Dinner in Support of Regional Mayors, March 2025

Mayors and your partners; Director-General, Department of Local Government, Water and Volunteers, Ms Linda Dobe, and Deputy-Director General, Mr Joshua Hannan; CEO of the Queensland Reconstruction Authority, Major General Jake Ellwood DSC AM CSC (Retd); CEO of the Local Government Association Queensland, Ms Alison Smith; distinguished guests; ladies and gentlemen.

I begin by acknowledging the Original Custodians of the lands around Brisbane, the Turrbal and Jagera people, and pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging.

Graeme and I – indeed the entire Government House team – are delighted to welcome you are here tonight for this special dinner in recognition of the important contributions Queensland’s regional mayors make to our State.

Here at Government House, we have traditionally referred to the duties of the Governor in terms of “the three Cs” – constitutional, ceremonial, and community.

As the representative of our Head of State, King Charles the Third, my constitutional role is naturally paramount, but when I was sworn in in November of 2021, I made a pledge to try to visit Queenslanders wherever they lived in our vast State during my term – and it is that contact with communities and individuals that has given Graeme and me both the greatest pleasure and the greatest insights into the lives of Queenslanders.

Previous Governors have responded to the challenge of making and maintaining community contact in different ways… Back in 1911, Sir William MacGregor visited coastal communities as far north as Mossman on the government yacht, Lucinda. 

Three decades later, Governor Wilson travelled by train in the special railway coach used by the Duke of Gloucester.

And my immediate predecessor, Paul de Jersey AC, augmented his regular program of regional visits by instigating the concept of a Regional Government House under which all operations of the Office of the Governor were relocated to a different regional centre for a week during each year of his term.

Fortuitously, Governor de Jersey’s term of office also saw the refurbishment of our historic heritage quarters where some of you are staying tonight. For the first time, this enabled a Governor to reciprocate the hospitality extended during regional visits, and to thank regional councils for organising relevant, informative itineraries.

Governor de Jersey immediately seized this opportunity to begin this wonderful tradition of special dinners where regional Mayors can enjoy time informally with their peers and with representatives of the Local Government Association and relevant State government bodies.

It’s a tradition I’ve been delighted to continue, and this is the seventh occasion on which Graeme and I have hosted a dinner in support of regional Mayors. We are pleased that so many of you have been able to accept our invitation tonight, especially when so many councils are still feeling the impact of this summer’s rain and floods.

Your hard work, dedication and leadership in these challenging times is exceptional and it is a genuine pleasure for us to be able to acknowledge and thank you all in this way, on behalf of all Queenslanders.

Just last week, Graeme and I visited the Lockyer Valley where everyone had pitched in to help with the clean-up after the sixth flood in 12 years. It came after similar such visits to the Redlands, Logan, the Gold Coast, East Brisbane and Ipswich.

In Laidley, the community had gathered to meet us at the local pub and there was a cheerful buzz of conversation in the room, but one comment has stayed with me – and I will leave it with you tonight.

It came from a young mum, baby on her hip, who said: “We came here for the job opportunities; we stayed for the community.”

Those few words sum up the passion and belief that drives our regional communities and inspires you all as leaders, and for that, I thank you.

Bon Appetit.