Josh Burns (Macnamara, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I begin with a story about an encounter from Buckingham Palace. Madeleine Buchner, a local from Melbourne, received a call in 2016 to say that she was to meet Queen Elizabeth. Madeleine was given the honour after being accepted into the 2017 Queen's Young Leaders program. From Madeleine's own experiences growing up as a carer for her brother and her mum, Madeleine saw the need to support other carers, and she tried to fill that need. She created an organisation called Little Dreamers. Little Dreamers supports people who provide unpaid care for a family member affected by disability, chronic or mental illness, addiction or frail age. And so Madeleine set off to meet the Queen. After 10 days in London, the finale of the Queen's Young Leaders program was a gathering at Her Majesty's residence. After almost two hours of etiquette lessons, Madeleine entered the famous ballroom at Buckingham Palace. With a touch of elegant fanfare, the Queen walked into the room with Prince Harry. Harry, being almost six feet two, was easily seen by the crowd, but, because Her Majesty was only five foot four, Madeleine could only see the royal monarch's head bobbing along above the crowd. Despite not being properly able to see her, Madeleine said the room changed immediately after her entrance, and then the encounter happened that changed Madeleine's life.

I'm reliably told that, despite the Queen meeting hundreds of people that day, for the few moments she spent with Madeleine, the Queen was in the moment, entirely present. The Queen asked Madeleine about what she does and why she does it. Madeleine spoke about her organisation, Little Dreamers, about her brother and about her mum. Then the Queen gave her some royal advice; the Queen said: 'It's incredible, turning a challenge into something that changes lives.' And then the Queen instructed her to keep going. The advice from the Queen gave Madeleine the confidence to trust her instincts and pursue her passion, which is exactly what Maddy did. She quit her job and poured everything into Little Dreamers, and it now partners with state and federal governments and literally changes thousands of lives every year.

Very few people can spark a cascade of good like that, and that is who we pay respects to in this place on this day, a person who lived in a world of diamonds and privilege and yet who touched and understood the imperfections of her fellow people. Today we pay our respects to a person of history; a person of our time; a person intertwined with Australian history and our national story; a person whose local residence, the magnificent Government House, welcomes visitors from across Victoria into the heart of my electorate of Macnamara; a person who rode a tram down St Kilda Road, who dedicated the Second World War Memorial Forecourt and lit the Eternal Flame at our Shine of Remembrance and who was admired by many in my community; and a person who, for some, also represented a position as sovereign that can't be separated from the hurt and suffering attached to our history and colonialism and the expansion of empire that has fractured and dispossessed generations.

I think particularly of our own First Nations people, but I'm grateful for the way that the Queen's understanding of Indigenous culture shifted over time, just as Australia's understanding has. Senator Pat Dodson was part of the first delegation of Indigenous Australians granted an audience by a reigning British monarch since Bennelong met King George II in 1793. He described how the Queen was genuinely interested to hear from them, about their stories, and she offered a reception better than what they were granted at home here in Australia.

As we pay our respects to an extraordinary life, the passage of the Crown has passed on. As one life ends, her position and considerable privilege is automatically passed on to her heir and her son, our new King. Birth gives him the Crown, the role as the head of the realm, and here lies the complexity of today's stories. We acknowledge the personal greatness of an individual who served with dignity and distinction, but I think it's okay to say that we begin the journey away from the institution that I don't think represents the modern aspects of a democracy that we can aspire to be. Power shouldn't be given by birth; it should only be given by the people. So today I pay my respects to a remarkable person while holding firm the belief that across our great nation young boys and girls should grow up knowing that they could one day serve our country as the head of Australia, that they could serve with intellect, dignity and warmth, just as Queen Elizabeth II did. May she rest in peace.

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