Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That an address to His Majesty King Charles III in the following terms be agreed to:

YOUR MAJESTY:

We, the members of the House of Representatives in the Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia, express our deep sympathy with Your Majesty and members of the Royal Family for the great loss sustained in the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, our late Sovereign.

On behalf of the Australian people, we pay tribute to and acknowledge Her late Majesty's exceptional life of dedication to duty and commitment to Australia and the Commonwealth.

We extend our congratulations to Your Majesty on your accession to the throne.

We express our respect for Your Majesty and pledge to work to achieve peace and prosperity for Australia and the Commonwealth.

With the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, an historic reign and a long life devoted to duty, family, faith and service have come to an end. The second Elizabethan age is over. Despite all the solemn pageantry that has served to remind us of this sad fact, it is hard to grasp that Queen Elizabeth II now belongs to the realm of memory.

We give thanks for her long and exceptionally well lived life, and we do so here in the building she opened for a nation she loved as part of her greater family—a new permanent home for the parliament she described as 'both the living expression of that federation and the embodiment of the democratic principles of freedom, equality and justice'. When she joined Bob Hawke to do the honours in 1988 out there by the Michael Nelson Jagamara mosaic that so caught her eye, she could see the Old Parliament House that her own father opened in 1927—what a shining thread through our houses of democracy, through our own history. Indeed, Her Majesty's reign was so long that, to most of us, she was simply always there. She was a rare and reassuring constant amidst rapid change. But even the brightest star must eventually set, leaving us with the memory of the glow. The Queen was our head of state for a majority of our existence as a federation.

It's also important to remember the personal as well: a much-loved wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, the gravitational centre around which a family turned, which I believe is one of the reasons that she was always so much more than a monarch to us. The Queen lived a life of privilege but one that was always balanced by an unyielding sense of duty, of service, a desire to give. That noble counterweight of the spirit was something she bore faithfully for the United Kingdom, for Australia and for the great family of nations we call the Commonwealth—a family that grew so swiftly on her watch. Even as the focus began to shift more towards the individual, the Queen embodied a sense of duty that placed community and selflessness first. The Queen never lost her belief in society.

Underpinning all of it was an inner strength, one that was tested early. The first time was when her uncle, Edward VIII, abdicated—a seismic act that shifted the crown onto her father's head, transforming him into George VI and the young princess into the heir to the throne. It all unfurled as Britain was about to face the threat of what Winston Churchill called 'the abyss of a new dark age'. The second time was when her beloved father died, aged just 56, finally spent by the burdens of war and illness. Princess Elizabeth was only 25. The news reached her in Kenya the day before she and Prince Philip were due to board the SS Gothic for their journey to Australia. The dream of relatively calm years raising a family with Philip was over. The princess returned to England as Queen, the responsibilities of the throne on one shoulder, the sudden absence of her father on the other.

Somehow in her grief she found the strength to measure up to the expectations of a nation and the thousand-year-old institution into which she had been born. When asked what name she would be taking as Queen, she bucked the trend by replying, 'My own, of course.' It was just one hint of the stability and continuity that she would provide. Over the past 184 years, the throne has been held by women for 133 of them—but, remarkably, just two women: Queen Victoria, who was on the throne for over six decades, and her great-great-granddaughter Queen Elizabeth, the first British monarch to reign for seven decades.

When it came to the relationship between Queen Elizabeth II and Australia, 16 truly was the number most recalled. Through her reign she consulted with 16 Australian prime ministers, starting with Sir Robert Menzies, and 16 governors-general, starting with Sir William McKell. She made 16 visits to our shores, starting with a 58-day tour that saw her visit 57 towns and cities and pass through so many more. According to someone quoted at the time in the ForbesAdvocate, 'By comparison, organising the Olympic Games would be quite simple.'

She got to know us, appreciate us and embrace us. And the feeling was very much mutual. She handed out trophies in schools. She chatted with outback families on the radio. There were people to comfort and achievements to be celebrated. There were openings and festivals, rodeos and surf carnivals. She got to know our landscapes and our character. All the time, she was gently endearing herself ever deeper into our national life.

Along the way, Her Majesty had one of the most Australian experiences of all: sitting next to Bob Hawke at the races when his horse was winning. The photograph of these two connoisseurs of the turf in that moment is a perfect study in balance: the Queen sitting serenely; the Prime Minister like a firecracker in a suit. Bob was criticised, but, as he later reflected, 'I took great pleasure in pointing a little later to a photo of the Queen showing similar exultation when one of her horses won in England.'

When she first came to us, our pockets jingled with pennies and shillings. Television was still in the future, as was the filling of Lake Burley Griffin. When the Queen first addressed our parliament, she was one of just a handful of women in the room, and that wasn't the only deficit among the faces gazing up at her. The White Australia policy was still in place, and—the gift to the Queen of an Albert Namatjira painting notwithstanding—this nation was still a long way off any sort of reckoning with the truth of this continent's first inhabitants. Since then, we've changed in so many ways for the better, and the Queen saw it all.

