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

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Morning Tea for the 26th Governor the Honourable Paul De Jersey AC CVO KC

The 25th Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia and 24th Governor of Queensland, the Honourable Dame Quentin Bryce AD CVO; the 26th Governor of Queensland, the Honourable Paul de Jersey AC CVO KC; the 22nd Governor of Queensland, the Honourable Leneen Forde AC; State Librarian and Chief Executive Officer, State Library of Queensland, Ms Vicki McDonald AM; Queensland State Archivist, Ms Louise Howard; current and former Government House staff and speechwriters; distinguished guests; ladies and gentlemen.

I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the lands around Brisbane, the Turrbal and Jagera people, and pay my respect to Elders, past, present, and emerging, including any First Nations people here today.

A warm welcome back to Government House for this very special morning tea in honour of the Honourable Paul de Jersey and the formal presentation of public records documenting his term as our State’s 26th Governor to the State Library and Archives.

Among these beautifully bound pages, are thousands upon thousands of words spoken by Governor de Jersey across the 1,573 speeches he delivered during his term, many of which were crafted with the help of current and former speechwriters with us in the room today.

One of the very nice things about being Governor is that we have the assistance of such talented speechwriters.

The words you so eloquently spin, interweaved with thoroughly researched historical facts and traditions, light moments of humour, and clever anecdotes, help us fulfil our role of uplifting and supporting Queenslanders. You can, and should, feel proud of your contributions.

Alongside the speeches and official diary records are Governor de Jersey’s own personal memoirs as his time as Governor, documenting his personal reflections and highlights of his term.

They allow us the special privilege of being able to see the State of Queensland through its Governor’s eye.

What a unique and special gift to bequeath to our State’s collective memory, which is housed and maintained so dutifully by the dedicated and knowledgeable teams at our State Library and Archives.

It is our pleasure to host you all this morning to facilitate this special presentation; so, without further ado, I would now like to invite the Honourable Paul de Jersey to say a few words.