Speeches
Thursday, 04 December 2025
Reception for the 2025 AmCham Global Leadership Academy
Welcome to Government House this evening to mark the culmination of the American Chamber of Commerce’s Global Leadership Academy for 2025.
I congratulate all participants on taking part in this program – and on being nominated in the first place.
Your nomination by someone at the highest levels of your organisation is testament to your existing leadership abilities and your potential for growth.
It also represents a significant investment in you as a leader and as a person by your organisation.
That you have enthusiastically seized this opportunity, giving up time with families and friends, shows you are committed to fulfilling your potential as leaders.
I understand that this year’s program speakers have focused on a range of valuable and pertinent topics, among them: best business practices, personal growth and accountability of leaders, as well as the importance of diversity and inclusion.
The range of these topics underlines the complexity of leadership in the 21st century.
Today’s leaders in business, industry and government need to navigate volatile economic and political environments, rapid technological advances, and global issues like climate change.
They also need to be able to recognise and leverage the opportunities within these challenges.
One of the other key aspects to the role is managing people: motivating, mentoring and developing staff.
As head of the Department for Foreign Affairs and Trade, I recognised the value of a diverse workplace: that better decisions are made when the workforce reflects the diversity of the wider community and includes their voices and contexts.
I am pleased to see that understanding reflected in the Academy program.
What good leadership takes is authenticity, transparency and accountability.
What it gives is better organisational outcomes, satisfying challenges and the opportunity to find solutions and have impact and personal career development.
All of you here tonight are leaders across industries, among them defence, space, technology, government, construction, professional services, transport, medical research and hospitality.
As Governor, I have had the pleasure of engaging with many of your companies and organisations and seeing your success on a global stage.
You are here tonight because you are committed to investing in your employees, your business, and in South Australia.
I share your commitment to leadership and business development in South Australia.
In this role and my former role as a diplomat, I saw and see first‑hand the profound importance of the bilateral relationship between Australia and the United States and the social, economic and defence ties that unite us, including the AUKUS trilateral security partnership.
AmCham is testament to the close ties we share with the United States and the significant potential for unlocking even greater business, trade and investment opportunities between our countries.
I recognise and congratulate AmCham for its support of businesses and industries through advocacy, information sharing, trade missions, and this Academy which is building leadership capacity across the country.
To the Academy participants, well done. You are now members of a 1400-strong national alumni body and that network will be an asset as your career takes you to new heights and you encounter new challenges.
I wish you all the best as you tap into the knowledge and networks you have discovered through this program and realise your potential as leaders.