She was the patron of more than 20 Australian charities and associations. Throughout her reign, Queen Elizabeth II showed a deep affection for her country. From her famous first trip to Australia, the only reigning sovereign to ever visit, it was clear Her Majesty held a special place in her heart for Australia. Fifteen more tours before cheering crowds in every part of the country confirmed the special place that she held in ours.

As monarch for more than half the life of our federation, the relationship between Australia and Britain matured and evolved throughout Her Majesty's reign. The Queen greeted each and every change with understanding, good grace and an abiding faith in the Australian people's good judgement. This was the deft and diplomatic way she bound the diversity of the modern Commonwealth.

The world today is almost unrecognisable from what it was in 1952, and there is no doubt, given modern technology, including television, that the Queen is the most famous woman who during her life has walked this earth. Throughout all the tumult and noise and tectonic shifts in those 70 years, so many old certainties were broken. New, more tentative ones took their place. Throughout it all was Her Majesty, a Queen who let her humanity show, who stood with us in times of hardship, even as she had endured her own.

Of course, there was always Philip, whom the Queen once described as her 'strength and stay'. Between the layers of formality and protocol, we sometimes got glimpses of the affection and the tenderness between Queen and Duke. After Prince Philip died, the most striking image from the funeral was the most human: no pomp, no regal splendour—just the Queen, alone in her sorrow. As Her Majesty once put it, 'Grief is the price we pay for love.'

Seventy years as sovereign is a towering record, yet what will always stand tallest in our hearts and our memories is the commitment and spirit to service and duty that the Queen so unflaggingly brought to her role and the pride and sense of unity that she engendered. The Queen served with dignity, fidelity, humour and a grace that was indefatigable, and she took nothing for granted. When she opened this place in 1988, she said something that rings even truer today given global events:

Parliamentary democracy is a compelling ideal, but it is a fragile institution. It cannot be imposed and it is only too easily destroyed. It needs the positive dedication of the people as a whole, and of their elected representatives, to make it work.

We knew her voice and we knew her mannerisms: the stately expressions and the impish twinkle; the hats and the headscarves; the corgis and the horses; the hands that so lovingly gripped the steering wheels of generations of Land Rovers; the eagerness to perform with James Bond for the London Olympics; a princess who trained as a motor mechanic in World War II; a Queen who inspired Duke Ellington to compose a suite for her and present her with the solitary copy of its only recording; a sovereign who appreciated the value of being roused from every sleep every morning by bagpipes, knowing no alarm clock could ever be quite so emphatic.

It is perhaps fitting that in what proved to be the twilight of a remarkably long life she was drawn home to the corner of Scotland that spoke so powerfully to her heart. There at Balmoral, amid the sometimes severe splendour of the Highlands, she found that which eluded her in London: moments of solitude away from a life in the spotlight, the most famous woman in the world able to enjoy the luxury of the intimacy of family and of friends.

At the Sydney Opera House in 2000, Her Majesty bared the heart of her feelings for our country, saying:

… since I first stepped ashore here … I have felt part of this rugged, honest, creative land. I have shared in the joys and the sorrows, the challenges and the changes that have shaped this country's history …

But even as history continued to shape and change us and as the bond between our two nations evolved, the affection and respect in which we held Her Majesty remained. The Queen transcended barriers. You could be a republican and still feel nothing but regard and respect for her. She celebrated our good times and stood with us in our times of trial, bringing sympathy and comfort when it was so badly needed. Through fire and flood, drought and cyclone, and pandemic, she was there. As she said 20 years ago:

… my admiration, affection and regard for the people of Australia will remain, as it has been … constant, sure and true.

Let it be said we felt the same way. The Queen always had a special place in the hearts of Australians, and she always will. I thank His Excellency the Governor-General and Mrs Hurley, as well as the Australians—led by Dylan Alcott, the Australian of the Year—who graced London as part of the delegation and did Australia proud.

Our thoughts are with all the royal family as they mourn. In particular, we think of King Charles, who feels the weight of his sorrow as he takes on the weight of the Crown. When I met with him a few days ago in London, I conveyed on behalf of the Australian people our grief, our gratitude, our condolences and our respect. Our conversation was a reminder that Australia has always been very dear to him, not least Victoria, where he did some of his schooling all those years ago. As His Majesty put it on one occasion:

If you want to develop character, go to Australia.

I admire King Charles's passion and his commitment to the natural environment and sustainability. At the dawn of his reign, we wish His Majesty well, and, now that the great Elizabethan reign is over, may Her Majesty rest in eternal peace.

See this speech in context