House debates

Friday, 23 September 2022

Death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth Ii and Accession of His Majesty King Charles Iii

Address

12:34 pm

Photo of Anne AlyAnne Aly (Cowan, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Early Childhood Education) Share this | Hansard source

It is indeed a privilege to be able to rise, here in this House today, to pass on my condolences, and indeed the deep condolences of the people of Cowan, on the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

There's not much that I can say that hasn't already been said in honour of Her Majesty and in honour of the remarkable 70 years of service that we have heard about that over the past few days. Many here have spoken about how they had the opportunity, and indeed the honour, to meet the Queen. I never met the Queen but, I must say, the one thing that stands out to me, upon hearing from people who have met her, was not so much the honour of meeting Her Majesty—for indeed it would have been an honour—but the fact that it was an experience in human connection and that Her Majesty greeted a Prime Minister and a member of parliament with the same deference with which she greeted any man or person or woman in the street.

Much has also been said of Her Majesty's many visits to Australia—16, in fact. Queen Elizabeth II was the first reigning monarch to visit Australia, and she first visited Western Australia in 1954 and again in 2011. In fact, her last days on Australian soil were spent attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth, hosted by then Prime Minister Julia Gillard. During that visit, she was also a special guest of the Great Aussie Barbecue, which saw 120,000 Western Australians descend on the former Esplanade Park, in the Perth CBD, to share a sausage sizzle with the Queen. Elizabeth Quay was named in her honour as the site of the Great Aussie Barbecue. A red gum tree she planted during her visit in March in 1954 now stands tall and strong in Kings Park.

Upon the opening of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth in 2011, Her Majesty said:

I am delighted to join you all here in Perth for a meeting that promises to bring new vibrancy to the Commonwealth.

This city—

Perth—

is known for its optimism; this state—

Western Australia—

is known for its opportunity and potential; and, this country—

Australia—

is known for its warmth, openness and generosity.

Dare I say that Australians also came to know Her Majesty for her warmth, openness and generosity.

In 2022, the vast majority of Australians—around 88 per cent, in fact—have only ever known Queen Elizabeth II as the Queen. Reflecting on my life as a migrant child in Australia, hardly speaking any English, one of the first things that we learned at school was how to sing 'God Save the Queen'. When my family took the oath of allegiance to Australia in taking Australian citizenship in 1974, I watched on as my parents also sang 'God Save the Queen'. Indeed, that theme of constancy has been one that has come out quite profoundly during all the speeches that we've heard here in this chamber today and over the past 14 days of commemoration for the passing of Her Majesty.

She has been a source of strength and a source of comfort for many in uncertain and changing times. Many speakers before me have said, in much more eloquent words, just how much of a comfort she was in those various times during her reign.

May I end on this: a wish that we all have the strength to answer the call of service and duty—even when it is unexpected, as it was for Her Majesty—with the same grace, with the same humour and with the same integrity as Queen Elizabeth did.

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