Keith Pitt (Hinkler, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I think there are no greater words than the words of my constituents in terms of the passing of Queen Elizabeth II:

Rest in peace, united with Prince Philip once more. You have been an inspiration to all.

What a terrible loss to humanity. You were an amazing woman. Someone who will never be replaced.

You were such a beautiful lady. Thank you for all you have done. Now you can rest.

We loved you. We honour your call to duty. We loved how you wore your clothes. You were an inspiration to everyone.

The passing of a wonderful Queen, will be felt by young and old. Our Queen was a constant in our lives and the lives of our children and grandchildren.

Thank you your Majesty for your lifetime of service to millions of people worldwide. Go to your beloved Philip now your service is complete. Rest in peace. Thank you.

A great lady, monarch and mother. RIP. You will shine bright in the sky above.

And, finally:

She will always be in our heart.

The Queen has had a long relationship with Australia, and, in fact, is so famous that she's been immortalised in film, in pop culture, in radio. Here are just a few of the selection: National Lampoon's European Vacation, The Naked Gun,The BFG, Austin Powers in Goldmember, Churchill: The Hollywood Years, The Queen, The King's Speech, Walking the Dogs, A Royal Night Out, Minions, The Queen's Corgi, Spencer and the Netflix series The Crown. She appeared in six episodes of The Simpsons. Andy Warhol created a portrait which has been used countless times on postage stamps and featured on bills. The opera Gloriana was written in honour of the Queen's coronation and first performed in 1953. The Beatles released a song titled 'Her Majesty'. She attended multiple James Bond movie premieres. She visited the Game of Thrones set in 2014, and, of course, we all remember the opening of the 2012 Olympics and her cameo with Daniel Craig as James Bond. And who can forget Paddington Bear?

In Australia, she was immortalised in How Green Was My Cactus, a very long-running radio show. For context, where I come from, you downed tools in the workshop for the two minutes of Cactus so you didn't miss any of it. It commenced in 1986 and has characters that commenced with the Bob Hawke character, King Bonza the Charismatic, and included Emperor Malcolm Talkbul, Prime Minister Tony Abs and others. And, of course, it immortalised the Queen. On Cactus Island, in an particular episode known as 'Off with His Head', when the prime minister of Cactus Island particularly annoyed Queen Bessie of Buckinghuge Palace, she was disappointed not to have the same powers as previous monarchs. The character said:

Philip, do I still have the power to behead people? Lock them in the tower, perhaps? Punch in the face would do.

I say to all of those listening: there is no greater compliment in Australia than to be part of the tradition of using humour to deal with difficult times and grief. For me, How Green Was My Cactus was part of growing up. It was part of working with the tools and being in workshops and working with those hardworking men and women out there in Australia.

Of course, Her Majesty was a visitor to Australia many times. In fact, the 1954 visit to Bundaberg is recalled still by many, including my father, Trevor, who attended as a 10-year-old and was in the stands. He came over in a bus from the Childers school to see the Queen. Some 30,000 people were at the showground, an estimated 10,000 at the airport and another 10,000 on the street. It was quite incredible—absolutely incredible.

The now King Charles, Prince Charles at the time, visited the distillery in Bundaberg in 2018. I had the honour to meet the now king. We were informed in no uncertain terms that the then Prince Charles would not be speaking at the event and that he would participate in the mixing and blending of rum at the Bundaberg rum distillery, which is still, to the best of my knowledge, one of the biggest events worldwide on the internet and everywhere else. But he got such a rousing reception when his departure came up that he, unprompted, gave a speech, if I recall correctly, of about 20 seconds. He said: 'I know the Australian spirit and character is such that you are unbelievably resilient and somehow you manage, regardless of what happens. That is one of the great characteristics that I've always admired ever since I first came here 52 years ago. Don't change. You are just as wonderful.'

Whilst we are going through a difficult period of time mourning Queen Elizabeth II, we see the ascension of King Charles. Vale Queen Elizabeth II, and long live the King.

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