James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

I shall be as brief as the Queen's reign was long. On behalf of my state, Queensland, and my fellow Queenslanders, I express our condolences to the family of our late Queen. While Australia has lost our head of state, a family has lost their mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. Our gratitude masks their sorrow. We give thanks for a life of service, a life of helping, a life of leading by example. As the nations of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth mourn a much-loved monarch, we have seen the best of people—indeed, the best of life. We have seen long, meandering queues, queues as peaceful as they were good-humoured; glorious pageantry; and a living history as traditional as it was moving. The Queen appointed fifteen prime ministers, from Winston Churchill to Liz Truss. Her reign began in 1952, when the great offices of state were all held by white men, including then Prime Minister Winston Churchill, a Conservative. It ended in 2022, when none of the great offices of state are held by a white male, with now Prime Minister Liz Truss, also a Conservative. The Queen reigned from the dour deprivations of postwar Britain to the exuberance of Cool Britannia, a gentle hand that guided the end of an empire to the birth of the Commonwealth. The calmness of serving God, country and Commonwealth; service in life and hope in death; leaving the world a better place—you can't argue with that. The Queen is dead, long live the King.