Official Visit to Kalkie State School

Mayor, Cr Dempsey; Principal, Mrs Findlay; staff; student leaders; girls and boys; members of the Kalkie State School family.

I begin by acknowledging the Traditional Owners and First Nations peoples of the lands on which we are gathered. I pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging.

Visiting schools such as yours is always a great joy. It is one of my most important duties as Governor.  

Some schools I visit have been around for well over 100 years – in fact, Kalkie State School, which was opened in 1878, is one of the oldest schools I have visited. 

The central role of a Governor is to represent Her Majesty The Queen – our Head of State.

There are a number of constitutional duties a Governor must perform. These are tasks which are essential to how our system of government works. 

There are also a great many ceremonial duties a Governor performs, such as celebrating and recognising the work of outstanding citizens and attending special events like ANZAC Day.  

But perhaps my favourite part of being Governor is connecting directly with our communities – an activity I am doing here today in Bundaberg and in this region this week!

Our communities are so important, they are like a big extended family – our neighbours, our friends, our schools, even our teachers. 

A community is more than the place we live and where we get our groceries; our community is a place to call home where we can feel safe and supported, and proud to tell people that we belong.

I have seen that your School has been promoting a word of the week (yes, your Governor does look at Facebook!).

And I would like to propose the word “community” as a contender for a future word of the week.

I know this School is a wonderful community. It is reflected in your motto: “Achieving Success Together”.

And later this week you will have another special parade, to farewell two inspiring educators, Mrs Morrison and Mrs Santo, who have together given more than 50 years’ service to this School. What a remarkable achievement. How inspiring that you celebrate together.

Thank you, girls and boys, for welcoming me to Kalkie State School today. I look forward very much to shortly speaking to the Year 6K class, and also reading to you a special children’s book about Gavel, the Vice-Regal Dog, who now happily greets members of the wider Queensland community at Government House.