The Ekka Flower and Garden Education Competition Awards (School Scarecrow, School Garden and Little Sprouts Ekka-pillar Competition)

President of the RNA, the Honourable Justice David Thomas and Mrs Jane Thomas; Member of the RNA Council and Chair of the Flower and Garden Committee, Mrs Robin McLay; Distinguished Guests; ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, good morning!

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.

I am so delighted to be here this morning to celebrate your fantastic creations and, of course, to announce the winners of the 2022 Ekka School Scarecrow, School Garden and Little Sprouts Ekka-pillar Competitions!

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have been telling wonderful stories about Australia for thousands of years, so I was thrilled when I heard that this year’s Ekka Scarecrows would have a bunyip theme.

I do hope you have enjoyed learning about Australia’s very own mythical monster. 

I also hope that you can teach Graeme and I a thing or two about this elusive creature, because I understand the winning Bunyip-scarecrows will be coming to live with us at Government House.

How exciting it will be to say; ‘We’ve got a bunyip living in our garden!’

Discovering what things are and how they work is something you will keep doing for the rest of your lives.

We learn at school with our teachers, we learn at home with our families, and another wonderful place to learn is at The Ekka.

For more than 145 years, farmers from regional Queensland have been very kindly bringing their animals and produce to the city so we can understand where our food comes from and how it is grown.

What makes the Ekka truly great is that so many people from all over Queensland take part in the enormous number of competitions and activities.

As Governor and Patron of the RNA, I would like to thank the organisation’s President, Justice Thomas, Mrs Thomas, and Brunnings for supporting this brilliant Flower and Garden Education Competition.

I also sincerely thank the families and teachers for their time and for all the extra effort it takes to participate in an event like this.

So now I think we might be getting closer to the exciting part when we announce the winners! 

But first, I congratulate all the entrants in this year’s Bunyip-Scarecrow, School Garden and Little Sprouts Ekka-pillar competitions. 

Thank you for working so hard, for helping each other, and for using your imaginations to build and grow such wonderful creatures.

Now onto the business of presenting the awards….