Speech delivered on Monday 11 May 2026 at Admiralty House

I acknowledge all Aboriginal people who are here tonight. There are many. It’s the music of First Nations people that takes us into music and song for ceremony that's been going on for tens of thousands of years here and around the world. The First Nations communities, the First Nations music, that may have started with the yidaki or the didgeridoo, depending on where you're from, the clapsticks, the bilma—they're all part of our modern culture, but they speak to First Nations music.

And I thought in acknowledging First Nations people, the many that are here, to think about: where does music start, and why does music in the future matter? I'll just tell a couple of quick little stories. Recently, I went to the performance that Bangarra put on in collaboration with the Australian Ballet called Flora, the story of the history of the flora of this continent. Who wrote the music? William Barton. So, William Barton—he played, he was on—his music played, but the orchestra played William Barton's music for the Australian Ballet and Bangarra.

I'm going to Queensland on the weekend to see the opening night performance of Leah Purcell, The Drover's Wife, an Aboriginal opera telling the story of difficult times, different frontier issues, but beautifully created with two new opera singers, Aboriginal young women, leading that. And I wanted, in that spirit, to acknowledge Deborah Cheetham, who's here. There she is. And Deborah, you were the first person I heard sing—it was in Melbourne, in the National Gallery of Victoria over a decade ago—and you sang us in as a Welcome to Country. And you did it again at the Stolen Generations gathering earlier this year in the Great Hall in Canberra, leading an extraordinary group of singers and dancers for us. It was the perfect way to welcome us to Country. So, Deborah, I wanted to pay respects to the work that you have done.

And all of these stories tell us that we should pay attention. And in a very modern context, going back to William Barton, at the end of last year I went to a special meeting of the High Court with all of the justices of Australia and New Zealand, and he welcomed us, in that grand hall of the High Court—William Barton playing the yidaki, coming down from the grand entrance—and it filled with jurists listening and everyone in tears because it was bringing forth First Nations justice and beauty. So of course, we acknowledge First Nations and ancestors to music. 

I also want to acknowledge all of these young children. You're going to hear from them soon. They're our very special guests tonight. This is the reason that music education matters so much, and they can stay with us for as long as they can before they disappear to get ready for a beautiful performance.

Of course, I want to acknowledge a few people: David Albert, the Chief Executive of Alberts; Emily Albert, who brings us here tonight, Executive Director of Music Education: Right from the Start, as a co-founder of this work—and I know the work has been spectacular; Dr Anita Collins, co-founder of Music Education: Right from the Start, a treasure, an Australian treasure; Don Spencer OAM, founder of the Australian Children's Music Foundation and a national treasure. I remember you on Play School. I remembered most of your career, your wonderful children's songs. You have played such a huge role in the life of this country, particularly for children.

Secretary of the Department of Education—we share a great love of public education—and you're doing an extraordinary job, and together with Martin Graham, who coordinated a lot of the bringing of departments of education and music together, it's wonderful to have you back here. Estelle Southall, who's here with Homebush West Public School and your 13 students—a big round of applause. Pat—we're going to hear from him shortly—President of the Australian Government Primary Principals Association, and other primary principals that have joined Pat here tonight. You've travelled from all over the place.

Before I say something of the Alberts, I want to say there are so many friends here from so many parts of the cultural world of Australia. And if I acknowledge you all and kind of look at you, know that I wouldn't use your night, but I do want to say something about the Alberts: a 140-year-old Australian family business, now that fifth generation, with a legacy that's helped shape our nation's music, arts and cultural landscape. Through the Tony Foundation, named after Tony Albert, that legacy is being expressed tonight in a very practical way—investing in young Australians and conditions that allow talent, creativity and opportunity to flourish.

If you don't know the Albert story, the potted version goes way back in the 1800s with the arrival of the song sheet—the family song sheet you could purchase down at the bottom of King Street, Newtown. The original location—the Boomerang map organ was brought to Australia by that generation of Alberts—and ever since, the growth of Australia's musical life has been, I think, attributable largely to the generosity and brilliance of the Albert family, who have always cared so much and done it in such a humble way.

I want to acknowledge that there are board members here, members of the executive, family members—and again, I won't mention you all—but you know how much I love you all, given that I once chaired your board. So, I should declare a conflict.

Welcome everybody to Admiralty House. We do like to say that this is a place of peace and welcome where absolutely everybody belongs. Tonight we've really packed you in, so thank you for your forbearance in being tightly packed. We wanted you all to come and to see that beautiful view before you came in, and you can see it again in the early evening light as well. When we finish proceedings, it's a perfect place to celebrate this marvellous report, Music Education: Right from the Start.

I thought I'd just quickly share with you why—where does music pop up beyond First Nations, where does it take us, and what role does it play, particularly in my job? It actually acts as a tool of diplomacy. So, I want to give you two quick examples.

When I first met the Singaporean Prime Minister in Singapore on a state visit, what did we talk about? The fact that he plays the guitar and he loves AC/DC. We're best mates. We had other conversations about the relationship between Australia and Singapore, but it first started with a big smile and a joint love of music. But I wasn't expecting the Prime Minister of Singapore to be a guitar-playing AC/DC fan.

