Wavell State High School Class of 2025 Year 12 Graduation

Member for Nudgee, the Honourable Leanne Linnard MP; Councillor for Northgate Ward, Councillor Adam Allan; Executive Principal, Mr Luke Ferdinands, Deputy Principals, staff and alumni, and the extended school community; students – and in particular, the graduating class of 2025, your family and friends.  

I also begin by acknowledging the Original Custodians of the lands around Brisbane, the Turrbal and Jagera peoples, pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging, and to any First Nations people here today, thank Eliza and Selena for their Welcome to Country, and Mrs Bowker for her kind introduction. 

Thank you all for making me feel so welcome, and for inviting me to be part of this morning’s very special graduation ceremony. 

I attended the Vietnam Veterans Day Remembrance Service at Anzac Square in Brisbane in August and was deeply impressed by the respect shown by Wavell State High School students. Representing Queensland at ceremonies like this is a significant part of my role as Governor, and I left feeling proud and hopeful that your generation will continue the vital responsibility of honouring those who sacrificed their lives for us in wartime. 

This morning, we celebrate the end of a long educational journey for the Year 12 students—all of you—who are putting your schooling behind you and looking to the future. 

I congratulate you for your accomplishments over such a significant period of your lives, for your contributions to school life, and for being such valuable role models to younger students. 

In some ways it must be hard to believe that you have finally reached this point, when you leave behind the familiarity of a school which has served you so well. 

In fact, I am sure that whenever the graduation countdown started, this moment seemed far away, with many assignments and exams yet to be tackled.  Now, as you are about to step into the future, some of you may know exactly where you are headed, and some of you may not; some of you may continue your studies in some form; others will join the workforce, or pursue new interests.  

The simple fact is that the pathways ahead may be clear and logical, or come with many twists and turns, and as someone who has had my fair share of meandering pathways, I encourage you to embrace opportunities as they arise, even if they come with some uncertainty. 

Wavell State High School has a wonderful reputation for providing excellent, quality education, and a diverse, interesting array of sporting, arts, activities and programs. 

What it has also given you is access to a caring, compassionate community—encompassing the principals, teachers, non-teaching staff, family, and friends within your cohort—whose whole effort has been focussed on making sure you could develop your unique talents and skills, while feeling motivated and supported. 

The strength this community produces is portable—it is embedded within each one of you, and you can carry this with you along whichever pathway life leads you, to give you guidance and courage. 

Importantly, this strength will be expressed in how you choose to interact with others. 

The quality of being genuine is one that is reinforced by your school motto “It is better to be, rather than to just seem”.  

This is such a powerful ethos to live by—being honest and true, not only to others, but perhaps even more importantly, to yourselves. 

I wish you all happiness and fulfilment, wherever life takes you. 

Thank you.