Honours and Awards within the Australian Honours System: Investiture Ceremony B

Kaye and I warmly welcome to Government House today our awardees, their proud and excited families and friends, and our special guests.

I at once acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the lands on which we gather, the Turrbul and Jagera people, and pay respect to their Elders past and present – with encouragement to their young emerging leaders.

As we listened to the Official Secretary read out the citations for each of today’s awardees, the most characteristic feature of the Australian Honours System became more and more evident. 

Australians hardly notice it, but those not familiar with our honours system may see an inherent contradiction.

Today, our awardees have received our country’s highest honours and awards, presented by their Governor.

And yet, despite this high-level recognition and well-deserved attention, today’s award recipients could probably walk the streets of most places in our State, unrecognised.

But I emphasise ‘most’, because there are specific places, professions, and communities in which they would most certainly be known.  

For instance, if we were to mention the appropriate names in circles familiar with the creative merging of art and science, or among those familiar with action learning in education, there would be immediate recognition.

Were we to propose particular names in professional circles such as molecular bioscience, research into cystic fibrosis, or gastroenterology, there would again be ready recognition.

If we ‘dropped’ the right names when speaking of community health in Hervey Bay, of support for people living with mental illness, of rugby union in Central Queensland, support for veterans in northern New South Wales, Kodaly music education and choirs, or in Uniting Church circles around Sandgate, these names would be well known.

If we spoke in the right places of the work of Queensland Fire and Emergency Services in the Callide Valley, of technical rescue capabilities in that same organisation, of the Rural Fire Service fire warden network, or of that service’s work on the Gold Coast, names we have heard today would be recognised and admired.

If we spoke in the right circles of personnel from the Queensland Ambulance Service supporting ‘Schoolies’, of disaster management following Cyclone Debbie, of clinical support education, patient transport in South-East Queensland, or responses to critical incidents in the Logan region, there would be smiles and nods.

And if were we to speak of support for Queenslanders living with specific chronic conditions including AIDS, or of high-level arts administration in South-East Queensland, certain names would undoubtedly ‘ring bells’. 

In other words, our awardees’ names and faces would be recognised where it matters, in the communities where they have made a difference though selfless service, conspicuous achievement and outstanding professionalism.

What is more, our awardees’ contributions matter well beyond their individual fields of endeavour.

Their work in our communities, and the work of others like them, is the ultimate source of the strength, resilience, creativity, and compassion that characterise Queensland and its people.  

In that light, we see that there is no contradiction at all in the fact that today’s awardees may not be widely-recognised, but they thoroughly deserve the national recognition they have received.

Not only is there no contradiction, but this ‘grass roots’ aspect of our honours and awards system is its greatest strength, which we value and celebrate. 

Speaking for all Queenslanders, I join Kaye in extending our heartiest congratulations to awardees on the great honour done to them today.

All Queenslanders are deeply in your debt for the marvellous and invaluable contributions you have made to the well-being of our State.

Thank you, most sincerely, for all you have done.