Guide Dogs Queensland 2015 Guide Dog Team Graduation

Good afternoon. I too acknowledge our Deputy Premier and elected representatives. Thank you for the very warm welcome you have all extended to Kaye and me. We are very pleased to join the class of twenty-fifteen on the red carpet today for this marvellous celebration.

I can think of no more fitting way to mark International Guide Dog Day than to have the graduating teams publicly acknowledged in this formal ceremony. You have needed a great deal of determination and patience, and have had to spend many hours in one another’s company to form the essential bond of trust and develop the skills required for graduation. Today, any frustrations and set-backs along the way can be forgotten as your perseverance is rewarded – congratulations!

This is my first official duty as Patron of Guide Dogs Queensland since my appointment as Governor, so the experience is a very new and exciting one for both Kaye and me.

We have been particularly struck by the wonderful names of the canine team members – and have been pleased to see that naming a guide dog has not followed the trend set by celebrity parents when naming their children. No one here has been named Apple, or Ocean, or Blanket; every one of the names chosen for these remarkable, intelligent animals is traditionally associated with the qualities we need and expect in an assistance dog: dependability, courage and friendliness.

Could anyone not feel comforted with Sally or Nessie as a companion? Who could not feel safe when guided by such stalwart Scots as Hamish, Gordon, or Lockie—or any of the other nine, carefully named Guide Dogs in this year’s graduating class?

The care taken in naming each puppy is symptomatic of the ethos which has guided this great Queensland organisation since it was established in nineteen-sixty.

It’s a spirit that has produced exceptionally committed staff and, over the past sixty-five years, has seen many hundreds of volunteers dedicate their time and passion to ensuring the future of Guide Dogs Queensland.

It has also led to generous donations and bequests from individuals, as well as support from businesses which value the integrity and reputation of the organisation. When it costs more than thirty thousand dollars to breed and train each dog, that support is vital if Guide Dogs Queensland is to continue its commitment to providing services free of charge for more than two and a half thousand blind or vision-impaired people in our State.

Today’s ceremony is not only public recognition of the achievement of our graduating teams, it is an opportunity to acknowledge everyone who has contributed to ensuring yet another successful cohort of Guide Dogs and Breeding Program graduates.

As Governor, I am privileged to be able to speak on behalf of all citizens of Queensland. It’s a privilege I take very seriously and today, on behalf of Queenslanders everywhere, I sincerely thank everyone in the wide network of support that surrounds each graduating team member: the staff and Board of Guide Dogs Queensland; the volunteers, donors and sponsors; the puppy raisers; the instructors; and the family members and friends who provide such care and encouragement in the never-ending quest for independence, equitable access, acceptance and freedom for those living with blindness or vision impairment.

I look forward to the rest of today’s ceremony, especially to hearing Guest Speaker Hayden Smith and to meeting each of you after the ceremony. Congratulations again.