Study Gold Coast Reception

I am honoured to join you this evening to showcase Queensland’s beautiful Gold Coast as an innovation hub and a remarkable learning destination.                                              

Excitement is building across Queensland for the Commonwealth Games, and nowhere more so than on the Gold Coast.

Our State’s second largest city is looking forward to welcoming our friends from across the Commonwealth for two weeks of intense sporting competition in April 2018.

Born as a holiday destination, hospitality is deeply ingrained in the Gold Coast’s DNA.

But today’s Gold Coast is much more than a beautiful place to visit.

Just as the 1982 Commonwealth Games marked Brisbane’s ‘coming of age’, the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast will signal its acceleration as one of the most exciting cities in the Asia Pacific region.

And at the heart of the Coast’s innovation economy are its world-class universities, schools and training institutions.

International education and training is Queensland’s second biggest export and vital to the future prosperity of our State.

Last year, Queensland hosted more than 100,000 students, from over 160 countries.

As the first Chancellor of Queensland’s first university, my predecessor, Governor Sir William MacGregor, was quick to point out, Queensland’s universities did not commence from a standing start.

Rather they were the proud inheritors of centuries of British academic tradition.

Today the spirit of inquiry nourished in Great Britain’s ancient universities is thriving in the heart of the dynamic Gold Coast.

This heritage makes our universities and training institutions uniquely welcoming to students and academics from the British Isles, and indeed from around the Commonwealth.

Our institutions blend academic rigor with an appreciation for our ancient and living Indigenous culture and the invigorating spirit born from being located in Australia’s fastest growing regions.

International education and training is driving innovation, building a stronger economy, facilitating international diplomacy and enriching communities across Queensland.

This evening you will hear about the evolution of the Gold Coast and its thriving education and training sector from the Chief Executive Officer of the City of Gold Coast, Dale Dickson, and Study Gold Coast Chief Executive Officer, Shannon Willoughby.

As Her Majesty’s representative in Queensland, I encourage you to discover more about one of the most dynamic regions of the Commonwealth of Australia, as we all go about embracing the values and aspirations inscribed in the Commonwealth Charter, at the Games and beyond. Thank you.