Speech delivered on 31 October 2025 at Admiralty House, Sydney.

Good evening, and welcome to Admiralty House.  

We gather here on the lands of the Cammeraygal People and I acknowledge their elders, past and present.    

I extend that respect to all First Nations people here today.  

I also acknowledge:  

• Mr Martyn Myer AO, Chair, Australian Chamber Orchestra Board – thank you for your passionate support of the ACO  
• Mrs Liz Lewin, Deputy Chair, Australian Chamber Orchestra  
• The ACO Board members who are here tonight, with special thanks to your former long-serving Chair, Mr Guido Belgiorno-Nettis AM, and Mrs Michelle Belgiorno-Nettis. Your indefatigable work with the ACO has been truly astonishing, as has all the work of the current board and everyone associated with the ACO.  
• Mr Richard Evans AM, Managing Director of the Australian Chamber Orchestra here with Vanessa and all of your team who do such a wonderful job.  
• Mr Richard Tognetti, it's wonderful to have you here. I congratulate you, Richard, for the decades, over 35 years, that you've dedicated to the ACO. Your name will always be celebrated as a pillar of the ACO, success and innovation, and you've always brought such visionary energy.  
• To your fellow musicians who have joined us, Helena Rathbone on violin, Elizabeth Woolnough on viola and Melissa Barnard on cello. I was lucky enough to hear the rehearsal, and we are in for a very special treat.  
• The Honorable Bruce Baird, who has been in this house a few times, and it's wonderful to have you back here
• The entire ACO team and all of the supporters, all of you who have given so generously to the ACO over so many years. 

Now, here at Admiralty House, we are just a short distance from the Sydney Opera House, where the ACO first performed on the 21st of November, 1975, almost 50 years to the day.

We like to think that this is a place of belonging where absolutely everyone is welcome.

As custodians of this Official Residence and Government House in Canberra, Simeon, my husband, and I are working with the team to create spaces in which everybody who comes here can find something of themselves represented, and something of modern Australia celebrated.  

For those of you who haven't been here for a little while, the arts on the walls has changed significantly in three of the rooms here [drawing room], the dining room and the study.

You will see, I hope, a story emerging that tells you something of the history of Australia and the things we care about.  

We do want to make sure that everyone who comes here knows that these artworks come from the National Gallery, the Parliamentary Art Collection and the Australian War Memorial.  

When I was sworn in as your Governor General, I promised to put the values of care, kindness and respect at the core of everything that I do and the Office of the Governor-General does.  

I like to think about what care means in this country – care for each other, care for those that do the caring of others, care for our continent and its environmental riches and beauty, care for civics and institutions – like the institutions that you represent in the music world – and care for the way we discuss the issues of our time, without rancor, judgment or anger, but always with respect.  

And over the past 15 months, I've had the great privilege on your behalf to see so clearly the power of the intersection of those three values, care, kindness and respect, with modernity, visibility and optimism, which are the words the Prime Minister gave to me when he asked me to serve as your 28th Governor General.  

At the intersection of those six words, care, kindness, respect, modernity, visibility and optimism, I see a whole nation where we can all belong.  

I see that so strongly.  

The ACO’s 2025, program, described as ‘50 years in the making, honoring our history while embracing our vision of the future’, is the same pursuit of modernity with always a nod to what came before.

Elevating music and performance as a way to explore worlds old and new, as an invitation to bring people together to forge a shared future, and as a thing of beauty in itself, the ACO sits firmly, thrillingly, at that same intersection.

It was such a privilege for me to join a number of you for a private rehearsal performance in August of ‘Gershwin and Shostakovich’, where we were mesmerized listening to Alexander Gavryluk’s ACO debut on piano in Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 1.

The ACO is so deeply embedded in the cultural life of our nation – beloved by audiences at home and celebrated internationally.  

You are recognized for your commitment to performance and collaboration, education and mentoring and sharing the transformative beauty of music far and wide.

I felt that power of music in a different way just last Saturday and Sunday, gathered in the shadow of Uluru, where we travelled to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the handback of Uluru and Kata-Tjuta to the Anangu.

With the ever-changing colours of Uluru as our backdrop, the Anangu performed an inma – the traditional cultural songs and ceremonies where Tjukurpa is celebrated.

I can see the link between the most ancient of traditions, and what you do at the ACO.

The inma is a powerful expression of 65,000 years of continuous culture and wisdom and artistry that's shared across generations.  

And throughout that ceremony, we were able to experience the red dirt of Anangu land in the dance and storytelling of men and women, elders, teenagers and little, tiny children

The transformative gifts of music and song were so evident, as was the constant teaching of the youngest Anangu by their elders in real time as they performed the inma.

If they didn't get it right, it went back and started again. It was a traditional performance for community and a teaching opportunity.  

I see that in the work you do in your education programs at the ACO.

The evening ended with modernity, when Shane Howard – those of you from my generation might remember the band Goanna – performed the 1982 classic Solid Rock, right there beside the rock, in a set involving David Bridie, Tjimba Possum Burns, Mark Willoughby Jeremy Whiskey, Frank Yamma and Shellie Morris.  

For those of us that were there, it was quite a moment in the heart of Australia.  

The music matched the moment, ancient and modern, grand and expansive, joyous and respectful, a celebration and a commemoration.  

I say all of this because the ACO has the same ability to meld the music with the moment, and, as you demonstrate your annual program, hundreds of performances, 1000s of hours of music education and the incalculable influence at home and overseas – you shape the moment itself.

Of course, your 50 years started with another cultural leader, and I want to pay tribute to ACO founder, John Painter, who we mourn following his death on the 13th of September.

1975 was a turning point in our self awareness as a nation.

A year in which we saw the first radio broadcasts from SBS; the dismissal of the Prime Minister; the government's handing back of Gurindji land to traditional owners, represented by Vincent Lingiari; the arrival of the first Vietnamese refugees in Australia; and the founding of the Australian honours system, the Order of Australia, which has recognised so many musicians, performers and impresarios.

This was the milieu in which John founded the ACO, when our confidence as a modern country was shaping the choices that we were making as a people.

Of John's life and the choices he made, including to found the ACO, you have said, Richard,

‘You showed us that music was larger than rules, institutions or fashion.’

This evening, I'm so pleased to welcome you all here to celebrate the ACO for so fully realizing John's legacy over the past half century and showing – so creatively, with such care and energy – just how profoundly important music is to the life of our modern nation.