Honours and Awards within the Australian Honours System - Investiture Ceremony (B) for Residents of Queensland

Kaye and I extend a warm welcome to Government House to today’s award recipients, and to all those who watched and listened with pride as the individual they have come to support was presented with an honour or award.

We warmly welcome our special guests, whose presence adds yet another layer of distinction to this ceremony.  

As is the case for every investiture ceremony, the awardees and I will shortly have a group photograph taken. This tradition gives both Government House, and the awardees and their families, a record of this special day.

When we scan the faces in that photograph, and overlook the tell-tale uniforms some awardees may be wearing, we will realise that they could be any Australian.

That, in a nutshell, illustrates all that is unique about the Australian honours and awards system, and about the Australians who are invested with these honours and awards.   

There are precisely no award criteria that relate to income, status, faith, gender, origins, profession, or political affiliation.  

Anyone can be nominated. Anyone can nominate. 

Only one set of criteria is applied by the several bodies that administer these awards. And this vetting process is designed to ensure just one thing: that only those whose contribution to their community, organisation, profession, or cause is outstanding, are honoured with a national award.  

Today’s awardees have passed that stringent test with flying colours. 

And, as a group, they illustrate yet another way in which Australia’s hours and awards system is so strongly community-based – not only could they be anyone, but they could be active in any one of an enormous range of fields of endeavour.   

Today we have a special group of ‘firies’, paramedics, and emergency services personnel. 

Australia-wide, the men and women who work in these fields already rank highly among the most trusted professions in our communities. But, even in that admirable company, today’s awardees stand out because of their exemplary service.

We also have awardees who have made wonderful contributions to Australian sport – to Seniors’ Cricket, netball, rugby union, and lawn bowls.

We have an individual who has given outstanding service to the community of Moore, (an idyllic township of about 300 people, between Esk and Yarraman). 

We have an individual who is prominent in the marketing and public relations field, another who is a leading figure in eye health, and yet another who has served the Christian community in Brisbane for decades.

One of today’s awardees has made a mark in supporting the education of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Another has served the well-being of the Indian community in Queensland. And we have three others who have made prominent contributions in fields including industrial relations, financial services, and aged care reform.

By any measure, that is a gloriously eclectic group!

Returning to that group photograph, we might notice something else special about it.

It is, in fact, a snapshot of that larger group of public-minded Australians who, without fanfare or desire for recognition, make their community, their cause, their profession, better and stronger for their presence, commitment and hard work.

I extend to all of today’s awardees the gratitude of their communities, of this State and of their country. Kaye and I congratulate you whole-heartedly on the great honour bestowed on you today.

I point out that, while you still could be ‘anyone’, you actually no longer are, and that the national recognition you have received today can be used by you to inspire others.

I urge you will do just that by proudly wearing your awards, and using your post-nominals. This would be another wonderful way to serve your communities. 

Enjoy your day. You deserve to! Thank you.