'Just call me Peter'
Governor-General praises Indigenous community's tourism centre
Wednesday May 14 2014, 2:29pm
Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove has capped off a whirlwind tour of far north Queensland with a dreamtime walk in Mossman Gorge, north of Cairns.
Sir Peter and his wife Lady Lynne Cosgrove visited the Avenue of Honour in Yungaburra on Tuesday before visiting the far north Queensland Indigenous community today.
The visit was the last formal function of the Governor General's far northern itinerary, with a lunch held for more than 100 guests eager to meet the former Australian of the Year.
Sir Peter, who asked the community's residents to call him Peter, took a brief walk through the rainforest with Kuku Yalanji elder Uncle Roy Gibson before viewing the site for a new playground.
"That was pretty special," Sir Peter said of the walk.
"I admire particularly the Indigenous people who work and live here, your desire to share your culture and spirituality and everybody's commitment to the preservation of the land.
"I'm sure everybody who has been here leaves here with a clear sense of the ancient connections of the original Australians with this area."
The Governor-General met with Apunipima health workers at the recently renovated Mossman Gorge Primary Health Care Centre and Cape York Partnership's 'Opportunity Hub'.
The hub offers parents income management and healthy living advice as part of the Cape York Welfare Reform trial.
"All of these things we have seen show us the great power of community endeavour, self-help assisted by experts ... to enrich people's lives and perpetuate this beautiful culture," Sir Peter said.
The Governor-General praised the Mossman Gorge Centre which he said 'expresses itself as a vision realised'.
The tourism centre was opened in 2012 and employs 70 Indigenous people from the community and is visited by more than 350,000 people each year.
"I saw the place full of tourists and that's got to be good," Sir Peter said.
"Not just because of the economic benefits but the thought that we're showing the rest of the world the richness of Australia.
"What you've created here together is remarkable.
"I hope to be a herald of your endeavours wherever I may go."