Royal Australian Institute of Architects President’s Honours Dinner

Federal Member for Ryan, Ms Elizabeth Watson-Brown MP; Australian Institute of Architects, Queensland Chapter President, Ms Amy Degenhart; incoming President, Mr Russell Hall and CEO Professor Cameron Bruhn; graduates; distinguished guests; ladies and gentlemen.

I too, would like to begin by acknowledging the Traditional Owners of the lands around Brisbane, the Turrbal and Jagera people, and pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging, and to any First Nations people with us this morning.

Graeme and I are delighted to join members and guests of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects in Queensland for this important annual presentation evening.

When we were your guests at this dinner in 2022, I had been sworn in as Governor barely three months earlier, but my career in health administration had already given me a great appreciation of the critical importance of good architecture and design.

Consequently, it was our genuine pleasure to accept the invitation to become Patrons of the Open House movement in South-East Queensland and continue the custom of my immediate predecessor, the Honourable Paul de Jersey, in opening Government House to visitors during Open House weekend.

Government House will celebrate its 160^th birthday next year and over its lifetime, literally dozens of our State’s architects and designers have left their mark, from Benjamin Backhouse and Richard Gailey in the 19^th century to the un-named architects in the Department of Public Works who designed extensions in the 1930s, and the award-winning architects since then who have contributed other buildings and additions.

Given those 160 years of different building materials, techniques and styles, it is truly remarkable that the house has retained its integrity and functionality. Visitors to Fernberg, without realising it, become time-travellers, moving seamlessly from the 1865 dining room to the 1890 foyer, the 1937 drawing room, and the 1953 balcony, before returning to the present via a 2015 lift.

Fernberg certainly stands today as a great credit to the imagination, ingenuity and skill of the architecture profession and I commend the Royal Australian Institute of Architects, particularly the Queensland Institute, on the role that they have played for almost a century in supporting the profession through networking opportunities, professional development, mentorships, and honours and awards such as those being presented tonight.

As Governor, I am privileged to speak for all Queenslanders and, on their behalf, I congratulate all those receiving recognition through the many awards being presented tonight – the Dunbar Fellowship, the Bisset Scholarship, the Board of Australian Architects student prizes, the Queensland Institute of Architects medallions, and of course those who will be installed as honorary fellows, fellows, and life fellows.

In particular, I congratulate, in advance, the winner of the President’s Prize. For over 20 years, this award has recognised exceptional support of the architecture profession, and I thank the Institute for their continued acknowledgement of those individuals and organisations.

Finally, I congratulate and thank your retiring president, Ms Degenhart, for her service over the past two years and wish her successor Mr Hall, and the Institute itself, continued success.

Thank you.