Just last week, we welcomed the Japanese Prime Minister to Australia. We had her come into Government House in Canberra. We'd done our research—we knew she was a metalhead. She loves Metallica, she loves every kind of metal, and she plays the drums—her drum kit in her home—and she plays metal on her drums.  

We researched her and we found a song—actually, Simeon, my husband, found it—and as she was leaving Government House, after all the formality of that meeting, we serenaded her. We let the speakers rip with a Deep Purple song, Woman from Tokyo, which she put on her Instagram to her many followers—that that was one of her great moments, being serenaded by Deep Purple. So, music just keeps on turning up in all our lives in many ways.

Before my appointment, as I said, I did serve very gratefully as the Chair of the Albert Group Services Board, and it's where I learned about the history of Alberts. But also: where did the Easybeats come from? How did AC/DC come to be? How did John Paul Young get started? And in fact, I sat beside John Paul Young at the AC/DC concert just recently, and someone who had never thought she'd even meet John Paul Young at an AC/DC concert—that was pretty cool. So, music takes us, and it helps us transcend everything.

Tonight, this reception marks five years since that first three-year strategy that started in 2021—five years of bringing people together, most of you in this room, to embed music into early education. Now you all know this: music is essential to who we are as people and how we connect, how we find fun together, how we think. It helps us remember, grieve, celebrate and express our truest thoughts. It helps us understand one another. In a school, music can be one of the fastest ways to create belonging—singing together, keeping time together, learning to listen and respond. These are the lessons in kindness, empathy, respect and connection. They're also the practical lessons in attention, discipline, teamwork and confidence, as we'll see tonight.

And I thought about this only a couple of weeks ago with the sad passing of James Valentine—maybe known to some of you. And James learned to play the flute and the recorder at his school down in Ballarat in Victoria. It led him to the saxophone, to a life of music and jazz and improvisation. And he said it was music that enabled him to become a hugely, wildly successful broadcaster who could improvise in the spirit of jazz with his audience and try things out and bring people together. And with his sad passing, I think we see why it's so important that we always have children with musical instruments as an absolute must.

We know that music education remains inconsistent and inequitable, and even as that music course has been embedded in the curriculum as a learning entitlement, we know that too many children, particularly in regional and remote communities, are still not getting any of those benefits—instruments and teaching—and that's just not fair. That's why the phrase Right from the Start matters. Music learning is most powerful when it starts early, goes on consistently, and when every child has a chance to build skills over time. 

I'm not going to say much more about the report, because you're going to hear more about that in a moment. What I admire most about what you brought together, though, is the collaborative effort that brings the report here and brings all of you here tonight. You've not just built alignment across education, research, not-for-profit, industry and philanthropy—you've created a shared leadership that's elevating education from the margins to the policy centre.

I want to acknowledge in particular the principals—your leadership is critical. The decisions that you make about timetable, staffing, partnerships and priorities are often the big difference between music being a nice-to-have and music being part of a child's life, week to week, year by year. I thank you. Many of you have travelled from all over the country to be here tonight. It means a great deal that you are here, and I hope you feel the love for the work that you do as principals.

I also want to thank the senior officials from state education departments, and the representatives of teacher and principal associations. System change is complex. So, the report has got some very serious and some pretty simple messages about what needs to change. But system change is hard. It requires clear policy, practical support and a genuine partnership with those delivering learning on the ground. So, thank you for all really leaning into that task—it will make a difference.

This evening is also a chance for us to look at the updated edition of that foundational research, Anita, that you produced, now called The Sound Investment, six years on, together with Rachel Dwyer—so important—and it's that high-quality evidence that will move us. 

In a few moments, we're going to have the great privilege of watching the students sing or play for us, I should say, and it's important that the celebration tonight isn't just words like mine, but in music. So, to everybody who has contributed to bringing us here tonight, to this moment—this opportunity to strengthen our country through music for young people as a condition of our education—thank you. This kind of progress is built patiently through relationships and persistence, and a shared belief that every child deserves music as part of a full and enriching education.

Thank you all for being here. I know that the Chair of Alberts—Gabrielle Trainor AO—who couldn't be here tonight (she's up in the Territory), did send me and say I had to get hold of the book called Art Cure: The Science of How the Arts Transforms Our Health. It has a huge section on music, and it talks about the foundation—laying down the brain wiring that only occurs when music is present early in the child's life. So, in addition to the research that's been done for Australia, we know that this is an important moment.

So, thank you all for being here. When we've completed things tonight—the official part—wander around the ground floor of the house. We also tell a story through the art and artefacts. There's been quite a change here since we arrived to try to tell a bigger story, and I hope that you will get to see the young people here and see that we're trying to tell the story that you represent about the future.

I'll finish with thanking Ben for reminding us what we're laying down here. It's almost like planting the seeds for a tree whose shade we will never sit under—but these children and their children will—and that's why it matters.

So, enjoy this evening. Thank you all for being here, and I'm now going to pass to Emily Albert to take us to the report. Thank you.