Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Hansard source

It is with pleasure that I join the chorus of Australians paying tribute to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on this the occasion of her Diamond Jubilee. As many have noted, her 60 years on the throne have seen dramatic changes across the world, in our economy and technology but also in the way we, as people, conduct ourselves and in the way we live.

Throughout her reign, Her Majesty has been a beacon for the Commonwealth through good times and bad. She has been the focus of unity for her Commonwealth and it is especially to her credit that the Commonwealth has not only survived but grown and thrived. It has changed, naturally, as it must. But the stability and surety the Queen has provided has been a major part of keeping the Commonwealth group of nations together while absorbing change. Not only is the Commonwealth strong, but its members remain substantial partners in world affairs with a sense of duty, striving for the greater good. Her Majesty has travelled the Commonwealth constantly and was the first reigning monarch to visit Australia—and she has come back time and time again. She has been with us to celebrate and commemorate our special national events. Her messages of sympathy and concern have been a great comfort whenever we have experienced hardship and tragedy.

I also want to record my gratitude to Her Majesty for her support for regional Australia. She did not just travel the Sydney-Melbourne-Canberra triangle. The Queen has made the extra effort, gone the extra mile, to visit regional areas, which has always been greatly appreciated by the people, with many travelling from far and wide to catch a glimpse of their Queen. I myself first saw the Queen on her triumphant two-month first tour of Australia in 1954. My family made the three-hour trip to Toowoomba to stand in the street to see her motorcade pass by. Much later, I had the honour to meet Her Majesty several times on subsequent visits. In 2006, I farewelled the Queen and Prince Phillip from Canberra Airport and it was suggested at the time that I might be the last person to do so from our national capital. Pleasingly, that was not so. Last year she was back Down Under for an extended period, and as a nation we were glad about it. She may be 85, but I think and pray she will make the journey yet again in the years ahead.

Today, I congratulate Her Majesty the Queen on 60 years of exemplary service. This Diamond Jubilee is filled with respect, admiration and genuine appreciation for her dedication to the Commonwealth over a period of dramatic change, both here in Australia and across the globe. It is a hallmark of that enduring respect that even the staunchest republican pauses to admire this queen.

Australia is 111 years old and, for 60 of those years, there has been just one monarch. Queen Elizabeth II is the only monarch most Australians have ever known. But she is honoured for far more than durability: her surety and resolute nature, her gentle hand in the shaping of a modern monarchy have steered the course of generations across continents and transcended cultures.

She assumed the throne as a 25-year-old in 1952 following the untimely death of her father, King George VI, who died at just 56. She was in Kenya on safari when the tragic news came. She sped back to England for a no doubt daunting coronation. Her sense of duty was forged in the wake of her father's example as well as that of her mother, Queen Elizabeth I. The king, despite illness and following the abdication of his brother, King Edward, was a leading example and a source of inspiration through the war years.

Queen Elizabeth, the Queen's mother, was no less resolute. During the relentless bombings of London when many families ferried wives and children to the countryside for safety, the Queen refused to leave with her children. She stayed with her husband and king and stood by the people of London in their darkest days, sharing in their dangers. When the young princess became queen, that character was again on display in the wake of her father's passing and has never wavered in six decades.

It is really hard to comprehend the extent of her reign. Robert Menzies was in the Lodge on her coronation. Artie Fadden was the leader of the Nationals. Winston Churchill was in Number 10 Downing Street and Harry Trumann in the White House. Joseph Stalin was premier of Russia. To many, these names are history and yet it was the queen we admire today who was on the throne during those historic times. She guided Great Britain through the arduous work of postwar reconstruction and, from the rubble, emerged a new England and a monarchy more attuned and less rigid. In Australia, her reign has covered seismic shifts in our society and economy. We have shed the colonial yoke and transformed into a vibrant, modern and multifaceted nation.

Sixty years ago the crowds enthusiastically chanted, 'Long live the Queen!' At 85, she is the longest lived monarch in British history and shows no signs of slowing down. We honour her dignity, her service and her humanity. In his famous 1963 speech to the Queen, then Prime Minister Menzies quoted the verse, 'I did but see her passing by, and yet I love her till I die.' It was reported at the time that the still young queen blushed. The world has changed but, judging by the admiration for our monarch and the enthusiasm with which Australians saw 'her passing by' during last October's Commonwealth Heads of Government visit, some things remain the same. I join in congratulating Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on her Diamond Jubilee and wish her good health and every happiness in the years ahead.

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