Speech delivered on December 5, Hotel Realm

It’s really lovely to be here tonight. I’ll start by acknowledging the Ngunnawal people as the traditional owners of the land that we meet on tonight, and pay my respects to elders past and present, and acknowledge all people who have a long and enduring connection to the lands of the ACT and the surrounding regions, and pay my respects to any Aboriginal people who are in the room tonight.

I also want to acknowledge a few important people tonight. You are all important on a centenary night, and I have a few I’d like to acknowledge: Stephen Donnelley, President of Rowing Australia; Sarah Cook, CEO of Rowing Australia—thank you for getting me back out on the water, and I’m going to say more about that in a moment. Former President of Rowing Australia, Brigadier Alison Creagh AM CSC (Retired). Alison is a board member of Rowing Australia, but I’m calling her out because you hosted us very specially in Paris last year when you were President of Paralympics Australia, and we attended the Para rowing and were there to see some remarkable feats on the course.

Just recently, we were together again as Princess Anne was in Australia as the Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Corps of Signals. Alison is a member of the Royal Corps of Signals, as was my father, who served 40 years. The Princess Royal came up because in her role, she came up for ceremonies. So we spent a weekend together—no rowing in that case, but a lot of royal protocol that we enjoyed with the Royal Corps of Signals.

I’d like to acknowledge all of the board members, the council members, the state CEOs who come from all over the country for this centenary event. Cameron Murray, CEO of Paralympics Australia—thank you for introducing me to boccia in the Paralympic sports. Just recently, we had the Paralympic boccia team compete in Canberra, and we welcomed all of the athletes to Government House and played boccia in the halls of Government House. It was absolutely splendid.

Julian Jones, Director of Performance Services at the Institute of Sport. I’m going to call out Romilly Madew—it’s an unusual one. She’s CEO of Engineers Australia, and she recently received her honorary doctorate at Sydney University. But I’m calling her out because, together with a number of other women, we all founded something called the Minerva Network, which is a voluntary organization that supports extraordinary women athletes in their future so they transition out of professional sport into their next life, or just to be with them through their professional ups and downs. And of course, the great mentee that you have, Rom, is Georgie Rowe. We watched Georgie through the eyes of Rom as her mentor. We’ve learned a lot about the Olympic rowing teams through Georgie, and we watched every single stroke. It’s been a real highlight of the Minerva Network. Georgie, getting to know you and the work you’ve done for all of the other young women athletes around Australia in all sorts of sports has been truly inspirational.

I want to acknowledge Olympians, Paralympians, Rowing Australia life members, which will include Drew Ginn, who will have his Olympic medals returned to him tonight. What a special moment that will be—something that Rowing Australia has achieved quite remarkably, together with the Australian Olympic Committee, the International Olympic Committee, and World Rowing. It’ll be a very special moment. Within all the distinguished guests, I won’t name you all, but I will call out the three life members that will be inducted tonight: I’ve mentioned Drew, there’s Ellen Randell, and then Nick Hunter. Where are you, Nick? There’s Nick. Nick and I rowed together around about the same time—we go back to the ANU Boat Club. It is wonderful to see you receiving life membership tonight.

So everybody, you are all distinguished guests on a night where we celebrate the centenary of Rowing Australia and the Rowsellas’ year of extraordinary achievements. As many of you might know, I am the first Canberra-born Governor-General. It’s a lovely distinction to have, and it’s one that I like to use a lot. My father still lives here. Two of my sisters are still here, so I’ve been coming back, but more as a visitor in the last couple of decades, coming back here in this rather astonishing job, which I didn’t ever expect. And now living on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin is very special, because I now get to watch very closely the new generations of rowers on the water.

You understand where I wake up every morning, if I’m in Canberra. For those that row, you would come up the course, and sometimes I’m there with a camera, somebody comes in with a cup of tea. I certainly haven’t been up since five o’clock getting ready to get on the water—except earlier this year, I was approached by the wonderful Sarah Cook, who suggested that I did get back out on the water. All I had were memories of ANU Boat Club days—the shed in Sullivan’s Creek, getting out on the water in freezing conditions, which weren’t nearly as bad as windy conditions. What I’m seeing now is the wind has never been as bad as it is at the moment. So I feel for everyone dealing with those whitecaps, but I remembered loving every bit of being on the water once you got there. Sarah reminded me, and stoked that desire to get back out on the water. After several decades away, she invited me to become part of a pair, and we were able to go and compete. I called it a novelty race. We raced against the local school captains of boats doing the Head of the Lake regatta on Lake Burley Griffin in February. We had three practices out on the water. I got to wear a zootie for the first time in my life. Sarah was very kind—until she wasn’t! It was very exciting. Got down to the sheds, I could feel the muscle I’d been practicing on, getting my strength up, and I rowed stroke side. So I felt very confident. I rowed a pair—I’ve never rowed in anything other than pairs, fours, and eights. So we go down to the sheds. Three practices, all the wrong muscles, all the returning, getting blisters in the wrong places. We had a lot of fun. We only had three main objectives: not to come last, not to fall in, and not to catch a crab. I think we came sixth out of eight. Okay—no crabs caught, and we stayed above water and we were okay. Big shout-out to Sarah and her determination to get me on the water. We’ll do it again somehow.

