Afternoon Reception in Honour of State Member for Stretton, Mr Duncan Pegg MP

Representing the Premier, Minister Grace; Minister Furner; Mr Pegg; distinguished guests; Kaye and I welcome you all to Government House for this special reception in honour of Duncan Pegg. We are particularly delighted to welcome so many members of the Pegg extended family – especially parents, Graham (Senior) and Lindsey, and sibling triplets, Graham (Junior), Grant and Cameron. The Premier regrets her inability to be here.

I at once acknowledge the traditional owners of these lands and extend respectful greetings to Elders and emerging leaders.

The residents of Stretton first elected Duncan as their representative in January 2015 and, for the past six years, he has been a passionate advocate for this diverse but close-knit community and for the multiculturalism that helps define it.

As Duncan has reminded the Parliament on many occasions in almost 160 speeches since 2015, Stretton has the highest proportion of people born overseas of any of Queensland’s 93 electorates.

Duncan’s commitment to diversity and racial tolerance has not only been a feature of his years as a Member of Parliament; it has been one of the defining characteristics of his life since he first became politically active as a 17-year-old. It’s that care and dedication that was fittingly recognised by the Queensland Intercultural Society when they awarded him their Queensland Public Service Award in 2017.

Duncan’s professional and political life reflect the core values he absorbed as one of five boys in a hard-working, middle-class family.

The fundamental belief that studying and working hard can open the door to opportunity produced a young lawyer who would become the ideal champion for the community of Stretton… and a young lawyer at whose admission ceremony I had the great privilege of presiding as Chief Justice in 2003.

It is one of those serendipitous coincidences of history that a person with Duncan’s values and background has represented an electorate named after a man of the same stamp –

George Stretton, the hard-working farmer, hotelier and committed local who served as the first postmaster at Browns Plains.

As Governor, I am privileged to speak for all Queenslanders, and on their behalf, particularly the residents of Stretton, I acknowledge Duncan’s fine contribution as a Member of Parliament, thank him for his service, and wish him and his family well as they confront the challenging time ahead.

Thank you.