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Thank you Donna, and thank you Caity, for acknowledging country on behalf of all of us. I join you in doing that. I always acknowledge country. As you look across, you'll see that when we go out on the lawn, that’s Gadigal land on the other side of the harbour. So many different lands around Australia, as you all know from those lands. And there's a map inside the house that shows all of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander lands across the country. 

I want to pay my respects to Cammeraygal elders past and present, and I want to acknowledge all people who have an Aboriginal history with us today. 

But I start by acknowledging Elizabeth Shaw, who's Deputy Chair. I know that you're representing the chair. Shane Fitzsimmons unfortunately couldn't join us as the board chair, but wonderful you're here as deputy together with a number of the directors of the board we met as you were arriving. 

Stephen Lewin, CEO, welcome. I want to thank everybody involved with the members of Youth Insearch: directors, former team members, people who came through here and come back, those of you that are now working at Youth Insearch, that were part of the program, the leadership program, come back there already feels to me to be a circularity where it happens at Youth Insearch. I saw this in Uluru just in the last couple of days, which I'll speak about in a moment. I'd also like to thank the supporters of Youth Insearch. A number of you are financial supporters, leadership supporters, you bring some very important, much needed resources, but also a sense of confidence to the organization that Youth Insearch matters. 

And I'm going to say my special welcome to the most special guests. We always talk about distinguished guests. If I use that word today, it's for the graduates, the graduates and your families. You are our most distinguished guests today. You are the people that we're here for today. I want you to feel comfortable. I want you to feel that this is a day for you by celebrating you. Nothing is out of reach here. Everything here is for sharing. We talk about Admiralty House, Government House in Canberra, being a place of welcome, a place of peace, where everyone belongs. And even if you haven't been here before, it feels a bit overwhelming and grand. I want you to know that actually it's a place where you belong, and so you're very free to walk around, go back into the house after you've been out in the gardens, because that is just truly spectacular. You can photograph anything. You can take selfies. You can take selfies with me, whatever you'd like to do. And I wanted to say that as your new Patron, it's important I welcome you in that way. General Hurley and Mrs. Hurley are always welcome, especially to our team here as the former Governor-General, but I'm very happy to do that as your current Governor-General and as your new Patron. 

And in that Welcome to Country, I'm very conscious that this house, historically, didn't have many artifacts that would show First Nations respect and their presence. And so behind me, I have a piece of work by an artist called Ray Ken from the APY lands up near Central Australia, on the border between South Australia and the Northern Territory. And you were welcomed by a painting from a Noongar artist no longer alive, Paddy Bedford, and it's a men's medicine healing pocket painting, which, as you came in and you saw all of the grandeur of the history of the house, you were actually welcomed by a piece of very significant Noongar art by a man who was painting about medicine and healing. And I want you to know that you'll get that feeling as you walk around the house that there's a mixture of the history of Australia from deep Indigenous history all the way through to that very modern story, and everything in between as you wander around. So you can pay attention to that. You can take pictures of that, and you can ask any of our team about that. 

And before I talk about the two reasons we're here, I want just to tell you about something that happened on the weekend, because I want to start with something that I was gifted by the Anangu in Central Australia. The Anangu people are traditional owners of Uluru, what used to be known as Ayers Rock in the center of the country. And the Prime Minister and I were in that that part of the country, in Central Australia, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the handing back of all of that land to the Anangu people by a former Governor-General, Sir Ninian Stephen. He did that on exactly the same day, yesterday, 26th of October, in 1985 and I was there, on behalf of all Australians to commemorate the 40th anniversary and to sit with the Anangu. And they gave me many gifts of welcome and their gifts of generosity, mostly, but I sat with a group of women who gave me something I thought you might find interesting. As new leaders, they have something they use. It's in Pitjantjatjara language, which are words for feeling, their box of words for humans. And they start meetings and events by asking people to find the word that describes how they're feeling, so that when they get together, everyone knows what everyone's doing. And I've chosen the words I want to tell you about today. 

I'm feeling Mukulya, which means ‘loving and caring and kind and fond' of all of you. So I'm feeling very Mukulya this morning. I'm also feeling Pukul-pukulpa, which is I'm very ‘optimistic’ because of you, because of the people we're going to be graduating today. You made me feel very optimistic about the country. 

But I thought perhaps some of you might be feeling Kanany-kananypa, which is ‘proud, full of pride and confident’. Or you might be feeling Rapa-rapa, ‘brave, strong and confident’. You might, though, be feeling Watjik-watjilpa which is homesick or feeling lost. You come into this big house and we can make sure we make you feel very welcome, that in this place you can feel confident. Some of you coming in, I thought, might be feeling Tjuni pika, which is ‘feeling sick in the stomach’, because it's very nerve wracking in this big house and if you're feeling that way I want to let you know that everyone here, all the team, are trying to craft an event that makes you go from a feeling of nervousness to feeling proud, full of pride, or however you're feeling. And you might want to look in this box to see how the Anangu use their Pitjantjatjara language to actually just describe how they're feeling. And I've told you how I feel because of your presence here, so I'm happy to share this with you and have a better look at them later. 

