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27th Governor of Queensland Her Excellency the Honourable Dr Jeannette Young AC PSM

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Investiture Ceremony - 9 May, 2022 (2pm)

Representing the Premier of Queensland and Minister for the Olympics, Ms Joan Pease MP; Chair, Order of Australia Association, Dr Gary Bacon AM; award recipients, ladies and gentlemen. It gives me enormous pleasure to welcome you all to Government House.

I begin by acknowledging the traditional custodians of the lands around Brisbane, the Turrbal and Jagera people, and extend respectful greetings to Elders, past, present, and emerging. I also pay my respects to the Cobble Cobble people, west of the Bunya Mountains in South West Queensland, who are represented by one of our recipients this afternoon.

Today marks the first Investiture Ceremony I have hosted as Governor here at Government House, and the first group ceremony able to be held since 2019. I am delighted by its return.

The conferring of Australian Honours and Awards is a very important part of the Governor’s duties, and one that I have been looking forward to with a great deal of anticipation, and no small degree of awe.

It is a genuine privilege to stand in this room with the 16 outstanding people who today have been recognised with one of the highest honours our country can bestow. 

The Order of Australia was first instituted by Her Majesty the Queen on 14 February 1975, but the traditions associated with it have much deeper roots.

Each badge of the Order of Australia is topped by the Crown of St Edward, which since the 13th century has been traditionally used during the moment of coronation: the ceremony marking the formal investiture of a monarch with regal power.

Queen Elizabeth II, Australia’s Head of State, was herself crowned with the St Edward’s Crown on her ascension to the throne in 1953. The appearance of the Crown on the Order of Australia badge is a symbol of the esteem in which those who are awarded the honour are held.

As you heard during the reading of the citations, today it is my pleasure to appoint a Member of the Order of Australia for significant service to international criminal investigations, and to award Medals of the Order of Australia to people across a wide range of inspiring and fascinating backgrounds.

We honour those who have made meritorious contributions to Communities across the State; to Health; to Fashion; to the irrigation industry; to Education and the performing and regional arts; to Country Music; to the Indigenous community; and to Sport including rugby union, softball, hockey and outdoor recreation.

As Governor of Queensland, I thank each one of you for the part you have played in advancing your professions, your communities and this great State. Your contributions are greatly valued.

Please accept my warmest congratulations and enjoy the hospitality of Government House.