Reception for the Order of St John for the Investiture and Presentation of Awards

As Deputy Prior of the Order of St John in Australia, it is my great pleasure, and Kaye’s, too, to welcome you all to Government House for this important occasion.

That we gather in the Investiture Room – where just yesterday I was invested as a Knight of Grace of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem, and where I present worthy Queenslanders with honours and awards under the Australian honours system – makes today all the more meaningful.

There is an additional layer of significance to my welcoming you here today: St John is a Royal Order of Chivalry with The Queen as its Sovereign Head; as Governor, I am The Queen’s representative in our State.

The four postulants I will shortly invest into the Order are joining a truly remarkable network of distinguished volunteers dedicated to community service.

It is a network that, through their benevolent activities, most conspicuously, I suggest, through the St John Ambulance, musters an indomitable spirit. This enables them to enlarge, with distinction, the entirely respectable maxims: 'For the Faith and in the Service of Humanity.'

I also have the honour of promoting or presenting with awards a further six members of the Order. Their distinguished service indicates they continually go ‘above and beyond’. There is no doubting that, along your journeys, you have been ably assisted by mentors, volunteers and leaders, both within the Order and from your families; you all rightly deserve commendation.

As Governor, I seek to support and encourage the advancement of everyone in this great State. This plainly involves encouraging our peers to make the most of their capacities so they may reach their full potential. This is a crucial stipulation to ensuring our communities are nurturing and compassionate.

I am aided in this duty immeasurably by dedicated organisations like the Order of St John.

It is therefore with great pleasure that I congratulate our award recipients on the signal honour the Order has accorded them today. Kaye and I also thank wholeheartedly, on behalf of the Queensland and the broader Australian community, everybody involved in today’s ceremony; having demonstrated exemplary service, you are all truly wonderful Queenslanders.