Official Visit to Macleay Island State School

Good morning and thank you for such a warm welcome. This is my first visit to your school, indeed I believe it is the first ever visit to Macleay Island State School by a Queensland Governor.  My wife Kaye and I are so thrilled to be here.

I at once acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands and seas of Brisbane and Moreton Bay, and extend respectful greetings to Elders and emerging leaders. I thank students for the Acknowledgement of Country sung in the Indigenous Jandai language.

Macleay Island is such a special part of Queensland, and I am sure this must be a quite magical place to live and go to school.

You would certainly be the envy of many students from the mainland!

I am fortunate that my role as Governor, The Queen’s representative, allows me to travel throughout Queensland and meet students experiencing school in many different ways.

Just a few weeks ago I visited schools in Camooweal and Dajarra, which are tiny communities in the Outback near Mount Isa – Dajarra State School is much smaller than your school, it has only 18 students!

The settings could not be more different from Macleay Island.

Instead of Moreton Bay and sandy banks, students in the outback are surrounded by endless plains of red and the biggest blue skies you can imagine.

Many students from these areas have never seen the ocean, let alone fished from a boat or taken a swim.

Yet even though the landscapes are very different, all students in Queensland come to school each day for the same reason – to learn.

Learning can sometimes feel like a lot of hard work.

But the reason why it is important to come to school each day is because learning gives you the freedom to choose what you want to do when you get older.

It might be to work here on Macleay Island and give back to your community or to others.

You might like to visit the outback and see it for yourself. 

Or you might like to set sail and discover what other adventures the world has in store.

Whatever you might want to do, trying your best at school is a great place to start.

So, I encourage all of you to learn, to listen and to have fun on your journey here at school.

And don’t forget to thank your teachers, and your Principal, Mrs Seawright – they are a source of great support for you all, and have clearly done a wonderful job in nurturing well-behaved and attentive students.

Once again, thank you all for welcoming Kaye and me to Macleay Island State School. We very much look forward to shortly touring classrooms at this warmly friendly school. Thank you.