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Farewell to Queensland

By Wendy McCarthy AO - posted Thursday, 31 July 2008


The essence of all of these things, we can carry with us, into our separate and collective lives. They are a template for living and working and giving. They dispense with distinctions that serve only to divide. They make room for collaboration that produces the very best of commerce and philanthropy, volunteerism and professionalism, community engagement and rebuilding. Simple gifts exchanged.

They are our genuine response to Oodgeroo’s urging for change. And they are the foundation of a maturing Queensland.

As our population grows, shifts and ages, as families and households change, as economies prosper and falter, and while disability and disease, poverty, homelessness, discrimination, conflict and natural devastation remain as much a part of human civilisation as the generation of profit, we are returning to the values and principles that will help us to adapt our thinking, to open our minds to better solutions, and to ensure the future health and sustainability of a fair and just Queensland society.

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These are challenging issues. We are, today, a sophisticated, highly tuned society - and I think all Queenslanders have a strong sense of that - but we know too of our responsibility to use and share our bounty carefully and well.

There are many, many people who have helped to bring me to this point, one week from the end of my term as Queensland’s 24th Governor.

Their contributions are as diverse and far reaching as the State itself - they sit before me and elsewhere - and deserve more than the fleeting acknowledgement I can offer them here this evening.

Please believe me when I say that at some stage over the last five years I have let each of them know the deep sense of gratitude and indebtedness I feel for the support they have given me.

Tonight, I stand on their shoulders.

And, always, I remain in the safe and loving embrace of my husband, Michael, our children and grandchildren, my siblings and extended family, my dear friends. They are the heart and soul of me.

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Ladies and gentlemen, there is another job for me to soon begin. Another privilege of the highest order. A challenge that Sir Zelman Cowan said “intellectually stretched him - his knowledge, experience and capacity constantly called on and tested.”

Once more, I have as much to learn as I have to offer.

And now, my friends, I must take time to prepare. Thank you.

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This is an edited version of Quentin Bryce's farewell speech at the Gallery of Modern Art, Queensland, on Sunday, July 20, 2008.



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About the Author

Wendy McCarthy AO began her career as a secondary school teacher and remains passionate about the power of education. For four decades she has been a teacher, educator and change agent in Australian public life.

In 2005 she was nominated by the Sydney Morning Herald as one of Australia’s Top 100 Public Intellectuals. She has worked with government, corporations and community based organisations in education, women’s issues, public health, heritage, media and waste management and she has held national leadership roles in all of these areas. It is this eclectic combination that gives her a unique profile and network nationally and internationally. She has represented Australia at conferences on women’s health and leadership, education, broadcasting, conservation and heritage and for four years was Chair of the Advisory Committee of WHO Kobe Centre, Japan.

In 2005 Wendy completed a decade as Chancellor of the University of Canberra. Wendy was a founding member of the Australian Chancellors’ Conference. Her corporate advisory practice, McCarthy Mentoring, specialises in providing mentors to major corporations and the public sector.

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