Charters Towers Community Leaders Luncheon Hosted by Charters Towers Regional Council

Thank you, Deputy Mayor, for your kind introduction, and for Council’s warm hospitality in hosting today’s luncheon. Ladies and gentlemen, Kaye and I are delighted to join you today in historically significant Charters Towers. I particularly acknowledge, in relation to historical significance, the traditional custodians of these lands, the Gudjal people, and express Kaye’s and my respect to Elders.

While the fortunes of this region have waxed and waned since the discovery of gold in the 1870s, the indomitable spirit of resilience of the people of Charters Towers has remained a constant.

Like the nearby conical shaped hills – or ‘Towers’, from which this town partly derives its name, the enriching reputation of this wonderful Queensland community reaches up beyond established bounds.

Kaye and I have met many students from a number of Charters Towers’ schools exhibiting on the regional show circuit. We have always been impressed by their genuine and polite disposition, and their keen awareness of the importance of regional Queensland as part of the increasingly interconnected world – a message I know is not lost on community leaders, either, with Mayor Schmidt currently in Singapore as part of a Federal Government delegation.

We have spent a fascinating morning meeting many more students – via videolink at the School of Distance Education. We visit Blackheath & Thornborough College after lunch.

The students we have met – and no doubt those we will meet this afternoon – are a great credit to your community, as are their dedicated teachers and administrative staff.

And I know the town is particularly proud of its many schools – as indeed you should be!

This morning we also received a briefing from Council, and visited the Ambulance station and museum – another proud monument to the town’s historically aligned citizenry. This afternoon, fittingly in Seniors Week, we visit Dalrymple Villa Aged Care Facility.

Charters Towers is the fifth of 7 towns we visit this week as part of Regional Government House, from our base in Mackay.

We have been very touched by the spirit, warmth and generosity of the people of regional Queensland we have met.

Our regional towns are a vital and special part of our State’s identity; it is an honour to acknowledge that, as I do as Governor, with Kaye, on behalf of all Queenslanders.

Kaye and I look forward to meeting many of you during the course of today’s luncheon, as we continue to acknowledge your State-defining contributions.