Speeches
Thursday, 03 July 2025
Adelaide Secondary School of English Graduation Ceremony
I am delighted to join you today at the Adelaide Secondary School of English graduation ceremony.
Thank you to the student leaders Baraah, Sataish and Yves for your warm welcome.
To the graduating students – well done! Be enormously proud of your achievements because we – your principal, teachers, family, friends and I - are proud of you.
You have overcome adversity; you have faced challenges and been successful.
This ceremony marks the end of a major journey you have undertaken in your young lives. It is also the start of the beginning of another journey; one to another school.
Rest assured there will be many more journeys ahead as you chart your futures. But a command of English will provide you with choices.
You have come from many places, you have experienced different kinds disruptions to your lives, and you bring differing customs and perspectives to us here.
The colourful parade of flags we have just seen is but one symbol of your heritage and the stories you bring to South Australia.
I know it is never easy to leave your home land and start again in a strange land and to learn a new language. Congratulations on coming this far.
After I finished high school, I spent a year in the Netherlands as an exchange student with a warm, welcoming family.
At first, I was nervous. I could speak very little Dutch language and I was unsure of the local customs.
But with the support of my host family, and my fellow students, I quickly learned how to navigate the wonderful experience of being in another country.
Learning a language and experiencing the rewards of being able to use it, is a powerful experience. Language opens doors to opportunities, to friendships and most of all to a sense of belonging.
In your future journeys I hope you will use the skills you have learnt here to be brave and to be curious about trying new things.
You have already shown you can do so.
In South Australia we welcome people from many lands and find strength in such diversity.
By studying at this school, you have been living and breathing the benefits of interacting with people from many countries and understand the power inclusion and of multiculturalism.
I thank the school board and staff for their hard work equipping students to embrace opportunities ahead.
Alongside that I thank the parents and caregivers here for supporting these young people to improve their English and achieve their potential.
I wish all the graduating students well for the next stage of their lives here in South Australia.
I hope to see you again at Government House for either school visits or our Lunch on the Lawns events over spring and summer.
In the meantime, I hope you will always fondly remember your time here at the Adelaide Secondary School of English.
I hope it will help you fulfill your hopes and dreams.
And may you always live the school’s values of “Respect, Responsibility and Resilience” because they will always be useful to you.