Morning Tea in Support of The Lady Musgrave Trust

President of The Lady Musgrave Trust, Mrs Louise Kelly; Chief Executive Officer, Ms Victoria Parker and Board Members; Health and Wellbeing Queensland CEO, Dr. Robyn Littlewood; Multicultural Australia, CEO, Ms Christine Castley; distinguished guests; ladies and gentlemen.

I begin by acknowledging the original custodians of the lands around Brisbane, the Turrbal and Jagera people, and extend respectful greetings to Elders, past, present and emerging.

It gives me enormous pleasure to warmly welcome you to Government House this morning, and to acknowledge and celebrate the valuable and life-changing work of The Lady Musgrave Trust.

As one of Queensland’s oldest charities, the Trust has been supporting at-risk women and their children for over 135 years.

Over that time, the organisation has enjoyed continual Vice-Regal Patronage. It began with the highly regarded Lady Musgrave, wife of Queensland’s sixth Governor, and it is a tradition that I am humbled and enormously honoured to continue.

It is sometimes said that the true measure of a society is how it cares for its most vulnerable members – a sentiment with which I passionately agree.

Healthy, strong, educated women and mothers are fundamental to a prosperous future for our great State. Making sure all women feel safe and empowered to make positive choices about their lives and those of their children is paramount.

As we are all too aware, homelessness is a dire situation, resulting from complicated and compounding circumstances. Tragically, it impacts far too many Queensland women and their children.

Thankfully, however, through the compassionate and enduring work of the Lady Musgrave Trust, countless lives have been successfully transformed.

The organisation’s accommodation provides a safe haven for those with nowhere to go, offering them a welcome entrance to a brighter future. 

Together with inter-agency collaboration and direction from the brilliant ‘Handy Guide for Homeless Women’, navigating the road forward to safety, security and happiness has been made infinitely more achievable.

There is no one simple or final answer to solving the complex issues surrounding homelessness, and this is why the Lady Musgrave Trust’s Annual Forum is pivotal to bringing together service providers who collaborate and raise community awareness about this pressing issue.

It is with great pride that I commend the organisation, the Board, your staff, supporters and volunteers for your tireless devotion and dedication in helping some of Queensland’s most disadvantaged and vulnerable citizens.

Your priceless work is strengthening lives and giving hope.

I would now like to invite President, Lady Musgrave Trust Mrs Louise Kelly to receive the certificate of Patronage. 

Thank you.