Boys’ and Girls’ Brigades Queensland Presentation of Queen’s Badges

Kaye and I are delighted to welcome you here today on this very proud occasion for the fine young Queenslanders who have qualified for the Queen’s Badge and Award this year, and for their families and Brigade leaders.

As Patron of the Boys’ Brigade and the Girls’ Brigade here in Queensland and representative of Her Majesty The Queen in our State, it is both a pleasure and privilege to present these awards on the Queen’s behalf.

Of course these accolades have not always had ‘Queen’ in their title because there have been four Kings of the United Kingdom as well as two Queens since the Boys’ Brigade was established.

But the Girls’ Brigade will be pleased to know that, despite being outnumbered two to one in sheer numerical terms, it is those two great women (Queen Elizabeth the Second and Queen Victoria) who have had the longest and strongest association with the Brigades.

Our current monarch has been the global patron of the Brigades throughout her wonderfully long reign, and the award itself was established in the name of her great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria.

I do hope the boys and men here today will forgive me for focusing on these two women monarchs.  I am doing so because they are superb role models for us all – male or female, whatever our age or experience.

Victoria, for example, was far from the humourless, one-dimensional person some see in her portraits.

Consider these facts about her life: she became Queen at the age of just eighteen; she reigned for almost sixty-four years; she knitted socks and mittens for soldiers during the Crimean War; she supported many charities; and she was greatly interested in technology – today, she would almost certainly have had a smart phone and a Twitter account!

In short, she demonstrated enormous dedication, leadership, strength of character, courage, perseverance, determination, compassion, commitment to serving the community, and willingness to embrace new experiences. Those same qualities characterise our own Queen, and I hope the example set by both of these splendid women will continue to inspire and guide you.

I once again congratulate each of the recipients and thank their families and leaders for supporting them in their quest. Kaye and I look forward to meeting you all.