CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY

Thank you, Mr Speaker, and congratulations on your historic reappointment to the important role of Speaker of the House of Representatives.

In your re-election, you join the small number of Speakers of the House of Representatives who have been re-elected to that role including, most recently, The Honourable Tony Smith, 30th Speaker of the House of Representatives.

I would like to thank Cheyne Halloran for providing the Welcome to Country at this morning’s Ecumenical Service at Wesley Uniting Church, and Aunty Violet Sheridan for her Welcome to Country earlier today in the Great Hall.

I would also like to thank the Honourable Michelle Gordon AC, a Justice of the High Court of Australia, for acting as my deputy to administer the oath or affirmation of allegiance to Members of the House of Representatives.

To all Members, thank you for welcoming me so warmly today.

As we participate together in the ceremonies for the opening of the 48th Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia, I share and feel your pride in gathering here in Australia’s Parliament House, and your appreciation of this very important moment in the civic life of our country.

It was my great pleasure and privilege to host the newest Members of your company at Government House just a few weeks ago.

Wherever I speak, I speak of the resonant place of care, kindness and respect in Australian life.

Travelling across the country in the last year, I have seen those values as so much a part of life throughout Australia.

And I know you have seen them, too, in the electorates you represent. It must be something wonderful for you, because it certainly is for me, to see the muscle of care exercised regularly.

I like to frame it like this: Care for each other, care for those that do the caring for others, care for our continent and our extraordinary environment, care for civics and institutions, (which I know the Speaker and I share a great passion for, and will continue to do work on) and care for the way, particularly in this place, for the way we speak to each other and debate the tough issues of our time without anger or judgment or hate, but always with respect. In short, being able to argue well.

I hear regularly from Australians that they see our civic life underpinned by these values demonstrated by all of us who have the privilege of serving our communities.

And, if we make the mistake of thinking care is soft, I remind myself and others that, in its most powerful form, care is tough. It’s accountable and measurable – often hard to do consistently and persistently – but always essential to our nation’s future and our cohesion as a modern society.

As someone with lived experience of the caring role recently told me: ‘carers know in our bones that care is not a private burden, but a public good. It is part of our national story’.

Working with integrity and optimism as stewards of our democracy, I believe you will bring the same care, kindness and respect to your roles in the House of Representatives.

Your election by the people of Australia, and your welcome into this place, is a reminder of the extraordinary strength of our democracy and institutions of government, and our potential as a modern, inclusive and successful nation, where everybody belongs.

I want to congratulate all of you for returning to the House of Representatives, and I want to add a new element of care – take care of yourselves and each other.

I take care of myself by carrying a copy of the Constitution with me. It defines my job, and I brought this one with me today because I had the great honour of having it signed by Sir William Deane. He signed it for me before I was sworn in as your Governor-General just over a year ago, and he asked me always to act with compassion. He presided over this very same event in 1996, and I feel very proud to continue that legacy.

I wish you all the very best as you begin your important work in this 48th Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia. Congratulations.