ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OMITTED 

There are so many people in this room tonight who are so important to the music scene, to arts and culture, not just in New South Wales and Sydney, but across the country. And of course, probably the most important people here tonight are our performers. Thank you for coming to entertain us so beautifully.

Since taking this role, my husband, Simeon, and I have been determined to ensure that these historic houses are places of peace and deep welcome, where absolutely everybody belongs. These are places to speak and to listen, to share experiences and to receive the wisdom of others. We're coming up to our first-year anniversary in the role, but our goal has been to ensure that every person we welcome can see something of themselves represented here in the house and what is important to them.

Now it's an ongoing project, and that's why tonight we're going to encourage you to wander around the ground floor. And as you wander around and look at the art, for example, the wonderful Ray Kunmanara from the APY lands behind me, or the Bronwyn Oliver sculpture, or the Julian Meagher piece, any of these pieces, they all have stories that say something either about where we are, who we've been as a nation, who's been painting us, who's been telling the story. So do enjoy that. Please, make yourself at home. I think that with every handshake, every conversation, every embrace, every idea that happens here, we want to give or receive with care, kindness, respect and love.

We've said we would put care, kindness and respect at the center of everything I will do as Governor-General over the term of my appointment, and in my first year, in addition to the art, we've tried to bring that spirit of welcome to life in many different ways. 

I'm working with a number of the national cultural institutions, and I'm also a patron of many, including the Libraries Association of Australia. I'm thinking about what books should be around these houses and what stories are told and in what form. And tonight, we're really thinking about the way to bring music into the official program and to the official residences, because that is part of our vision. In the last year, we had the exquisite voices of the Australian Girls Choir here and the Girls from Oz. They sang with us in November to celebrate 40 years of the Girls Choir; we've had a performance by the Canberra Symphony Orchestra at Government House in Canberra in December. I get to experience with our guests, the joy and the energy and the absolute precision of the Australian Army Band and the Royal Military College Band who perform at all of our investiture ceremonies and the presentation of diplomatic credentials and open days in Canberra. We also have the real understanding of the spirit of deep history that emerges from the smoking ceremonies that we have in Canberra and Sydney.

And as you all know, because music is your life, from the very first notes, the formality and apprehension slip away, and we're able to lose ourselves in the transformative power of music, as will happen again tonight. It was fortuitous that I met with Julie Simons in December last year, at the 100th birthday of your aunt. We got chatting, and you told me about 2MBS. You thought about what was important to the fine music listeners in Sydney, across the country and across the world. And you reminded me that you've been going for over 50 years since your first broadcast at noon on the 15th of December, 1974. That's what brings us to tonight. I hope tonight we're able to do something that does celebrate that 50 years. It's wonderful to have presenters, performers, volunteers and listeners all here, because there's so much to explore about what you bring to our community, and I'm so delighted we do it through live performances tonight, two of your 2025 artists in residence. 

I want to also celebrate the 200 volunteers of 2MBS who are such an essential part of the enduring success of your enterprise. You were established by volunteers with a vast range of skills and occupations, from an English tutor to an electrical technician, a stockbroker and even a chocolate maker. And the same diversity and dedication are the hallmark of the 2MBS volunteers to this very day. Michael Morton Evans OAM rightly gives them the last word in his wonderful history of 2MBS for making the station unique in the world. And you are deeply unique. And that's what we like to see here and to celebrate here at Admiralty House.

When I was sworn in as your Governor General in July last year, I undertook to put care, kindness and respect, as I said earlier, at the center of my term, and what that means for me, and I say this in every set of remarks I give, is care for each other, and care for those that do the caring of others. Care for our extraordinary continent and the environmental riches and beauty it has given us, and importantly, care for civics and institutions and care for the way in which we discuss and debate the very tough issues of our time without judgment, anger or violence, in some respects. I think it's a muscle that Australia has always had, and one we should exercise more and do so with care for one another. But tonight, it's the passionate supporters of 2MBS who turn up, contribute their skills, lend their experience and expertise, by their very presence, offering a resounding endorsement for the power and purpose of the station, and I think that is one of the most extraordinary acts of profound care. On behalf of listeners and all Australians, I want to congratulate you and celebrate you tonight.