Consular Corps of Queensland Welcome Dinner

I thank the Dean and members of Queensland’s consular corps for their thoughtful and generous gesture in holding this welcome for me and my wife Kaye.  It is a great pleasure, so soon after my appointment as Governor, to find ourselves in your company.  I also acknowledge the DFAT Queensland State Director, Mr Derek Brown.

I have known many of you well for many years. Your friendship and courtesy to Kaye and me in my role as Chief Justice were exceptional and greatly appreciated. The role has changed, but the warm relationship remains a constant.

This is above all a welcome opportunity to enjoy good company. However, I will depart temporarily from that “script” to make reference to the tragedy in the skies over Ukraine last month and to express our condolences to families, friends, and colleagues all over the world who are struggling to come to terms with the loss of loved ones.

This incident has brought deep grief and shock to many.  It is also a stark reminder of the confronting work that needs to be done by consular and other government representatives when there is a disaster involving their citizens anywhere in the world.

Even so, the role of career and honorary consular representatives tends to be understood only in the broadest terms by many who travel or reside outside their own borders – until they find themselves in need of consular services.  And a substantial and growing number do. The Australian Government alone provides consular assistance to more than 180,000 Australians each year, and that is for a country with a relatively small population, albeit a population of inveterate and often intrepid travellers.

Providing adequate consular coverage for citizens is a challenge for all governments as more people travel more frequently to more remote places.

As you all know, Australia is well-stocked with “remote places”: visitors to Australia who suddenly find themselves in need of consular assistance can be thousands of kilometres away from their embassies in Canberra.

The network of career and honorary consuls strategically placed in State capitals like Brisbane and in regional cities like Cairns means that help is nearer at hand than would otherwise be the case. 

It is true that, even within Queensland, distances are daunting.  Flying from Brisbane to Mount Isa is equivalent to flying from London to Rome or Singapore to Bangkok. The difference is that the landscapes you fly over between Brisbane and Mount Isa are not exactly bustling with cities, towns, people – or consuls. 

Nevertheless, your presence and your work in Queensland greatly enhance the capacity of your governments to provide assistance to their citizens who are travelling or living in our State. 

That reassuring presence is, in broader terms, also of benefit to Queensland’s reputation as a destination.

Your broader roles in keeping in touch with your communities in Queensland, in celebrating significant national days, in supporting visits by your Canberra-based ambassadors and other VIPs is also of great benefit to our community.  This work supports the liveliness of our State’s multicultural communities and Queensland’s reputation as a place to visit, a place to live, and as a business partner in trade and investment.

In other words, I am very pleased you are here and value the work that you do.

I wish you well in your endeavours in this State, particularly so as the world – and in many cases your heads of government and ministers – will descend on Cairns and Brisbane in September and November respectively for the G20.  I suspect I will see very little of some of you between now and Christmas.

I look forward to meeting you again at other events, where we will be able to return some of the hospitality you have kindly offered to Kaye and me today.  

Thank you.