Community Morning Tea for Elanora Flood Response and Recovery Personnel

Acting Mayor of the City of the Gold Coast, Councillor Donna Gates; Councillor Daphne McDonald; Queensland State Recovery Coordinator, Major General Jake Ellwood DSC AM CSC; Chief Executive Officer of the City of Gold Coast Council, Mr Tim Bake and Council representatives; emergency services personnel and volunteers; distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. Good morning.

I begin by acknowledging the original custodians of the lands on which we gather, and pay my respects to Elders, past, present and emerging.

Thank you all for taking time out of your busy schedules to join me here this morning.

I know your community has been through difficult times recently, with the floods affecting many, and the recovery process is still ongoing.

Yet, I also know that this event highlighted the incredible community spirit of people living in this region —proving that we are so much stronger when we come together to support each other.

In times of emergency or disaster it is greatly reassuring for the community of Elanora and the wider Gold Coast to know they have a highly skilled, trained and dedicated collective of professionals and volunteers ready for action at a moment’s notice.

It is, of course, both a blessing and a curse that we have such a well-prepared emergency response team here in Queensland, but, given the trajectory that fire and flood has taken in recent years, the work that you do is becoming ever-more critical, and the community is so very grateful to you.

One of the great privileges of being Governor is supporting and acknowledging those who demonstrate the characteristics that we as a community value the most – resilience, dedication and altruism.

Today, on behalf of all Queenslanders, I thank you for your service to your community through these challenging times, and commend you for your proactive responses which have undoubtedly eased the minds of those impacted and saved lives.

I must also acknowledge the important role Councils play in coordinating emergency responses, and I commend you for your ongoing efforts assisting in the recovery and response and providing support to members of your community to push through challenging times.

Thank you, all, for your service.