Reception in Honour of Mr Peter N. Varghese AO

Minister for Education and the Arts, the Honourable John-Paul Langbroek MP; Former Premier of Queensland, the Honourable Annastacia Palaszcuk AC; Deputy Leader of the Opposition and Member for Woodridge, the Honourable Cameron Dick MP; Member for Bulimba, the Honourable Di Farmer MP; Member for McConnel, the Honourable Grace Grace MP; Federal Member for Ryan, Ms Elizabeth Watson-Brown MP; Acting Consul-General of the People’s Republic of China in Brisbane, Mr Yang Chenqi; Councillor for Walter Taylor Ward, Councillor Penny Wolff; University of Queensland Chancellor, Mr Peter Varghese AO, Mrs Margaret Varghese, and your family; Vice-Chancellor, Professor Deborah Terry AC; Artist, Michael Zavros; distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.

I also wish to acknowledge 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 tonight. 

Thank you, Professor Terry, and good evening everyone.  

Graeme and I are delighted to join you this evening to honour and farewell Peter Varghese, and to acknowledge his calm, steady and highly capable leadership.

When Peter took up his first term as Chancellor in 2016, he brought with him exceptional skills and wide experience, gleaned in roles in Australia and internationally during a distinguished career spanning almost four decades.

As he made the significant shift to the role of UQ Chancellor, Peter spoke of a sense of “returning home”—back to the place where, as a young man, he’d studied (and excelled); and a return to where his own father had taught in the 1960s — a position that brought stability and success after the family settled in Brisbane.

Peter has spoken—modestly, in my opinion — of the part that luck has played in his life, of the “fortunate path” his career has taken. He has spoken of how he became an “accidental public servant” — rather than an academic — due to poor job prospects for the latter in the late 1970s.

Indeed, he has remarked that when he first entered government, he “had no idea what the public service was about”.

Well, it is safe to say he learned quickly—and exceptionally well. Rising to become one of Australia’s most respected public servants, both nationally and internationally, he built a distinguished career that more than prepared him for two terms as UQ’s Chancellor.

If good fortune played a part, it worked alongside important and deeply valuable qualities: a formidable intellect, a calm and measured approach, and a strategic mind of significant renown.  

In Peter’s first speech to University staff, a decade ago, he spoke of the “exciting but also difficult times ahead” for universities.  

Even with his outstanding skills, Peter could not have imagined just how challenging those times would become in a world of conspicuous upheaval, where, as he has noted, old certainties are unravelling at a brisk pace.

Peter, yours has been a career marked by exceptional leadership and service. Under your stewardship at UQ, you have faced down stark, unprecedented challenges. You have consistently maintained the high standards that make the University of Queensland a world-class facility — a destination of choice for students and researchers from across the globe.

As I come to the end of my own term as Governor, I’m conscious that this reception will be one of my last as the University’s Official Visitor. I offer my sincere congratulations and best wishes to you, as your term comes to an end.

Indeed, there has been good fortune. We have all been very lucky, Peter, to have your skills and commitment at the University of Queensland.

On behalf of the people of this State, I thank you.