2017 Scouts’ Awards Presentation

Our Queensland President, Mr Gavin Brady, and Chief Commissioner, Mr Daryl Scott; other distinguished guests; ladies and gentlemen; boys and girls.

Kaye and I are tremendously pleased to welcome you all to Government House today, in both my capacities as Governor and as Chief Scout of Queensland, and for Kaye, also, in her capacity as Patron of Girl Guides Queensland.

I am very proud to serve as your Chief Scout – a role that I know is very important to the Scouting movement in Queensland, having served as a Cub, then Scout, in the Corinda Troop in the early 1960s.

I can truly say: Once a Scout, always a Scout!

The first Queensland Governor to serve as Chief Scout was Sir William MacGregor, and ever since then, the Governors of Queensland, with their spouses, have sought to encourage, support and challenge local Scouts to become the best they can be.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, whom I represent here in Queensland, once said that: “Scouting is a global force for good. Scouts are helping others and making the most of their lives.”

No one better exemplifies Her Majesty’s aspiration for Scouting than our Queens’ Scouts and Baden Powell Award winners.

You come from all over our vast State – from as far away as Longreach to the West to Calliope in the North, from the Gold and Sunshine Coasts and, of course, from here in Brisbane.

While you have very diverse backgrounds and interests, you share something very special: you have displayed commitment to your communities and to your own personal growth, you have demonstrated leadership and service to others, and you have engaged in adventure with initiative and enthusiasm.

You have certainly earned the awards you receive today, and I hope you will take great pride in them, as your parents, your family and friends, your Scout Leaders and your community take great pride in you.

In receiving these awards you will also become role models for younger Scouts.

Never doubt the power of a good example!

Within Scouting, the greatest example of service-before-self comes from the Adult Leaders without whom there simply would be no Scouting movement, and so I pay particular tribute today to our National President’s Award recipient, Mrs Jeanette Lowick… and to our Deputy State Commissioner, Ms Jean Clifford, who I was proud to invest into the Order of Australia just last month.

It is my hope that all of you will continue to be engaged in our Queensland Scouting community into the future, and you will use your impressive talents and abilities to encourage young Scouts to face new challenges and find new passions and purposes.

For today, I hope that each and every one of you enjoys this ceremony and the hospitality of Government House, for you have most definitely earned it.

Congratulations!