Henry Pike (Bowman, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Her Majesty has now passed on to eternal life. While we knew that this day would inevitably come, our nation has still felt a tremendous sadness and a sense of great personal loss. I wish to express the condolences and the gratitude of my community to our late sovereign. My office has been inundated with calls from local households keen to receive a portrait of the late Queen for their own commemoration. They have expressed to me their deep sorrow at her passing and their appreciation of her untiring service.

For seven decades Her Majesty was the embodiment of duty, discipline and selfless devotion. Queen Elizabeth performed a difficult task over a difficult period, always with immense grace, warmth and compassion. She was the epitome of a servant leader. This approach was reflective of her Christian faith, which was such an important part of her life and her character. The photographs that have gone around the world of Her Majesty performing her final duty in the days before her passing will come to symbolise her virtues for years to come. She overcame her declining health to invite her final Prime Minister to form a new government. You get a strong sense from the image that nothing was going to stop her from performing this final official act. Despite her frailty, she was dutiful to the very end.

Many have mentioned the first Queen Elizabeth throughout this morning and this afternoon. When the first Queen Elizabeth addressed her troops, assembled to see off the Spanish invasion of 1588, she remarked, 'I know I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and the stomach of a king, and a king of England, too.' Well, our Queen Elizabeth had a heart for her realms that was more than a match of that of any historic king.

While Queen Elizabeth II adopted the role as grandmother of the nation, her gentleness and fragility belied a tireless tenacity and an abiding strength. It is right that her subjects in the United Kingdom are referring to this period as a second Elizabethan age, but for her Australian subjects this has been our first Elizabethan age, mirroring the national flourishing experienced in England during the reign of first Elizabeth.

Her Majesty reigned for a remarkable 58 per cent of Australia's life as a federated nation. Over the course of her 16 visits to our country, she saw Australia come of age, shifting from postwar austerity to a nation of unrivalled prosperity and promise. She was a constant in the lives of Australians, a symbol of permanency and steadiness despite all the change that our nation has seen over the seven decades since her coronation.

My grandfather Roger Pike was selected among other Second World War veterans to take part in Her Majesty's coronation as a member of the Australian Army's Coronation Contingent. Before the coronation took place, the Australians took part in the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. They marched into the palace square to the tune of Waltzing Matilda. It gives me a great sense of pride that my grandfather was there at the start of Australia's relationship with Her Majesty and that, 70 years on, I had the privilege of swearing allegiance to Queen Elizabeth and her heirs and successors at the start of this 47th Parliament. While this is just one small personal connection, it is reflective of so many private stories that have been shared with me by my constituents over the last few weeks—small recollections of her amazing reign, memories of Her Majesty's triumphant tour in 1954, well wishes exchanged when she opened Brisbane's World Expo 88, and anecdotes that illustrate her sincere love for our country and her concern for our welfare in times of trial.

Australians adored our Queen. Over the last couple of weeks, we have witnessed the most heartfelt outpouring of grief from across the country and across the world. She leaves behind an unmatchable legacy of selfless service and will stand as an inspiration for years to come. As we mourn the passing of Her Majesty, I thank God for blessing our family of nations with a sovereign of such remarkable character, and I send the best wishes of my community to our new king as he takes on this heavy responsibility at a time of such monumental personal grief. May Her late Majesty rest in eternal peace, and may God save the King.

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