Speech delivered on 12 November 2025 at Governement House, Canberra.

Welcome to Government House this afternoon. This is a place that belongs to all Australians, and we hope more Australians and international guests will come to visit. We like to think of it as a place of peace and belonging, where everyone feels at home. It’s a space where we tell the stories of Australia—the grand narrative of this incredible country. As you explore the house this evening, please feel free to wander, take photos, and ask questions.

I’d like to acknowledge that we are gathered on the lands of the Ngunnawal people and pay my respects to their elders past and present. I also recognize others with long-standing family connections to the lands of the ACT and surrounding regions.

This house has witnessed many significant moments. Just yesterday, on November 11th, I stood at the wall for Remembrance Day, as Governor-General Sir John Kerr did 50 years ago. For me, that ceremony— paying respect to those who have allowed us to live in peace as a nation, having served in so many theatres of war—is the most important aspect of that date.

I often speak about modern Australia and encourage young people to understand how our system of government works, including the role of the Governor-General and the checks and balances in our democracy. The reserve powers of dismissal, in my view, are best left unused— because the best part of those powers is the idea they might be used, and it really comes down to the appropriate influence and relationship with the government of the day. Tonight, you can visit the official study where the dismissal occurred. The chair is original, though the desk has been sent to the Museum of Australian Democracy for all Australians to see.  

But we're here tonight for something very important. I am very proud to be patron of the Children's Medical Research Institute, and I'm so glad that you are here. I've had engagements with you in other ways and in other parts of the country, but this is the first time for me here at Government House, and we're here to do something very, very special: the 65th anniversary of the Canberra Committee of the Children's Medical Research Institute (CMRI), founded just two years after CMRI itself in 1958.

My personal link to your story is that I'm the first Canberra-born Governor-General. I was born in what was then the Royal Canberra Hospital in 1965. I've been celebrating my 60th birthday this year, and across all of these years the Canberra Committee has worked. Driven, I know, by so many reasons; for many members of the Canberra Committee, there is a personal connection to CMRI’s work, including families impacted by genetic conditions.  

I want to acknowledge all past and present members of the Canberra Committee. You are all extraordinary, and have committed yourselves to an extraordinary organization, as we will hear tonight, changing lives, and you’ve been doing that 65 years.

I acknowledge Professor Roger Reddel AO, Director of CMRI; Carolyn Forster OAM, President of the Canberra Committee and Vice President of the CMRI Board; and Dawn Waterhouse OAM, a founding member of the Canberra Committee, who sadly could not join us tonight.

A warm welcome to Fiona and David Spencer, Archer’s grandparents. Archer, who has cystic fibrosis, was one of the faces of Jeans for Genes in 2023. I’m wearing my denim suit tonight in honour of that campaign. Also here is Jon and his mother Megan. Jon, who is six years old and has spinal muscular atrophy, is one of the Jeans for Genes ambassadors last year. Jon, you did a fantastic job tonight, and we’re so happy to have you here.

Jon’s story, like Archer’s, is powerful and important. Their families have been brave and generous in sharing their experiences as part of Jeans for Genes, so people in the wider community who are not aware of these conditions and your work can understand and participate, and ultimately, many other children benefit from the same transformative interventions. In my role as your Governor-General, I’m privileged to see the extraordinary advances being made by Australian medical researchers—diagnoses, treatments, and even cures for genetic diseases, some of which are now possible during pregnancy.

It’s hard to overstate how consequential these advances are, especially for families like Jon's and Archer’s and so many others. This is especially the case when we consider what the prospects were for children who had a disease 65 years ago, or that time I was born, 60 years ago, even. Medical science has travelled light years since then, and the researchers that I meet all over the country that they will see, in the very near future, even more remarkable advances as things get better and better.

Last week, was pleased to host Professor Georgina Long, 2024 Australian of the Year, along with Professor Richard Scolyer and the team from the Melanoma Institute of Australia, and had an extraordinary conversation about what's been happening at the MIA and the impact that's having on other cancers, particularly with interventions that Professor Long has been pioneering. A few weeks earlier, I visited the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, another extraordinary institution making astonishing advances. I met patients whose lives were saved by these treatments—people who had poor prognoses but now face hopeful futures. They were there as the living embodiment of what happens when these research advances take hold.

In April, I was very fortunate to visit the Children’s Health and Medical Research Institute at Westmead, where they proudly showed me ProCan, a world-first cancer research program advancing precision medicine. I also saw their stem cell facility, where organoids—mini organs grown from patient tissue—are being used to study genetic conditions and develop new treatments. This is one of the most advanced model systems to study serious genetic conditions and develop new treatments. It was a great privilege to observe it up close with the researchers. I put all the gear on, I was able to look through the microscope at these organoids. It felt thrilling to see this research advancing so quickly, but knowing just how consequential it is.

What I see and feel in all these institutions is care—care for patients and families in the most distressing and difficult circumstances – and care for research and evidence and scientific process. Care that is rigorous and accountable and takes seriously the responsibility to find treatments and cures for rare and serious diseases.

When I was sworn in as Governor-General in July 2024, I promised to put care, kindness, and respect at the core of everything I do. Care for each other, care for those who care for others, care for those who do the caring of others, care for our continent and its environmental riches, care for civics and institutions, and care for the way we discuss and debate the really tough issues of our time, without rancour, anger, judgment or violence.

Over the past 16 months, I’ve had a close-up, front-seat view of the power of the intersection of care, kindness, and respect with modernity, visibility, and optimism—values the Prime Minister asked me to embody. At that intersection of care and modernity, kindness and visibility, and respect and optimism, I've seen our strength as a modern nation, one that cares about the future of those who begin life with complications or disadvantages, particularly when it comes to a medical condition.  

I've seen how immeasurably our researchers, our scientists and clinicians add to the quality of life of so many here in our modern country, we're so fortunate to have so many leading institutions and people, so many groundbreaking teams with such a strong ethic of care, integrity and compassion.  

Of course, their work could not be done without the generous support and commitment of the broader community. And the CMRI Canberra Committee is, for me, one of the most exceptional examples of the symbiotic relationship between medical research and the community, and it has been for 65 years.

I want to congratulate you all on reaching this significant milestone. It's consequential. I'm so glad tonight we can celebrate you. We can welcome you here to Government House to celebrate the remarkable and generous work that you do. For me, you are the essence of care. I hope you see that clearly tonight.  

We've been blessed with a gorgeous sunset, so the light will be lovely. I have the most caring team. I always acknowledge the team around me. We've met Nicole. You'll meet other members of the team tonight. They care about you deeply as well, and all that we do is to make sure that you feel so welcome here as we celebrate you and talk more about the work that you've done, and have a chance to thank you for everything you’ve done here in Canberra. It is a great privilege for me hosting tonight. I hope you enjoy every moment.