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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2002 Week 4 Hansard (9 April) . . Page.. 785 ..

Tuesday, 9 April 2002

MR SPEAKER (Mr Berry) took the chair at 10.30 am, made a formal recognition that the Assembly was meeting on the lands of the traditional owners, and asked members to stand in silence and pray or reflect on their responsibilities to the people of the Australian Capital Territory.

Address to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

MR STANHOPE (Chief Minister, Attorney-General, Minister for Health, Minister for Community Affairs and Minister for Women): Mr Speaker, pursuant to standing order 268, I move:

Mr Speaker, as with most Australians, it was with sadness that I learned of the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. Aged 101, she finally succumbed to ill health and died on 30 March 2002.

Born Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon on 4 August 1900, in 1923 she married Albert, Duke of York, the future King of Great Britain. In doing so, she would go on to become the matriarch of the British royal family and be loved by many throughout the world. She is especially remembered with great affection by the people of Great Britain and Australia for her support, solidity and resolve during one of the most tumultuous centuries that this world has seen-a century that saw the occurrence of two world wars.

During the First World War, before her marriage to Prince Albert, she assisted in the treatment of Australian casualties who had been given shelter in her own home in Scotland. But it was during the Second World War that she most endeared herself to many people. At a time when her home and country were being bombed, she felt the pain of her people. Throughout the war, she tirelessly worked for the common good and was revered for her visits to the victims of the German bombing campaign, inspiring the victims with the hope of ultimate victory.

She was also a symbol for a generation of Australians. During the first half of the 20th century, when many Australians looked to Great Britain as their mother country, she was for a 15-year period the Queen of Australia. During the second half of the 20th century, the Queen Mother was a constant source of inspiration to the royal family and continued to endear herself to a great many Australians.

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