I hope that you find this opportunity to meet like-minded others, enlightening and fruitful, and I look forward to talking to as many of you as I can.

I know you will enjoy the entertainment provided to us this evening by the St Aidan’s string quartet and the Serenading Sopranos.

Today is a call to action, but it is also a celebration. Thank you all.