House debates

Friday, 23 September 2022

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

Address

12:43 pm

Photo of Rob MitchellRob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to honour the memory of Queen Elizabeth II on behalf of the people of McEwen and to offer our sincere condolences to her family. This has been a surreal moment in time. I've heard many in our community, young and old, comment that she has been the Queen for all their lives. She has always been there, and she's been a great comfort to many, the one constant in an ever-changing world. She was the Queen for our parents, our grandparents and even our great-grandparents. Her 70-year reign was without a doubt an amazing achievement. She was the longest-serving monarch in British history.

During her reign, we've witnessed extraordinary change—everything from decolonisation to the emergence of women's rights and LGBTIQ rights as well. We went to the moon. We saw televisions in our homes for the first time, the birth of rock and roll, the dawn of the internet and, more recently, a worldwide pandemic.

Today, as we reflect on her legacy, it's clear that Australians will hold different views about our past and the direction of our future. But we know that the Queen accompanied us for 70 of Australia's 121 years as a federation, serving as Queen and head of state.

In my own electorate of McEwen, in a time that we have faced many challenges and, unfortunately, tragic events, including Ash Wednesday and Black Saturday, as Australia's head of state Queen Elizabeth spoke of her shock and sadness at the number of deaths as well as expressed her admiration for the extraordinary work of our emergency service crews and the resilience of our people.

After the Black Saturday bushfires, according to my friend and former premier John Brumby, the royal family donated to Victoria's bushfire relief fund, and the Queen then requested daily updates on the recovery effort. After providing a daily brief to the palace for three months, the Victorian government thought that we were past the worst of it and could stop sending such frequent updates. Two days later, the Premier received another message, saying that Her Majesty was keen to continue with the daily briefings, which is quite remarkable.

There has been a steady stream of people coming into my office in McEwen to sign the condolence book, mostly from the town where my office is but many have travelled from quite a few kilometres away—from Romsey, Lancefield, Kilmore and such—to come in, sign, put their pen to paper, and formally pay their respects.

In preparing for today, I took the opportunity to read their words, reflect on their remarks and speak to people. One lady told us about a certificate she received as a three-year-old, in London, at the time of the coronation. Eileen Buckley of Kilmore and her five-year-old sister from Holberton Gardens, College Park, were among the many children in London who received a certificate for participating in local celebrations to mark the coronation. Eileen recalled it was a time of great celebration, with streets holding their own parties, decorated with red, white and blue bunting, and children dressing up as royals for the day.

When Eileen married, there was a portrait of the Queen in the place where the ceremony was held. Eileen and her husband came to Australia in 1972 and later became Australian citizens. There was a portrait of the Queen for their citizenship ceremony. When Eileen became a justice of the peace, the Queen was there too. In fact, images of the Queen were at the most significant events in her life.

Many people have come in and written of their sincere gratitude to the Queen for her years of service, for being an enduring constant in their life and for the profound sense of loss they feel. In fact, the words 'profound sense of loss' are repeated time and time again in the condolence book. They talk about the sense of connection the Queen gave Australia to a bigger family, the 'incredible and enduring mark' she left on the world and her dedication to lifelong service, and 'an amazing monarch that we will not see again'. There is no doubt that many people have a great deal of regard for her and are grateful for the respect, calm and resilience she embodied.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will certainly live on in the hearts and minds of many in our electorate. May she rest in peace.

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