This week, the Governor visited flood affected regions of Victoria, meeting with residents, first responders and representative from the City of Greater Bendigo and Campaspe Shire Councils.
This week the Governor visited communities in the City of Greater Bendigo and Mitchell Shire Councils who were significantly affected by the Victorian flood emergency in October 2022.
The Governor’s regional tour took place over two days and began in the Greater Bendigo region. Initial stops included visits to The Great Stupa of Universal Compassion and MSD Animal Health. These visits provided an opportunity for the Governor and Mr Howard to hear from hosts Ian Green OAM and Lachlan McIntosh to learn about local industry and cultural sites. Later, the Governor and Mr Howard met with Cr Andrea Metcalf, Mayor and Craig Niemann, CEO of the City of Greater Bendigo Council and was briefed on the impact of the recent floods.
The second day of the regional tour included a visit to the Elmore Temporary Accommodation Village. The village was set up to provide temporary accommodation to Rochester locals whose homes had been damaged in the recent floods.1 While in Rochester, the Governor and Mr Howard met with Cr Rob Amos, Mayor, Paulin Gordon, CEO and other members of the Campaspe Shire Council to receive a briefing and tour of the flood-affected areas. Members of the Rochester Country Fire Authority, SES and Victoria Police also met with the Vice Regals. The Governor and Mr Howard were particularly grateful to Bendigo, Elmore and Rochester locals for sharing their experience of the impact of the devastating floods and the subsequent recovery effort, which is continuing.
Community engagement remains an important component of the Governor’s contemporary role. The Governor and Mr Howard are patrons of many not-for-profit organisations, which they support in a variety of ways. This week, the Governor received the call of, and hosted a lunch in honour of, Dominic Richards OAM. Mr Richards is a Board Trustee of the Prince’s Trust as well as the co-Founder of Our Place which creates places that celebrate local identity, mixed uses, sustainable communities and walkable neighbourhoods.2 The call and lunch were an opportunity to hear more about the current work of Our Place and The Prince’s Trust.
The Australian Open concluded last week with Aryna Sabalenka and Novak Djokovic winning the 2023 finals. The Governor and Mr Howard were delighted to welcome Mr Djokovic to Government House to congratulate him on winning his 10th Australian Open.
The Governor’s program of international engagement continued this week, hosting female judges from Afghanistan at an afternoon tea. Many of the judges were forced to flee Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover in 2021. The afternoon tea was an opportunity for the Governor and Mr Howard to hear about the judges’ experiences and learn more about their re-settlement here in Australia.
On Friday, the Governor visited MPavilion in the Queen Victoria Gardens. MPavilion is an ongoing initiative of the Naomi Milgrom Foundation. Each year it commissions an outstanding architect to design a pavilion which then becomes the focus of a free program season of cultural events. This year, Architect Rachaporn Choochuey was commissioned to design the 2022 instalment of MPavilion. Learn more about the events being held at MPavilion here.