What I now see every holiday: I see rowers in huge numbers, in every kind of craft. I hear coaches every morning, very early—your voices carry right up to Government House, and what a way to wake up. You compete with the cockatoos most mornings, but it’s wonderful to stand and quietly look at what’s happening on Lake Burley Griffin as a symbol of what’s happening around the country with Rowing Australia and rowers and people getting deeply invested in making rowing a truly national, truly accessible sport. It makes me smile every morning I hear the rowers out on the water, and then we look at the results of what’s happened in the last year: gold medal Paralympic performances in Paris in 2024 from Jed Oxburgh OAM and Nikki Ayres OAM—I got to see the day before they raced for the win in the PR3 mixed double, our first gold in the Paralympics—and a bronze to Annabelle McIntyre OAM and Jess Morrison OAM in the women’s pair. The Rowsellas then came into 2025 on a high that has continued into the World Rowing Championships in Shanghai.

I’ve just had the great pleasure – talking about things getting more popular for rowing in this town – of just a few weeks ago presenting the inaugural Golden Oar at Canberra’s first Festival of Rowing. I presented it to the Rowsellas in November at the Red Shed, which I think has become such an important part of Canberra’s rowing infrastructure. We’re now seeing kids like me who went to Woden Valley High back in the day, would never have thought of rowing, couldn’t have accessed the infrastructure or the boats. Now there are kids in public schools in Canberra who can go to Red Shed and start their own career much earlier. It’s equalizing the access for people in Canberra. That’s a model that we’re seeing all around the country.

Tonight, though, is a celebration for all of you of the achievements of world-class athletes performing at the height of strength, skill, and power. It’s also recognition of Rowing Australia’s century at the very centre of Australia’s enduring passion for rowing, its support for and investment in the athletes, the administrators, the officials, the coaches, and the volunteers who bring care, kindness, respect, and energy to the rowing community, the sports community, and communities generally, right across Australia.

When I was sworn in as your Governor-General just over 16 months ago, I said in my address to the Senate that I would put care, kindness, and respect at the centre of everything I do in this role. And the Prime Minister, when he asked me to serve, asked me to be modern, visible, and optimistic. I like to think of those six words, and I play around with them a lot. Where are the parts of the country, where are the communities that show a modern form of care, where there’s visible kindness, where respect is both optimistic and available to all? I think it’s in the boat sheds, on the water, in the gyms, or year-round communities giving so generously their time, passion, and expertise to lift a rower, to lift a rowing family, to lift the athletes who simply want to row—lifting the Rowsellas to excellence on the global stage while encouraging junior rowers and everyone into this sport, including para rowers, to discover just how rewarding rowing can be.

I also know that when I reflect back on why I chose care, I think back to my time as a uni student rowing. I met some of the kindest people through rowing. I met people who cared, who just turned up every day. Nothing was too hard, no fundraising effort was too difficult or too much to ask. Everyone wanted to help each other. The rowing community has always been a deeply caring one, and when people are in trouble, the rowing community puts their arms around each other and takes care of each other. That’s what I love to think about—what happens in a great model in Australia that can put care at the centre. It’s not soft; it’s quite hard to do. But I think rowers and the whole infrastructure of rowing show us what it looks like to be not just a sport, but a deep part of our community.

Tonight, I’m very pleased to join you back on stage shortly in celebrating the Service Award, which I get to present to a person who has contributed to rowing with unwavering dedication as a coach, mentor, and inspiration for years to come. As you always said, Sarah, sport is always more than results. It is about winning, but it’s also not. It’s about belonging, confidence, and community. So tonight, as your Governor-General, as a former rower, someone who still wants to go and have a bit of a paddle, have a bit of a go—even in a zootie—I’m so proud and delighted as an old rower to come back and celebrate the Rowing Australia community, celebrate all of your achievements over 100 years, and celebrate the spirit of belonging that you bring to our communities, and hope that it continues to thrive well into the future. Congratulations to everyone involved in Rowing Australia and the rowing community. Thank you. I hope I might see you on the water sometime—I might be in the tinny yelling! Thanks, everybody.