Saturday, 10 June 2023
Government House
Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC KC

Thank you, Michael, for your warm welcome to Country. 

Bujari gamarruwa

Diyn Babana Gamarada Gadigal Ngura

In the language of the Gadigal, I welcome you this morning and pay my respects to the Gadigal of the Eora Nation, the Traditional Owners of this land, and to Elders, past, present and emerging of the Nations throughout our State.  

In coming together on this beautiful winter’s day for the formal celebration of King Charles III’s Birthday, we maintain a tradition of commemorating the Monarch’s birthday in June that we have followed since the death of King George V in 1936, whose birthday was 3 June. 

With the death last year of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, who served as Monarch for 70 years, this is the first King’s Birthday parade in NSW for 72 years, the last held to honour King George VI on 7 June 1951.

Occasions, such as today, are days of ceremony and tradition.  Today’s Parade follows in a similar vein to that of the last King’s Birthday parade, with an inspection of the guard by Governor Sir John Northcott, a 21 gun-salute; and a reception for 500 guests, including the Premier of the day, Jim McGirr; other Members of Parliament, representatives of the Navy, Army and Air Force, the Consular Corps, senior judges and church leaders.

There was also a degree of expectation that day, with an anticipated Royal Visit by His Majesty, George VI, sadly cancelled later that year due to the King’s ill-health.

The importance of tradition and ceremony should not be lost on us in a modern and changing world.  Nor should the ability to transform traditions to the realities of our modern world be lost on us.  This morning’s Welcome to Country and the Smoking Ceremony, often performed on ceremonial occasions, exemplify traditions, ancient in themselves, which have transformed our understanding of the realities of our past, speak to the present and which take us into the future. 

Nor should we overlook the stability which traditions represent, as we were reminded by the Lieutenant Governor Andrew Bell, on the occasion of the Coronation Day tree planting ceremony here at Government House on 6 May.  His Honour said: “As a lawyer, I note that Prince Charles immediately became King Charles III, King of Australia, on the passing of Her Majesty in September last year,” reflecting the 1973 legislative change by the Australian Parliament whereby the Queen was styled “By the Grace of God, Queen of Australia”. 

The last King’s Birthday Parade was at a time when the world was still recovering from the devastations of World War II, through which King George VI had led the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth, which now comprises 56 countries and 2.5 billion people, one third of the world’s population.  

As King Charles III said: “Let ours be a Commonwealth that not only stands together, but strives together, in restless and practical pursuit of the global common good.”[1]  

Today, there are Australian citizens who come from every one of these Commonwealth nations, all part of our diverse, multi-cultural community.  These bonds are important in a world which still is not free of conflict.

There is another crisis of the world’s making of which King Charles III has shown decades of leadership – that of the environment.  In acknowledging the custodianship of the Traditional Owners of our beautiful but often harsh country, we recognise the knowledge Indigenous Australians have always had of the environment. 

Without knowledge, there can no effective custodianship, as we have so painfully learned over the last few years.  That is why, the traditional language words of our National Anthem: “we’ve golden soil and wealth for toil” are so important: “Yarragal Bamal Yarrabuni” - “Yellow earth don’t tire yourself”.

The music used today for the Royal Salute is the Royal Anthem of Australia, proclaimed by Governor-General Sir Ninian Stephen on 19 April 1984, the same day that Advance Australia Fair was officially proclaimed as our National Anthem.  Last year, on 27 October, God Save the King was proclaimed by the Governor-General as the Royal Anthem to signify the change of Monarch. 

Another tradition is that of service, exemplified in the life of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and which was so deeply inculcated into the life of her son, who has visited Australia 16 times and lived here as a student for 6 months.   Today, we celebrate not only the service of the King. We honour all who render service to our nation, to the State and to the community including the Members of Parliament, others who serve in the law and the Church, the Consular Corps who serve their countries and the many charitable organisations represented here.  I also formally commend the thousands of volunteers who serve our communities, day in and day out, including St John's Ambulance here today. We thank you all. 

In closing, I invoke the words of John Donne, the Elizabethan metaphysical poet, soldier, scholar and Royal chaplain, later Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral, who wrote:

“… change is the nursery

Of music, joy, life and eternity.”[2]   We have all these elements today:

-       The music of Scots College Sydney Pipes and Drums and the NSW Police Band;

-       The joy of young people, represented by the 96-member tri-service cadet Royal Guard from across the State.  King Charles was also a school Cadet; and later served as an Officer in the Royal Navy:

-       The life of our community of NSW, represented in the service of those I have mentioned. I make special mention of the NSW Mounted Police and our Service personnel with us today;

and

-       The eternity of the ancestral wisdom of our ancient land.

God Save the King and Long May He Reign!