Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise this evening to highlight an important occasion which will occur two days from now on Thursday, 21 April 2016. On that day, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, will mark the occasion of her 90th birthday. As we saw last year when Her Majesty became the longest serving monarch in the history of the throne, she is not one to glorify her personal achievements, substantial as those are. But I think that, whatever our political stripe in this chamber and whatever the political views of Australians outside this place, we would all agree that the dignified way Her Majesty has fulfilled her duties over many decades has made a considerable contribution to the democratic strength of this nation and to our remarkable constitutional stability over that period.

That respect is one that crosses boundaries of all varieties: political, generational and racial alike. As we consistently see, opinion polls show very strong support for the institution of the Crown among our younger Australians. Some seek to ascribe that to the popularity of the younger members of the Royal Family, and I am sure that plays its part. But I also think it rests in very large part on the enormously high esteem in which Her Majesty is held by younger Australians. In a rapidly changing world, she is a symbol of stability, and I think stability is something people increasingly value.

We have witnessed some parliamentary history this week, of course, with the opening of this, the second session of the 44th Parliament, by the Queen's representative, following the parliament being prorogued. There has been some comment about the rarity of that event, but I did think it worth noting that the two most recent occasions on which that has occurred prior to this week, in 1974 and 1977, were both undertaken to permit Her Majesty herself to open the second session of each of those parliaments here in Australia. So, in a week where Her Majesty turns 90, it is worth noting that link and the centrality of the Crown in our parliamentary traditions.

On her 21st birthday, on 21 April 1947, then Princess Elizabeth made a radio broadcast from Cape Town, South Africa, and uttered the words that still serve as her personal motto today:

I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great Imperial family to which we all belong.

In the week that Her Majesty observes her 90th birthday, all Australians and citizens of the Commonwealth alike should give thanks that her life has proved to be long, and thus she has been able to provide stability to a world that has undergone such extraordinary change during her reign. To put it in an Australian context for a moment, 29 individuals have served in the office of Prime Minister of our country since Federation. Fourteen of those have served in the period Her Majesty has been on the throne—about half the total in the history of this nation: Menzies, Holt, McEwen, Gorton, McMahon, Whitlam, Fraser, Hawke, Keating, Howard, Rudd, Gillard, Abbott and now Mr Turnbull.

If you think about the Australia Robert Menzies presided over and the Australia of today, they are very different places, and of course governments today deal with very different issues on a day-to-day basis. Yet there are some constants. When Her Majesty first visited these shores in 1954, she described the Australia she found as being one where 'growth and progress are manifest, a country of freedom, eloquent of that true democracy which dignifies and expresses the individual human being'. Whatever the political travails our nation has experienced since that time, I think all Australians would concur that freedom, democracy and valuing the dignity of every individual Australian are values with which contemporary Australia readily identifies. As I have just shown, they are values the Queen has articulated, promoted and defended throughout her reign.

So, as Her Majesty observes her 90th birthday on Thursday, I am sure that all senators and all Australians will join me in wishing her well and thanking her for remaining true to the promise made on her 21st birthday, dedicating her whole life to our service. Long may she reign.