Host Reception in Support of Hear and Say

Minister for Health and Ambulance Services, the Honourable Tim Nicholls MP; Hear and Say Chair, Ms Verena Preston, Founder and Director, Dr Dimity Dornan AO and Board Members, CEO, Mr Scott Miller, staff and supporters; Former Lord Mayor of Brisbane, Ms Sallyanne Atkinson AO; distinguished guests; ladies and gentlemen.

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

I am very pleased to welcome you to Government House this evening.

It’s a wonderful opportunity, as your Governor, and as Patron, to acknowledge the resolve and dedication — the tremendous energy — of Hear and Say.

To consider the work done by this admirable organisation since its inception in 1992, is to be particularly impressed by two elements: the strength of the commitment to our Queensland community, and the rapid advances Hear and Say has made during that time.

For over three decades, this not-for-profit organisation has been moving forward: adopting new technologies; pioneering new ways to bring hearing services to a wider public; developing partnerships with those who share a similar vision; and bringing world-class hearing and speech expertise to all who need it.

None of this, I’m sure, has come easily. The original driving force behind Hear and Say, Dimity Dornan AO — who is, I’m delighted to say, here this evening — will no doubt confirm that progress has, at times, been hard-won. On Hear and Say’s website, there’s a delightful photo of Dr Dornan, taken 34 years ago. In the photograph, she is seated, leaning towards her first Hear and Say clients: six small children.

The picture is striking not simply for the obvious warmth and energy captured within it, but also for what it says about the lives that have been improved, or changed outright, since that day — shaped by Dimity, and by the many committed clinicians, team members, donors, volunteers and supporters who have joined her in that shared vision.

As I approach the end of my term as Governor, I’ve been thinking about the commitments I made when I took up the role in 2021. As the third medical practitioner to have the immense honour of being Governor of Queensland, I pledged to make health care a priority, visiting every public hospital in the state, meeting health-care workers across our vast region, listening to the particular needs of regional Queenslanders.

Hear and Say has long made a similar commitment to reach beyond the cities, to bring the organisation’s amazing expertise to rural and regional Queensland. Just five years after Hear and Say began, Telehealth services were introduced. Later, regional centres were opened.  

Ever the pioneers, in 2018 Hear and Say set up a Telepractice program, increasing the organisation’s reach still further.

There have been many changes and advances. Perhaps most impressive of all is how a sense of humanity has stayed at the very heart of everything you do.

Throughout the remarkable development of Hear and Say, the steadfast commitment to people—their stories—is notable.

The inventor of the modern cochlear implant, Professor Graeme Clark, was driven towards his marvellous creation by witnessing the social isolation of his own father.

To quote Professor Clark, he said: “My first experience of dad was his deafness.” This set him on a course to finding a way to “fix ears” — a personal journey that would change the lives of countless others forever.  

Just last month, in an Australian first, twin babies in New South Wales were fitted with bi-lateral cochlear implants, hearing their mother’s voice for the first time.

The joy found in those stories, those “magic moments” remains with Hear and Say, playing out every day across Queensland—for babies, children, and adults. Last year, that meant over 18,000 occasions of service to our community.

I congratulate everyone associated with Hear and Say on all you have achieved, and I wish you every success in the future.