Afternoon Reception for Haemophilia Foundation Queensland

Haemophilia Foundation President, Mr David Stephenson;

Minister for Police and Minister for Corrective Services, the Honourable Mark Ryan MP;

Members of Parliament; Councillor Howard; Distinguished Guests; Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure for Kaye and me to welcome you here to Government House and to join the members and guests of Haemophilia Foundation Queensland in marking World Haemophilia Day.

The theme chosen for this year’s World Haemophilia Day – “Sharing Knowledge Makes Us Stronger” – is a deceptively simple statement, but one with great power and potential to shape research, to drive improvements in care, and ultimately, to drive us closer to a cure.

The modern world is drenched in information, but too often, it seems, true knowledge is scarce.

“Knowledge” is defined as the deep understanding of a subject, acquired either through experience or education. The idea of “knowledge” connotes comprehension, mastery and justified belief.

Information – as anyone who has spent even a moment on social media can tell you, is a much more common, and often, and altogether less useful thing.

I don’t want to dismiss social media – quite the opposite, because as Governor I’ve instituted our use of social media channels including Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

In my experience these channels are most powerful and most useful when they are paired with real knowledge, so I commend the Foundation’s efforts to use social media and other avenues to share your expert knowledge of treatment services with people diagnosed with bleeding disorders, and to help them share knowledge with each other through support groups.

The website, the social media channels, the “Factored in” Youth Community, the H Factor newsletter – all of these are vital initiatives to ensure that Queenslanders with bleeding disorders are empowered with real knowledge about available services, new treatments, pain control and social support.

They are also vital to build awareness in the wider community and generate support for fundraising – and I can assure you, as your Patron, of my very strong support for these endeavours.

Today we will honour three outstanding Queenslanders - Dr Rowell, Mr Roberts and Miss Jensen - all working in different ways to support people with bleeding disorders. Taken together, their work is a marvellous demonstration of the theme: Sharing Knowledge Makes Us Stronger.

I congratulate and thank you all, and I hope you enjoy this Reception, in honour of your annual ‘red letter day’.

Thank you.