Thursday, 26 September 2024
Art Gallery of New South Wales
Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC KC

Thank you, Dr Lang.[1]

In honouring the traditional owners of this land where we meet this afternoon, I greet you in their language: Bujari, gamarura, diyn babana gamarada, and pay my respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.

Members of the NSW Consular Corps[2], representatives from the Australian Department of Foreign and Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and Investment NSW, New Colombo Plan Scholarship and Mobility Program alumni, and, most importantly, Australia Awards scholars,

In June 1997, 6 months after being appointed Secretary-General of the United Nations[3], Kofi Annan delivered a speech at the ‘Global Knowledge’ conference in Toronto, Canada in which he said, ‘Education is the premise of progress, in every society, in every family.”[4] He prefaced that comment with the remark, “Knowledge is power. Information is liberating”.

I did pause to wonder why Kofi Annan referred to knowledge and information before education in that quote… but I think it is this:

The maxim ‘knowledge is power’ is well-known and often used. Information is the tool with which we navigate, understand, and change our world – something we have particularly come to value in a world of disinformation. But there would be neither force nor truth in either, without education. It is education that is the enabling premise of both.

So, we can see that, embedded in the three strands of Kofi Annan’s statement is a simple but profound truth: that the potential of education lies in its capacity to empower individuals, as well as its capacity to empower the communities in which those individuals apply the skill and knowledge that education has afforded them.

The Australian Awards scholarship program, over its more than 70-year long tradition, commencing with the Colombo plan in the 1950’s, exemplifies that simple but profound observation, as reflected in the change-making impact the over 100,000 international students who have come here to study[5] have had in their own nations’ development, prosperity, and resilience.[6]

The Australia Awards website has a section devoted to the stories of recent alumni.[7] Titled ‘be inspired’, it is, indeed, inspirational reading. The stories speak of the drive and dedication to fulfil personal aspirations of further education in Australia, the achievements and successes whilst here, and the incredible work performed on returning home.

Whether addressing our most pressing global issues including climate change, conservation, and food security, shaping public policy to alleviate social and economic inequity, or putting in place means by which to ensure the improved health, sustainability, and prosperity of communities, these are stories of alumni who have helped, individually and collectively, to positively steer and shape the world around us.

That is your tomorrow. Today we celebrate the present - as we congratulate you – NSW recipients of the Australia Awards, drawn from the more than 2,000 scholars from over 50 partner countries currently studying at over 40 Australian universities this year.

We know already that you are determined, resourceful and committed to improving yourselves and your community, otherwise you would not have applied; we also know you are talented, dedicated, and destined for great things, otherwise your application would not have been successful.

In addition, you clearly have impeccable judgment, otherwise you would not have chosen NSW as your destination for study.

As Governor, I say this without the slightest bias – NSW is among the most beautiful, welcoming, and dynamic of places to live, learn, and connect.

Our public universities and TAFEs are world class: six of our universities rank in the top 200 of the current QS World University Rankings[8], more than any other State in Australia[9]; one is ranked 1^st in global sustainability[10], and another 1^st in Australia for industry collaboration.[11]

As international students in NSW, you also have the support of the award-winning[12] team from Study NSW, some of whom are here with us today. If you have not connected with them yet, I urge you to do so, they are here to help ensure you have the best chance of embracing every opportunity your scholarship affords.

Also here today – and providing opportunities to celebrate and connect in the spirit of collaboration – are alumni of your sister schemes, the New Colombo Plan Scholarship and New Colombo Mobility Program, which provide Australians opportunities to study and undertake internships with our neighbours in the Indo-Pacific.

Australia Awards scholars, the contribution your presence brings, your perspectives and insights, your future role as advocates and ambassadors for connection with NSW – whether through research collaboration, business opportunity, or the enrichment warm people-to-people links ensure – is priceless.

I extend the warmest welcome to NSW and wish you the very best for your studies and your future careers, wherever they may take you.

I look forward to being further inspired by hearing about the next steps in your story.

[1] Dr Hazel Lang, Australia Awards team-member.

[2] Mr Qamar Zaman, Consul-General, Consulate-General and Trade Commission of Pakistan; Mr Donald Pelam, Consul-General, Consulate-General of the Republic of Vanuatu; Mr Vedi Kurnia Buana, Consul-General, Consulate-General of the Republic of Indonesia; Ms Sheila Marie Tario, Consul, Consulate-General of the Philippines; Mr Sanjeev Sharma, Honorary Consul, Consulate of Nepal; Mr Andos Manggala Lumban Tobing, Consul, Consulate-General of the Republic of Indonesia

[3] “Kofi Annan of Ghana is the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations. The first Secretary-General to be elected from the ranks of United Nations staff, he began his term on 1 January 1997”: ‘Biographical Note: Kofi A. Annan’, United Nations Information Service website, available here

[4] Kofi Annan, ‘If Information and Knowledge are Central to Democracy, they are the Conditions for Development’, speech delivered at the World Bank Conference Global knowledge ‘97, Toronto, 22 June 1997, available here

[5] ’21 Scholars receive Australia Awards Scholarships’, Australia Awards Scholarships website, available here.

[6] ‘About Australia Awards’, Australia Awards website, available here

[7] Available here

[8] University of Sydney (18), UNSW (19), UTS (88), Macquarie (=133), University of Wollongong (=167), University of Newcastle (=179): ‘QT World University Rankings 2025: Top Global Universities’, available here

[9] Victoria has four; Western Australia has two; Queensland, South Australia, and Canberra have one each: ‘QT World University Rankings 2025: Top Global Universities’, available here

[10] Western Sydney University: ‘Study in Western Sydney’, Study NSW website, available here

[11] Newcastle University: ‘Study in Newcastle and Hunter Region’, Study NSW website, available here

[12] Study NSW won the Best Practice Award in the 2023 International Education Association of Australia (IEAA) Excellence Awards for the NSW Jobs Connect for International Students program: ‘Award Winners of the 2023 IEAA Excellence Awards’, available here