Opening of the Queensland Eye Institute’s new Woolloongabba premises

Chair of the Sylvia and Charles Viertel Charitable Foundation, the Honourable Justice Debra Mullins AO; Ambassador of Romania to Australia, His Excellency Mr Radu Gabriel Safta and Honorary Consul of Romania in Queensland, Mr Ciprian Popescu; Queensland Eye Institute Director and CEO, Professor Mark Radford and the Board of Directors; clinicians; staff; 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.

It is a privilege to be with you this afternoon to officially open this new Wooloongabba premises for the Queensland Eye Institute.

For over two decades under this name, the Institute, with the support of its Foundation, has been delivering exceptional care to the Queensland community, spanning the whole gamut of eye-related issues. On behalf of all Queenslanders, I thank you for the services you so ably provide.

Operating under the banner of ‘Saving sight every day’, so many people look to the Queensland Eye Institute to do just that. For the Institute is not a care facility alone; it is also a research and innovation facility that continually strives to be at the forefront of eye care knowledge.

The Queensland Eye Institute Foundation boasts bragging rights as our State’s largest independent academic research institute devoted to eye-related health and diseases and I’d like to commend the hard work and dedication of your team of clinical researchers for the work they do – day in and day out – to reduce eye disease, improve eye health, and ultimately eliminate preventable blindness in our community.

With this relocation to a new and improved home, I know that all members of the team – the Directors, the practitioners, the researchers, the administrators – feel that even more can be given to those in the community who require your services.

Beyond your practical operations involving patient surgery and care, the current research and clinical trials being led by the team here at the Institute are equally impressive.

From research focussing on the burden of eye disease in Queensland and the analysis of services that will be required throughout the state to mitigate that burden, to exploring the role of genetics in eye disease, there is much to be excited about.

I will be keeping a ‘close eye’ on your progress in these areas – excuse the pun!  

So, on that uplifting note, I am very pleased to declare the Queensland Eye Institute’s new Woolloongabba premises open and unveil this plaque to mark this important occasion.

Thank you.