Sam Birrell (Nicholls, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

On behalf of the people of Nicholls, I pay tribute to the legacy of Queen Elizabeth II. Her character, courage and selfless devotion to duty were hallmarks of her 70-year reign. Soon after becoming the sovereign in 1954, a young Queen Elizabeth ventured to our shores and embarked on the most extensive tour of regional Australia of any royal before or since. On 4 March 1954, the Queen departed Melbourne on the royal train, stopping at Seymour before sleeping in the carriage of that train at Goorambat. Goorambat is a small town 60 kilometres to the east of Shepparton, nestled amongst the beautiful cropping country of the Dookie and Devenish plains. In 1954 its population was around 300 people. The Queen and Prince Philip came onto the viewing platform to wave to the people who had gathered to see them. A plaque on the front of the town hall commemorates the night when Goorambat became, for a few short hours, the centre of the British Commonwealth. The following day, the Queen visited Shepparton, Tatura, Echuca and Rochester in what is now part of the electorate of Nicholls. It was a grand occasion and people flocked from far away to catch a glimpse of the sovereign.

In those less enlightened times, protecting the Queen's sensitivities was on the minds of local organisers, who erected hessian screens so that the Indigenous camps on the flats between Shepparton and Mooroopna could not be seen. Many years later, Indigenous leaders, some of whom had been children running around on those flats in 1954, were able to meet with Her Majesty, which in itself is a measure of the change that has been achieved in our nation. She expressed regret that there was an attempt to shield her from things that were happening and affirmed her commitment to reconciliation.

Many years later, Queen Elizabeth would close the circle of another painful chapter for a Yorta Yorta family. In 1934 Yorta Yorta campaigner William Cooper wrote a petition asking George V for a representative for Indigenous people in federal parliament to help address injustices. The petition was delivered to Prime Minister Joseph Lyons but never passed on to Buckingham Palace. Uncle Boydie Turner, Mr Cooper's grandson, kept the dream of delivering the petition alive and found an ally in Governor-General Peter Cosgrove. In 2014, at the age of 85, Uncle Boydie was informed that Queen Elizabeth had accepted a replica of the original document in a ceremony in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

I cite these examples from my own electorate to highlight the steps forward that can be made when people of goodwill commit to serving one another with compassion and decency, and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth certainly embodied those qualities. In nearly every aspect of life over the past 70 years, there's been incredible change, and Queen Elizabeth was remarkable in that she could accommodate change and often lead it but remain a constant, steady and respectful moral compass to guide us.

During that 1954 trip, Her Majesty spoke to thousands of people from around the Goulburn Valley at Shepparton's Deakin Reserve and alluded to her family's appreciation for the high-quality fruit products from this region that were being sent around the world. She said:

My beloved late father and my mother had been looking forward with great interest to visiting the Goulburn Valley, the products of which are so well known in England … To those of you who are present and to all those who have not been able to come here today, I send my warmest good wishes.

It is well known that Queen Elizabeth's knowledge of and interest in the nations of the Commonwealth was remarkable. Equally, her warmth, humility and mischievous sense of humour endeared her to all. The wonderful British humour she embodied was there for all to see as she 'parachuted' with Agent 007 into the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

She continues to inspire more recent generations. When the sad news of Queen Elizabeth's passing reached my household, my daughter, Sophie, made an observation on seeing a photo of her last public appearance, at the conclusion of the swearing-in of the new UK Prime Minister, Liz Truss, just two days earlier. 'She looked so at peace, Dad; I could see it in her smile,' Sophie said. She had done her final duty for the people, and she was ready to go.

Much has been said about that sense of duty, that unbroken commitment to serve made as a 25-year-old and sustained to the last. It is more than admirable or remarkable; it's the truest exemplar of the quote from Albert Einstein: 'Only a life lived in the service of others is a life worthwhile.' May she rest in eternal peace.

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