Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital and RBWH Foundation 2015 Research Grant Awards and Supporter Recognition Ceremony

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. It is an honour and a privilege to join you all today to publicly recognise fellow Queenslanders whose endeavours are vitally rooted in the public interest.

I enthusiastically recognise your achievements from the position of Governor. My fundamental community roles are to highlight significant achievement and to promote those unifying elements of society that are stronger than those elements which divide us.

These unifying elements are exemplified through the work of the various members of the medical profession: to fundamentally do no harm; to advance the effulgence of the human condition; and to bring the most astute intellect to bear for the true betterment of humankind. These are crucial stipulations for a caring, inclusive society. It is my honour, as your Governor and on behalf of the people of Queensland, to promote them.

 It is an additional honour that I join you today as Patron of the RBWH Foundation. 

The Foundation provides training, education, skills-development and equipment for dedicated medical staff. This ensures that the doctors, nurses and health professionals of this Hospital are best placed to achieve their, and the Foundation’s, key purpose: optimal patient outcomes.

The ten recipients of this year’s Foundation Research Initiative Grants to whom I will shortly present certificates – and the recipients of later award categories – support a facet of Queensland’s dynamic medical landscape that is truly worthy of recognition: research.

Our State’s science and research capabilities have global dimension and reach. They are litmus keys to our future. That global reach and recognition has not come about by chance.

It has been strategic, and is largely because there are dedicated staff in research institutions, hospitals, universities, businesses and community organisations like yourselves.

Through your inspired work, you strive to solve complex national and global issues, ease human suffering, and make our State, nation and world a better place in which to live.

Finally, I wish to publicly acknowledge the dedication of the Foundation’s Chair, Board members and staff, especially those present here today. I applaud the generosity of the many donors, businesses, individuals and community groups who assist the Hospital in its life-saving work. You make these grants possible. You are all truly wonderful people.