Boys’ Brigade and Girls’ Brigade Queensland Queen’s Badge Awards 2022

Boys’ Brigade Queensland State President, Mr Gordon Wallace OAM; Executive Chairman, Mr Jason Knight and Deputy President, Mr Aaron Palmer; Girls’ Brigade Queensland State Commissioner, Mrs Cindy-Lee Robertson, Chair of the Queen's Award Committee, Miss Lauren James; Deputy State Commissioner, Ms Joanna Waites and Regional Commissioner, Brisbane South Region, Mrs Alison Jacobsen; Queen’s Badge Award recipients; your family and friends; distinguished guests; ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls.  

I begin by acknowledging the original custodians of the lands around Brisbane, the Turrbal and Jagera people, and pay my respect to Elders, past, present, and emerging. I extend that respect to any First Nations people here with us today.

It is a great pleasure for Graeme and I to welcome you all here this evening. We take special delight in welcoming young Queenslanders to Government House, and particularly this small, select group of highly motivated young people – the recipients of the 2022 Queen’s Badge Awards.

There could be no finer venue in which to honour your achievement than here at Government House – the people’s house – aptly named Fernberg which is German for ‘distant hill’.

As I was contemplating this evening’s event, I realised that beyond recognising your great achievements, your awards this evening are unique in a special way, for they are the ‘Queen’s Badge Awards,’ yet we are now of course in the reign of a King: King Charles the Third.

It will not be until later in 2023 and after the Coronation that the ‘new’ King’s Badge Awards will be finalised. This means you are among the very last to receive the ‘Queen’s Award’ and among the very, very few who will receive the award during the reign of a King.

In the years to come, I trust that you will think on that, and perhaps think of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second and remember that her 70-year reign, and indeed her whole life, was characterised by service – service to her role, to her family and especially, service to the people of Queensland and the Commonwealth.

As holders of an award in her name, I hope you in your own way, emulate her example and make service to your family, your community and to all humankind, a watchword, as your future unfolds.  

And while we’re on the subject of service, I’m sure you will also take the time to reflect on those who believed in you and guided you on this journey.

Like the mountaineer – you have summitted by your own efforts. But also like the mountaineer, you could never have achieved it without the support and encouragement of those closest to you. They were the ones who believed in you when you became discouraged and guided you when you faltered. They helped you acquire the skills and determination you needed to achieve this highest of goals.

On your behalf, and as Patron of the Girls’ Brigade and the Boys’ Brigade in Queensland, I pay tribute to your Brigade leaders and mentors, and to your family and friends who journeyed with you and to whom you owe a great debt of gratitude.

And if I may continue the mountaineering analogy, Sir Ed Hillary famously said, ‘It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves!’

I congratulate you all on your personal conquest and may your success encourage you on life’s journey and the challenges that lie ahead.

Thank you, and congratulations. I am honoured to be presenting you with your Queen’s Badge Awards this evening.