And I thought you might find an interesting way to reflect on what happened up in Uluru on Anangu country over the weekend. Now, they were celebrating 40 years since the handback. We're celebrating 40 years of Youth Insearch. So a 40th anniversary is a wonderful, wonderful time to reflect on four decades of work, but mostly we’re here to celebrate your graduation together. 

So it's so much about what's been going on for 40 years, but what still lies ahead and where you're all going to go. I've already told you that this place is a place of peace. I want you all to feel very comfortable. I also want to find a way, over time, to ensure that anyone that comes into these places can find some part of themselves here. So if you don't, let me know and tell me, what would make that work? What would the thing be that we could have here that would say that you do really well, and we share that story. Now you might know this, that when I was sworn in as your Governor-General about 15 months ago, I promised I'd put care, kindness and respect at the centre of everything I would do as your Governor-General, and the way I describe that is care for each other, care for those who care for others, care for our continent and its extraordinary beauty and environmental riches, care for civics and institutions, care for our democracy, care for the way we discuss and debate the really tough issues without judgment or violence, instead with kindness and acceptance. 

And I know that's part of leadership programs, to know as a leader how to always act with authenticity and kindness, and how you manage difficult conversations and things when they go off the rails without getting angry or attacking the person, but actually respecting each other. 

I've been reading your stories the last week or so, and I'm not going to quote from many of them, but I read in all of your stories where you've been from, how you came into Youth Insearch and who you are. Now I want to thank you for sharing the stories, letting me read the stories. They're deeply personal, and the fact that you're sharing them with each other, with the people you met at Youth Insearch, and let me read them, is a powerful act of care. And I see that there's care and kindness and belonging in everything that you've been experiencing and everything you were doing as leaders, and that's what we needed. 

Anyone in a public office like mine must do that: pay respect to young leaders. So you see us behaving well, so it tells you that you're doing the right thing too, but often you teach us how to do that better. And I said a lot of public leaders, we can all do better, and to show you what good leadership can look like. 

Now, Prime Minister Albanese, he chose me for this role, but the king appointed me as his Australian representative. But an Australian representative has a state role, and The King has never declined the decision of an Australian Prime Minister, and The Queen never did so. I'm an Australian figure in an Australian office operating under the powers of the Constitution. Now, the Prime Minister said to me he wanted me to be a modern, visible and optimistic Governor-General for our times, where I would represent all Australians. So that's why being here with you today matters to me. You're doing that too. Youth Insearch is all about hope and optimism. So many of your stories talk about walking into Youth Insearch and finally finding your tribe, finding a sense of deep belonging, finding a community where you feel cared for, whether it was a warmth, where you were drawn. I want to wear my blue heart for you to say that I get what it means to actually put your heart into things. For love to actually be the centre of everything that Youth Insearch does. You also found a very nourishing place, and I read in your words that you found a place to heal for some of you and start to grow. And you've also worked with each other to provide friendship and care for one another, and that you're helping each other find your paths and common paths and those that will take off into different directions. I also notice in all the stories that that often can't be easy, it's a really hard thing to do. What you've done is hard. It's easier to stay back at home and not take these big steps that you all took, a really big step that takes a lot of courage. Caring about yourself and caring about others is never a soft option. People think it's soft. Care is soft, it's gentle and it's affirming, it's warm. But care is often hard. Care can sometimes fail and have some setbacks and then you have to pick yourself up again. And I know some of you have experienced that when care works well, though it's transformative, that's what Youth Insearch is all about.

Now, Sal, if you don't mind, I'm going to quote you, because I don't want to try and talk about you. I just want to use your words. And I could have chosen words for many of you, but Sal gave me permission. When you talk about your tough circumstances and your first Youth Insearch camp, you said you came as ‘a stranger to warmth, to genuine care.’ In your words, ‘camp was the hug that you've been needing for years.’ So beautiful, the big hug that you needed. That Youth Insearch became a home, one built on love, safety and belonging, and you finished your story like this. I hope you don't mind. This is a bit where you're very honest: 

‘I still struggle with my mind, my past and my pain, but now it no longer feels unbearable, because I know I don't have to face it alone. I have my Youth Insearch family with their big, beautiful blue heart.’ 

Such a beautiful thing that your Youth Insearch family always show up. And those hearts, as those who have been supporting the organisation for several years know, those hearts have been beating for 40 years. That's what we ought to celebrate today. Today, you are the leaders of tomorrow, and you're going to shape the next 40 years, or the next 50 years, next 100 years, of what comes for people who will need that big hug and those big beating hearts to support them. 

I can only begin to imagine what all of that will be doing over time, compounding the impact across the country, and where all the people who come through this program, through Youth Insearch, find themselves, and the impact you have on the country and the people that you will lead and that you'll care for. So congratulations to Youth Insearch for everything you've done for 40 years. Happy birthday. 

I'm glad you're here to celebrate, and that particularly today is the big, big milestone for all the young people. Congratulations to you, and have a lovely time here before you start the next part of your journey. So congratulations to all of you, and happy birthday.