Speeches
Monday, 21 September 2026
State Reception
Jack-alya
Kaurna
Purkarna-alya
Kaurna
Miyurna-alya
Yaitya
Miyurna-alya
Kumartarna
yartanangku
Ngathu naa
tampinthi
Kaurna
miyurna
yaitya
yarta-mathanya
Pukinanangku,
yalaka, tarrkarritya
Dearest Jack, who taught me to acknowledge Kaurna Country in language, dearest Kaurna Elders, Kaurna people and Aboriginal people from other lands and regions, I acknowledge and pay my respects to you all.
I also acknowledge that Kaurna people are the traditional owners of this land, from the past, today and into the future.
I acknowledge, too, the tremendous generosity of spirit shown to Rod and me over the past five years by the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara in the north-west, the Boandik people in the South East, Narungga of Yorke Peninsula, Ngadjuri of the Mid North, Ngarrindjeri of the River Murray, the Lower Lakes and Coorong, and by Aboriginal people of other lands and regions.
Thank you for your willingness to take us by the hand and enable us to walk alongside you in the spirit of reconciliation.
I acknowledge the heads of the three branches of government: the executive, judiciary and legislature.
The Premier of South Australia, the Honourable Peter Malinauskas MP, and Mrs Annabel Malinauskas.
The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of South Australia, the Honourable Laura Stein, and Mr Garren Harrell.
The President of the Legislative Council, the Honourable Reggie Martin MLC.
The Speaker of the House of Assembly, the Honourable Nat Cook MP, and Mr Neil Davis.
And all other guests.
To the Premier, thank you for hosting this State Reception.
Thank you and other members of Executive Council for making it a genuine pleasure for me to fulfil my constitutional duties as the representative, firstly, of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and, for the past four years, of His Majesty King Charles III.
To have served at a time when South Australia is going from strength to strength and willing to take a lead nationally and internationally has been a particular pleasure.
To the Leader of the Opposition, thank you and your shadow ministers for performing the vital role under our Westminster system of Loyal Opposition.
Through you, I also thank the Honourable Steven Marshall, who, as Premier, asked me to come home from Canberra and advised Her Majesty to appoint me as South Australia’s 36th Governor.
Her Majesty’s death in September 2022 caused us all to reflect on her life of extraordinary service.
The respect and affection in which she was held brought many thousands of South Australians to Government House to place tributes around her statue and sign condolence books.
The wattle trees members of the public planted in the gardens at Government House to mark the Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III in May the following year have grown from tube stock to an impressive height.
His Majesty has followed their progress, as he has followed South Australia’s progress, with keen interest.
A couple of years ago, during a school visit, I met a teenage boy who clearly had thoughts about what he wanted to do after he left school, though he preferred to keep them to himself.
He asked me whether I had always dreamt of becoming Governor.
I said, “Honestly, no, but there have been other things in my life I have dreamed of which have become reality, and I encourage you to keep dreaming if there is something you really want to do.”
Not dreamt about, not thought about, but standing here tonight, I can just as honestly say it has been the most extraordinary honour and privilege to serve the people of South Australia as Governor over the past five years.
From the outset, you were so welcoming that it felt as if I had never spent most of my twenties and all of my thirties, forties and fifties away.
You have also been courteous and respectful, if at times a little cheeky.
It is quite something to be able to slip out the back gate and go for a run around the Torrens on my own, only needing to keep an eye out for swooping magpies.
It’s also heartwarming to visit a school for students in their late teens and early twenties and see a whiteboard with “da Guv is coming” written on it, alongside students’ suggestions for conversation topics.
And later, over a cup of tea, be asked, “So, Frances and Rod, how has Frances being Governor affected your relationship?”
You have been generous, too, particularly those who volunteer and those who give in whatever way they can to help those in need.
But most of all, you have been willing to show us what you are doing, tell us what you think and what you care about, and share with Rod and me your special part of South Australia.
I thank members of Parliament, state and federal, for introducing us to your constituents.
I thank the Lord Mayor of the City of Adelaide and the mayors of all 68 Local Government Areas for showing us what makes your communities special.
We are fortunate, as we look ahead to our bicentenary in 2036, to have so many South Australians who know our history, continue to research our history and see in it opportunities to bring us, in all our contemporary diversity, closer together.
I think of the wonderful Minlaton 150 event we attended last year, involving the whole community.
I think of the many veterans’ commemorative occasions in which we have participated and the carefully tended memorials at the heart of so many communities across the State.
I thank those here this evening who care for our veterans, to whom we owe so much.
I thank our Defence and Emergency Services personnel and SAPOL for keeping South Australians safe.
It has been such a pleasure to get to know you, and, in the case of the Mounted Operations Unit, the horses, by name.
I thank the amazing people here this evening who have been South Australia’s Australians of the Year over the past five years.
Your leadership has been outstanding.
I thank university leaders and school principals representing all the high schools we have visited, for educating young South Australians and encouraging them to be engaged, active citizens.
They have so much to be optimistic about, and we see in them a great willingness to “give back” to their communities.
I also thank representatives of the business community, many of whom Rod and I have got to know during our “icons” visit program.
Your hard work, entrepreneurship and dedication to quality is truly inspiring.
Impressive, too, has been the work of the public sector, well represented by its leaders, state and federal, including our MC.
As a former career diplomat and lifelong public servant, I admire both what you do and how you do it.
Cabinet Office and DPC Protocol deserve a special mention.
And, speaking of diplomacy, I acknowledge the role of the consular corps in helping connect South Australia to the world.
My overseas visits have reinforced to me our standing as a reliable partner in these somewhat uncertain times.
We are hosting receptions at Government House this week to thank our our patronage organisations for their work.
Some – including the arts and sport – are also represented tonight.
The arts and sport are a big part of life for many people in our state and we acknowledge the benefits to participants and the joy you bring to the wider community.
We have loved getting to know our sporting and arts heroes and the institutions which support them.
Closer to home, I thank Hugh Borrowman my Official Secretary, Bronwyn Jolly my Aide, and all the back of house, administration, protocol and communications staff at Government House for everything we have done together over the past five years.
It’s certainly a lot.
I also thank my Army, Navy, Airforce and SAPOL Honorary Aides-de-camp for being at my side throughout, always professional, always gracious and always a pleasure to be with.
I acknowledge with gratitude too my predecessors, the late Sir Eric Neal and Lady Neal, Marjorie-Jackson Nelson, Kevin Scarce and Liz Scarce, Hieu Van Le and Lan Le.
All have been unfailingly supportive.
All have made the transition from being “Your Excellency” to addressing their successors by that title, just as I will do.
I am grateful to my late parents Jennifer Cashmore and Ian Adamson for getting me off to a good start and being a big part of the reason I came home.
Having done so much to encourage me at every stage of my life, they would have been delighted to know of the many capable women now in leadership roles in South Australia, with more to come.
And lastly, I thank Rod and our children, Claire, Matthew, Katherine and Sophie, all of whom live interstate or overseas, but who have visited regularly and participated enthusiastically.
Alfie, the Vice-Regal dog, is no longer with us, but made friends along the way.
Rod, better known at least for the next fortnight as Mr Bunten, has thrown himself whole heartedly into everything; school visits, cultural events, sporting events, country visits and volunteering.
By the way, the answer to the question those students posed was “I love him and he loves me and we have so enjoyed our time together over the past five years”.
More than anything else, Rod has helped make Government House what we both wanted it to be: a House and Gardens for all South Australians, accessible to all, welcoming to all.
We thank you all!