Investiture Ceremony for the Chief Commissioner of Scouts Queensland – Mr Daryl Scott

Our Australian Chief Commissioner Mr Chris Bates and President Major General John Pearn; our newly installed State Chief Commissioner, Daryl Scott; Executive Committee Members; my former judicial colleague the Honourable Glen Williams, Vice President of Scouts Queensland; other distinguished guests; ladies and gentlemen. I am delighted to be here today, as is Kaye, to officiate at this very significant occasion, both for you personally, Daryl, and for Scouts Queensland.

Over the past two and a half years of my tenure as Governor, and as Chief Scout and a former scout myself, I have taken a strong interest in the health of the Scouting movement in our State.

Most recently, when I was in Longreach for Regional Government House, I celebrated the 100^th birthday of Cub Scouting with the first troop to be founded in Queensland outside the Brisbane metropolitan area.

Despite this significant anniversary – and despite the decades of dedicated service to the movement by leader John Palmer – there was less talk about the past, and more about the excitement of the present and the promise of the future.

And that is as it should be, because a Youth Movement like Scouting should be about seizing the moment, and grasping the opportunities available for adventure, excitement and learning.

Chief Commissioner, I was pleased to hear you say in your video presentation on the Scouts Queensland website that “The Scout program is as relevant today as it was 100 years ago”.

I wholeheartedly agree.

Of course there are challenges ahead, particularly if we want to extend the adventure of Scouting to all the young Queenslanders who could benefit from this wonderful program. 

Your experience as an electrical engineer, managing change throughout those complex systems, will stand you in good stead as you position Scouts Queensland for a positive future.

And while the challenges facing Scouting are certainly real, I suggest that none can be too daunting for a man who has conquered the Oodnadatta track!

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank outgoing Commissioner Kirsty Brown for her support to me, as Chief Scout, over the past two and a half years.

It is consistent with her professionalism that she has conducted a thorough and conscientious handover, and I thank her for her service to Scouting and to Queensland.

This is very much Daryl Scott’s day. But I know he will pardon my interpolating an expression of congratulations to Major General Pearn upon his being presented by our Head of State, Her Majesty The Queen, at Buckingham Palace only a few days ago, with the King Edward VII Cup, Royal Life Saving’s highest award: a noted pediatrician, John Pearn conspicuously led the campaign which led to compulsory fencing of backyard pools. But his public contribution has been multifaceted – I recently referred to him in a speech, I hope not presumptuously, as a ‘polymath’: congratulations Major General Pearn. Now back to core business…

Chief Commissioner Scott, today is a very proud day for you and your family.

As you take on this office, you do so with the very best of goodwill from the 15,000 scouts and adult members in Queensland.

As Chief Scout, and on behalf of Kaye, as Patron of Girl Guides Queensland, I congratulate you and wish you well as you formally begin your tenure as Chief Commissioner of Scouts Queensland.