Bridget Archer (Bass, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It's estimated that, over her 70-year reign, Queen Elizabeth undertook more than 21,000 official engagements, averaging around 300 a year. Even in the last few years, as age and a global pandemic challenged this heavy workload, Her Majesty's commitment to service and duty did not waver, swapping personal visits across the UK and the Commonwealth for engagements via Zoom.

Since unexpectedly taking over from her beloved father, King George VI, in February 1952, Her Majesty visited Australia on 16 occasions, with our island state proudly hosting Queen Elizabeth seven times: in 1954, 1963, 1970, 1977, 1981, 1988 and 2000. At the time of her first visit to Tasmania with Prince Philip by her side, in 1954, Tasmania's population was just over 300,000. An astounding 75,000 Tasmanians lined the streets of Launceston on Wednesday 24 February to wave to the Queen and the duke as they made their way from the Six Ways to York Park and back again. The visit to northern Tasmania capped off the end of a four-day visit to the state, and I couldn't help but have a laugh when I read the editorial in the local paper after the visit, which somewhat sulkily stated:

… but now that the Queen has gone it can be said emphatically that the basis of allocation of time between Hobart and the rest of the state was most unjust to the majority of the people of Tasmania.

This snippet of the editorial proves that the north-south parochial wars were alive and well even back then.

As we've witnessed in the weeks since Her Majesty's passing, there are so many in communities across Australia who have stories to tell of seeing the Queen or, if lucky, having an opportunity to chat with her during an official engagement. Northern Tasmania's Professor Nigel Forteath recently spoke of his role in guiding the Queen during her tour of what was then the Tasmanian State Institute of Technology's aquaculture centre in 1988. He recalls that Her Majesty was very interested in the animals at the centre:

We went to where we had all kinds of fish and aquatic life, and at nearly every tank she had something to ask and enquired the whole time about things. She was interested in everything we were doing, which made it so easy.

Professor Forteath went on to share an amusing anecdote from the end of the tour:

We went into the area where we kept trout and I remember I told one of the students that when the Queen comes in to feed the trout, so she could see them all splashing around on the surface. Unfortunately the student waited until the Queen was horribly close to the tank and threw in some pellets and the trout went berserk. The Queen nearly jumped out of her skin I think, and moved backwards, so I felt a bit embarrassed … she took it all in her stride. She was just so good at relaxing you, and that's what I remember most.

Much has been said, and will continue to be said, about Her Majesty's life, and, at the end of the day, there are a range of views and feelings about what the monarchy represents. As I've reflected on these sentiments over the past few weeks, I've also been reflecting on an incredible reign that we'll not see again for generations to come. My thoughts have always come back to her dedication to a life of service. As she famously said in a radio broadcast even before taking the throne: 'I declare before you all that all my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service.'

It's this declaration that sticks in my mind as I think about that poignant moment that has stuck with me in recent years, and that's the Queen sitting alone in St George's Chapel at the funeral of Prince Philip last year. On that day, despite her immense privilege, Her Majesty was simply somebody's mother or grandmother mourning the loss of the love of her life. Despite being offered otherwise, she'd refused to bend the COVID restrictions that the entire UK was enduring at that moment. In solidarity with so many who were saying goodbye to loved ones, and with just a few family members, the Queen sat alone as she said goodbye to her love of 73 years.

Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor came into this world in 1926 without the weight of expectations on her shoulders, before her world changed unexpectedly when her father took the throne just 10 years later. At just 25 years of age, her life was forever altered upon the death of King George VI, and it led to a reign that the world may never see again. On behalf of the people of Bass, I say thank you for your service, Your Majesty, and may you rest in eternal peace with your beloved Philip.

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