Morning Tea for John Monash Scholars

General Sir John Monash Foundation CEO, Mr Paul Ramadge and Executive Director, Partnerships, Ms Katharine Dix Corke; Scholars; 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, and to all First Nations people here today.

As Governor of Queensland and Patron of the John Monash Foundation, I am so pleased to welcome you to Government House today to share a morning tea with our latest Queensland John Monash Scholars and their key supporters. Firstly, congratulations to you all on this wonderful achievement, and secondly, best wishes for your imminent departure to foreign shores where a new life and learning phase will begin for you. How very exciting.

To be awarded a John Monash Scholarship means an awful lot, not only to you, of course, but to all of us who will benefit from the study and the work that you undertake now and into the future. You have been awarded this scholarship because you have demonstrated academic excellence and leadership in your chosen field.

The John Monash Scholarship ‘is awarded in the spirit of General Sir John Monash, a remarkable Australian who believed that education is not given for individual benefit, but for the higher duties of citizens who seek to advance society’. 

It is this selfless mindset of applying oneself to the betterment of Australian society and culture that sits at the heart of the Foundation.

264 John Monash Scholars have to date been supported by the Foundation and you can now count yourselves among this body of influential changemakers.

In the many different fields that you inhabit, from science, academia, business, technology, the arts, engineering, health, law, Indigenous affairs and more, you will be supported and encouraged by the Foundation to do your best work, to delve deep and to find novel solutions to both age-old problems and emerging challenges.

You will open up new horizons, expand your knowledge and share your expertise with others as you continue your studies in leading universities around the world.

Foundation Member, General the Honourable Sir Peter Cosgrove AK CVO MC, considers a John Monash Scholarship as the ‘pre-eminent, onshore, home grown scholarship for Australians’, and he, like the rest of us, is very proud of both the Foundation’s growth and achievements in promoting further learning - for the demand has grown so very much.

Once again, well done and best wishes to you all.