Indooroopilly State High School End of Year Speech Night

Executive Principal, Mrs O’Reilly; distinguished guests; ladies and gentlemen; girls and boys.

Thank you for welcoming me so warmly to this evening’s Speech Night. It is a privilege and pleasure, as your Governor, to share this special occasion with you. 

I too acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands on which we gather, extending respectful greetings to Elders and emerging leaders.

Speech nights are ‘rites of passage’ and, as such, are occasions to celebrate – hence we were treated to that rousing performance by the School’s impressive Symphony Orchestra. 

However, speech nights also offer all of us a chance to reflect on our own experience. 

In my case, schooling gave me a rare perspective on the twin processes of teaching and learning because both of my parents were teachers. 

I saw their daily frustrations and challenges, and learned quickly that, for excellence to flourish and for success to be achieved, everyone needs to share commitment to the same goals, and mutual respect and equality need to be nurtured and practised.

In one particular primary school that my brothers and I attended, our mother was a teacher and my father the Principal.

In such a situation, many would expect a degree of favouritism to prevail but the contrary was the case. We were treated no differently from any of our classmates – everyone knew that if we had dared claim that the dog had eaten our homework, we could expect the same repercussions as anyone else.

Those early experiences of fairness, equality and respect for all were great life lessons that have remained with me throughout my career in the law and during my six years as Governor of Queensland.

Here at ‘Indro’, your values are precisely stated: dignity, diversity, open communication and quality learning.

I trust that you will look back on your years here and recall how important those principles have been in your lives. 

Values are given such a strong focus in schools not only because of their importance in the school setting but because they are critical to success beyond the school gate. I trust that tonight’s graduating class will discover this as they pursue further study, enter the workforce, and go on to find their niche in life. 

I am very pleased to have been invited to present awards tonight to the two Duxes.

I take this opportunity to commend the Principals, teachers, and parents on the excellent outcomes that have been achieved in this most challenging of years.

But above all, I congratulate every Year 12 graduate and wish each of you future success, wherever life’s path may lead you.