Tattersall’s Club Honorary Members’ Lunch

President, Honorary Members, ladies and gentlemen.

President, I hope I did not presume in requesting the opportunity to speak briefly in response today.

I am sure I speak for all of us in thanking you and the Committee for our honorary membership and the generosity of this luncheon.

‘Tatts’ is a most impressive Queensland institution, now close to 140 years old, and progressive – I am sure the rule change is proving at least as beneficial as was experienced at the United Service Club and the Brisbane Club.

I felt a tad guilty in the mid-1980s when I accepted the kind offer of honorary membership – first because I knew some of my friends had been waiting – “languishing” – for years on the waiting list! And second, because of a view a Judge should not be a member of a male only club.

Yet I have been here for the long haul, a very pleasant “haul” – this is my seventh visit as Governor – and in a way, my confidence in this wonderful Club was vindicated last year.

I am particularly proud to also continue the long-standing vice-regal links with Tattersall’s, which began when our State’s first Governor, Sir George Bowen, in 1865 became the foundation Patron of the Queensland Turf Club from which this Club formally emerged in 1883.

Governors have been frequent visitors ever since – some of them, I suspect, more successful punters, in the racing sense, than others!

Ms Leneen Forde, at her first Governor’s Dinner at this fine establishment in 1993, lauded her ability to pick winners, albeit based on name only! She was particularly pleased, she recalled, when her pick ‘Justice Prevails’ was victorious in one race; as was a horse reportedly named ‘Romantic Governor’. 

Governor Arnison, I am told, frequently used the Club’s gymnasium; this Governor happily defers to the competence of his predecessors on both of those fronts!

But all Governors have shared a deep respect for the outstanding public contributions of this Club and its members, especially the honorary members we today honour.  

Our State is enhanced by your contributions, subtly fostered in these elegant Clubrooms, and for that you have my enduring support as Governor.

Congratulations to you, Mr President, and again, thank for you for this most generous occasion. As we say, “amicitia vita est”.