Speech delivered on 6 July 2026 at Government House.

I want to start by acknowledging that we are on Ngunnawal country, and I pay my respects to Elders past and present, and just pay my respect to those communities, those First Nations communities, who have had such a profound role here at this place.

We welcome heads of mission from all of the countries, ambassadors and high commissioners, when they first arrive to bring their credentials. We also have a smoking ceremony, and it's one of the things they comment on, that they enjoy doing a cultural welcome before they even arrive into their own residences. So, there's some very special things we do here.

I also want to pause and acknowledge Genevieve Jacobs today, CEO of Hands Across Canberra. It's so nice to see you. We cross our paths all the time, Genevieve, and it's nice to actually welcome you here for this wonderful event.

Fiona Hyams, thanks Fiona, Board Member of Hands Across Canberra. Wonderful. You're such a strong board and such a strong sense of your governance, and you achieve great, great things.

Roger Toll, I wanted to acknowledge. We sat beside each other at the dinner where you were celebrated for your extraordinary philanthropy. You were then described as a quiet giant of generosity, and it was a very special time to see you celebrated, because it tells us so much about who gives and who are those incredible generous people that Hands Across Canberra have long supported and are celebrating.

And you are all distinguished guests here today. Everyone who comes here, you're all welcome guests, particularly the Hands Across Canberra heroes today. Most importantly, all locally owned and operated, you're all a vital part of the warmth and generosity here at the heart of Canberra.

So, welcome here to Government House.

Many of you haven't been here before. There's a good number of you. I love it when there are people seeing this place through fresh eyes. Some of you have come back after many visits, but to see it firsthand is always really exciting for me, to get a bit of feedback from you after you've spent some time in this house.

We like to say this is a place of peace and belonging, where everyone is welcome, and I'm so glad that we have time in today's event for you to wander through the rooms of the ground floor. There's a lot to see on this ground floor. There's a lot of spaces where history happened.

If you go into the official study, you'll see the letter that was handed to a Prime Minister from a former Governor-General. You can read that letter and assess yourself how that relationship was going on that day in the official study.

But there are also places that are historically important for other reasons. So, at the front of the house, just down in the alcove, do go into the Queen's study. You can feel the presence of Her Majesty. She came here, she came to Canberra 16 times, but stayed here 14 times, and she would make herself very comfortable around this house. It's one of her favourite rooms, and she would stay upstairs in the Vista Suite, and she would enjoy her evenings looking down towards the Brindabellas, saying that it was one of her favourite views in the world.

So, this house was very important to her.

But you'll see the story of Australia unfolding in most of the rooms. We're in the middle of a work program with the National Gallery, so this room hasn't yet been done, but many others have, where you'll see modern works, or works that talk a bit more about where modern Australia is, First Nations works, and sculptures, and photographs.

We're trying to elevate this whole house to tell a bigger story, and you'll note in the foyer that I brought back two portraits, two former Governors-General. I wanted to have Sir William Deane, as someone I'm very close to and still alive here in Canberra. You would know, at 95, and a wonderful portrait of him. I invited him back a couple of weeks ago, and we stood in front of that portrait. It was just beautiful to see the earlier version of Sir William but know that his mind is as sharp as it was when he was your Governor-General.

And there's a beautiful portrait of Dame Quentin Bryce as well.

Then you walk down the Wattle Corridor, so you'll see a big theme with wattle. I wear wattle whenever I can as the national emblem of the country, but also part of the insignia of the Office of Governor-General. So, you see a lot of references to wattle, the books, the stories we're telling.

We want everyone to feel part of that story as you visit.

And you probably know this already, because I think I've said it to every Canberra audience that we've had. I am your first Canberra-born Governor-General, so it's always a pleasure for me to celebrate not just Canberra in general, but to actually bring people in who are the fabric of this incredible city, particularly to celebrate local grassroots initiatives that have built the social fabric of this city.

And I have known and been in our city since 1965, so I know just what that work has been over a period of 60 years, from where I started and then coming back.

I don't think it's any more local than Hands Across Canberra. It's a call for Canberrans to give where you live. And almost $700,000 raised for local charities through this year's Canberra Day Appeal, and well over a million dollars being distributed to Canberrans in need in the current financial year, is a staggering amount for a city the size of Canberra.

And it's all of you that have responded so readily in such thoughtful care for your neighbours, your communities, the people of Canberra.

So, I'm delighted that we can celebrate you today for all sorts of reasons, but particularly as a long-term Canberran myself.

I think it's also important to remember that locally inspired moments of building community are also nation-building moments. This is a very important city. It's a capital city, and I don't know that we actually celebrate our national story, and in fact that we're a capital, the way other nations do with their capitals.

We think about Washington, DC, and London, and I sometimes think we've perhaps never really taken advantage of it being a smaller place. But this is a national capital. It's part of a national story of modern Australia, where I think we are all believing in unity but without uniformity, where connected and very diverse communities are uplifted and strengthened by acts of generosity, peace and justice, and welcome.

And that's how I felt growing up here.

My parents, I've kind of told this story many times, were inveterate volunteers. They had us volunteering at a very young age. By the time I was 10, I was going around, I think, with a calico bag with a little series of receipt books. Everyone wanted a $2 tax receipt back in the day, and I'd come home and make sure that was making its way to various charities.

And that same ethos of giving and giving locally is what drives the work.

I think you are an incredibly dynamic and agile community foundation, and it's quite a clear strategy. You're practical, you make philanthropy accessible, and it's always delivered through partnership and collaboration.

And I always know that it's delivered with the deepest of care, kindness and respect.

And for many who don't realise it, we're all part of a sort of extraordinary advantage. On one level, we have it all here in Canberra, but despite that, there's a lot of disadvantage, and there are lots of pockets that require a lot of attention.

And I think to have that exclusion sit alongside such incredible advantage means that people living on the margins in this city often are overlooked by others, but not by you.

I think the work that you do, for all of those that are part of Hands Across Canberra, deals with every bit of need across the city, but you also understand through the heroes what it means to give practical support, and that it has a real impact.

I'm a proud patron of so many of the organisations that you benefit, including most recently your grants around the migrant and refugee settlement services and Stepping Stone social enterprise, and there are many, many more.

So, you have a very effective circular way of fundraising, investing, and distributing those grants. I think you have incredible insight into local needs, and I hope that as the heroes of this incredible organisation, you understand and feel part of that work that never opens or closes without you as part of it.

I want to finish just as I always do with all of my remarks.

Just over two years ago I was sworn in as your Governor-General, 28th Governor-General. I committed to all Australians, and said this in the Senate, that my work would always be framed around care, kindness and respect.

And I always give an explanation of what that looks like. It's care for each other, care for those who do the caring of others, care for our continent and its environmental riches, another way of saying care for country, care for how we discuss the issues of our time without violence, anger or judgement, and very deep care for civic life and the democratic principles that we have to hold true to at the moment, whilst there's a very big push to kind of disregard or be apathetic about that.

So, care is at the centre of everything we do, and I like to celebrate care when I see it in its greatest forms.

There is no greater organisation that epitomises care than the work that you do here with Hands Across Canberra.

I want to thank you all for the part you play, showing such deep care.

And if you'll forgive me, I'll just put you in the hands of Genevieve to add her remarks.

And as you do wander around the house this afternoon, do take photos of anything, wander around, pick things up, have a look at things. It's a house for all of you.

And to say thank you for all that you give to the people and organisations of Canberra, and that means a great deal to me that you're here today.