Eidsvold State School Visit

Good afternoon everyone, what a treat it is to be invited to join you at your assembly today.

Thank you, Mr Corey Appo for welcoming us to Country. I too, would like to begin by acknowledging the Traditional Owners of the lands on which we gather and pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging and all First Nations people here today. And what a fantastic performance by your Yumbin dancers, well done! Thank you for the warm welcome and for sharing your talents.

My husband, Graeme and I are very excited to have this chance to be here and meet with you all, where you live, and perhaps even more importantly, where you learn.

One of the best parts about being Governor is visiting Queenslanders where they live and connecting with so many different people – and schools are some of my very favourite places to visit.

I have the privilege of meeting the amazing teachers, staff and students like yourselves, and I am always so impressed! I particularly enjoy meeting the young people in our communities, because you demonstrate so much enthusiasm and energy.

Since arriving this afternoon, I can already see what a tight-knit community you have here at your school and the close relationships you enjoy.

One of the wonderful things about Queensland — and a key to its success — is its diversity, geographically, culturally, linguistically and in terms of the kinds of jobs people do and the communities they live in.

It’s clear that diversity is a big part of the success of your school, too!

Not only are you co-educational and ranging in age groups from kindergarten to Year 12, you also have a focus on health and wellbeing and Indigenous language — and these are two areas that are hugely important to me, too!

We are also big believers in ensuring Queenslanders feel at home wherever they are in our State, including where we live, at Government House, which we like to call A Place for all Queenslanders.
So today, we’re proud to share with you our Government House publication of the same name, which we’ll be reading to some of the younger grades a little later.

We’ll also be sure to leave a few copies for your library so you can read it any time, and also to remind you of our visit and all the many things that connect us as Queenslanders.

Thank you all for your warm welcome.