Wednesday 4 November 2026

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, kind people one and all.

Thank you for that warm welcome. I am delighted to be with you, alongside Matthew, to celebrate the national launch of Kindness Out Loud.

Tonight, we speak of happy things. Of taking kindness gently by the shoulders, and encouraging it to speak up! We all know, despite the challenges of modern life, that a deep flow of kindness, like the wide brown river just outside, runs through the community, throughout our state, right across our nation.

Neighbours helping each other. Families supporting one another. Volunteers in their millions. Ordinary people providing assistance to strangers, with no expectation of return of any kind.

This year marks 800 years since St Francis of Assisi counselled peace, lov,e pardon, faith, hope, light, joy, consolation, and understanding. Three times as long ago, Buddha taught “Mettā” as the first of the Brahma-vihāras. This is kindness as the wish for others to find happiness and the causes of happiness. Kindness, teaches by example. It’s everywhere. The goal of Kindness Out Loud is to encourage people to talk about kindness. What they’ve seen, and what they’ve done. The aim is to make it visible.

So, an important part of Kindness Out Loud is the ‘Loud’ bit. As Australians, we are surprisingly reticent about mentioning kindness. Imagine coming home at the end of the day and announcing, “I was kind today.”  I’d suggest it’s not a thing we do. We are self-deprecating, to a fault.

Think of all the heroic acts performed with barely a second thought. People who have risked their lives to save a stranger routinely reject any suggestion that they have done something special.

Recently, two strangers swam into floodwater north of Brisbane to pull a man from a sinking car.

One of them was ABC reporter, Will Murray, already something of a water-logged legend in the Riverina, where he famously reported from the flooded Murrumbidgee River in shirt and tie, jacket, and board shorts. The Brisbane rescue made the BBC and The New York Times. Murray was asked about the worldwide publicity. “It was too much,” he said, “but I’m better now. People have already forgotten.”

Heroic acts of kindness are built on many simple gestures of goodwill.

Kindness Out Loud aims to train us in the art of being vocal about kindness, celebrating acts of selflessness, large and small. Acts that enhance the lives of others, and our own wellbeing.

On Sunday, it was my great honour to be sworn-in as the 28th Governor of Queensland. I look forward to travelling the length and breadth of our vast state, learning more about the way kindness has shaped and continues to shape and strengthen our communities.

From tonight, with the national launch of Kindness Out Loud, Queensland becomes the centre of this grassroots movement. In 2032, as the Olympics and Paralympics begin, the focus of the world will be here. We will be ready, showing visitors and locals alike how kind we can be in our welcome. We will have made our way through countless acts of kindness. Guided by Kindness Out Loud, we will leave our reticence behind. We will make kindness contagious, and we will make it loud. An everyday occurrence.

I last spoke at this excellent venue a few weeks ago, in my capacity as Chair of the Brisbane Writers Festival. The Powerhouse was then thronged with book lovers as they attended wonderful sessions, hearing from both local and international writers.

As we speak of kindness this evening, I am reminded of the words of Henry James. Inveterate traveller, prolific writer and critic for over fifty years, James was a great observer of social behaviour.

When his young nephew asked for advice on how to conduct himself, Henry James said:

“Three things in human life are important.

The first is to be kind.

The second is to be kind.

And the third is to be kind.”

I hope you enjoy the evening.