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

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Luncheon in Support of the Royal Queensland Regiment

Outgoing Colonel Commandant of the Royal Queensland Regiment, Brigadier Bruce Scott CSC, ADC (Retd) and incoming Colonel Commandant, Major General Stephen Porter AO; Members of the Royal Queensland Regiment and your partners, welcome.

As Governor of Queensland and Honorary Colonel of the Royal Queensland Regiment it is both an honour and a pleasure to welcome you to Government House here at Fernberg and I would like to begin by acknowledging the Original Custodians of the lands around Brisbane, the Turrbal and Jagera people, and extend my respects to Elders, past present and emerging.

Thank you all for joining Graeme and me for this significant Luncheon for the command teams of the Regiment, and it is particularly gratifying to have both the Outgoing and Incoming Colonel Commandants present today.

I also note that the Commanding Officers and Regimental Sergeant Majors of each of the Battalions – the 9th, the 25th/49th and the 31st/42nd are with us along with the Commander, Deputy Commander and Regimental Sargeant Major of the 11th Brigade.

It does perhaps beg the question; ‘who’s minding the store?’ But if there is one thing I know about the Military in general and the ADF in particular, it is that Command, Control and Delegation are in your DNA and I am confident your absence today is covered!

 This small event is really to recognise that the success of any military unit in both peacetime and in war is always a function of sound management - Command, Control and Planning.

I commend the work you do as the Command teams in the various elements of the Regiment and wish you every success in what is an ongoing challenge.

While both Graeme and I have medical backgrounds, we are not unfamiliar with the military.

Graeme served for 17 years in the active reserve and a further 17 years in the stand-by reserve. Both his Grandfathers served in World War One and his father in World War Two. But Graeme has all bases covered with a brother who served 20 years in the RAN and another who did 45 years in the RAAF.

My own military involvement is less direct. However, my grandfather was in the East India Company and the Dutch Army in World War II. He was captured at the fall of Singapore and subsequently worked on the Burma Railway for the remainder of the war. My grandmother, my mother and the rest of the family were interned in a POW camp for the duration.

Unsurprisingly, that in spite of being born in peacetime Australia, my upbringing was tempered and shaped by this vicarious military experience.

And as some of you know, we are both very proud of our daughter Jane who joined the ADF Army Reserve after graduating from University, and is currently serving six-months full-time as a recruit platoon commander at Kapooka.

I mention this only to illustrate that like many Queenslanders who have not actively served, I have strong military connections but more than that, a deep and abiding respect for those who do serve.

And, in the case of the Regiment, respect for those who have served actively in the Boer War, and both World Wars with honour ‘Pro Aris Et Focis’ For ‘Hearth and Home’ – for the people of Queensland.

I am both humbled and honoured to be ‘Honorary Colonel of the Regiment’, an appointment I value deeply.

We at Government House consider it a great privilege to offer you hospitality on behalf of the people of Queensland – and on their behalf, I thank you for your service.