queen's visit to australia 1992

16 visits over 57 years: reflecting on Queen Elizabeth II’s long relationship with Australia

queen's visit to australia 1992

Associate Professor of English, Flinders University

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Giselle Bastin does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Flinders University provides funding as a member of The Conversation AU.

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“Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God Queen of Australia and Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth” has died. Given her advanced years, this has long been expected, yet it still seems incredible this woman who has been Australia’s queen for the duration of most Australians’ lives is no longer with us.

While the focus of the formalities and ceremony of the passing of Queen Elizabeth II will centre on London and the UK, there is no doubt it will be keenly observed by many Australians.

The queen liked Australia and Australians. She came here 16 times throughout her reign and was, famously, on her way to our shores in 1952 when she learned her father had passed on and she was now queen.

Her visits to Australia – from her first in 1954 through to her last in 2011 – offer a snapshot of the changing relationship Australians have had with their sovereign and with the monarchy.

An enthusiastic nation

The queen’s 1954 tour took place during a time described by historian Ben Pimlott as the age of “ British Shintoism ”. Deference to the Crown was paramount in Britain and the Commonwealth, and many Australians were madly enthusiastic about their queen.

queen's visit to australia 1992

After her arrival at Farm Cove in Sydney on February 3 1954, Elizabeth II became the first British monarch to set foot on Australian soil. The royal tour lasted nearly two months and consisted of a gruelling schedule taking in visits to every state and territory apart from the Northern Territory.

During the tour, the queen greeted over 70,000 ex-service men and women; drove in cavalcades that took in massive crowds; attended numerous civic receptions; and opened the Australian Parliament in Canberra. The tour saw Elizabeth travel 10,000 miles by air and 2,000 miles by road – including 207 trips by car and by appointed royal trains.

It is estimated as much as 75% of the population saw the queen and Prince Philip during this tour.

No Australian prime minister has ever had a reception on this scale or exposure to so many of the country’s citizens.

The Queen in a car driving past a crowd.

A “new” and prosperous country

During her first two tours in 1954 and 1963, the Australia laid-out for display for the queen was depicted as having gone from being a small colonial settlement to a thriving economy that had ridden to prosperity “ on the sheep’s back ”.

The queen was treated to endless displays of sheep shearing, surf carnivals, wood chopping, whip cracking, and mass displays of dancing and singing by school children. Federal and state dignitaries, mayors and civic leaders from across the political divide jostled to meet and be seen with her; the country’s florists were emptied of flowers for the hundreds of bouquets presented to her by dozens of shy, nervous school children nudged gently forward by awe-struck parents.

The Queen talks to young children.

During the early tours, Aboriginal Australians were kept at a discreet distance. Apart from a demonstration of boomerang and spear throwing, the closest the queen came to experiencing anything of Indigenous Australian culture was a ballet performed by the Arts Council Ballet titled Corroboree, with no Aboriginal dancers but dancers with blackened faces.

During the 1970 visit, the queen witnessed the re-enactment of Captain James Cook’s arrival at Botany Bay, with Cook and his crew meeting “the resistance of the Aborigines with a volley of musket fire”.

By 1973, Indigenous Australians were given a more significant role in the royal tours. Aboriginal actor Ben Blakeney, one of Bennelong’s descendants, gave the official welcome during the opening of the Sydney Opera House, and the then unknown actor David Gulpilil was among those performing a ceremonial dance.

queen's visit to australia 1992

Invited guest, not ruler of the land

As early as the 1963 tour, the nation-wide royal fervour had dimmed a little. The 1963 visit witnessed smaller crowds and fewer mass public events. When Prime Minister Robert Menzies courted the queen with the now-famous line, “I did but see her passing by, and yet I love her till I die”, the ensuing blushes – including the queen’s own – reflected many Australians’ growing sense of embarrassment at public displays and unquestioning expressions of deference.

Despite this, Menzies’ displays of public ardour saw him being granted The Order of the Thistle shortly after, a bestowal which must surely remain the envy of some subsequent prime ministers.

AAP Image/Supplied by the National Archives of Australia

The 1977 Silver Jubilee and 1988 Australian bicentenary visits perhaps marked the end of a period of royal tours as overt celebrations of Australia’s ties to Britain. This new flavour of tours positioned the sovereign as an invited guest to an independent, modern and multi-cultural nation.

On her 10th tour in 1986, the queen returned to sign the Australia Act , which brought to an end the ability of the UK to create laws for Australia.

Her role as our sovereign subtly transformed from cutting ribbons and opening Parliament to signing the documents that slowly, by degrees, contributed to the cutting of Australia’s ties to the UK and the Crown.

A question of the republic

By the 12th tour in 1992, the cost of the queen’s visits to Australia were increasingly scrutinised by a public feeling largely indifferent about the royal family. The prime minister of the day, Paul Keating, was seen not so much as an entranced liege lord revelling in the opportunity to see his sovereign “passing by” as one who instead – unthinkingly – committed an act of lèse majesté by placing his bare hand on the royal back and waist as he guided her through the crowd.

The gloves, it seemed, were coming off.

queen's visit to australia 1992

The queen made it clear in her last visits to our shores that whether or not Australia should become a republic was a decision for its own citizens to make. Her official announcement after she learned of the result of the 1999 Republic Referendum confirmed this:

I have always made it clear that the future of the Monarchy in Australia is an issue for the Australian people and them alone to decide, by democratic and constitutional means. … My family and I would, of course, have retained our deep affection for Australia and Australians everywhere, whatever the outcome.

In the last decades of her life, the queen retained the affection of many. Her popularity seemed to grow in line with Australians’ increased disenchantment with their home-grown political leaders: the former prime ministers Malcolm Turnbull and Julia Gillard are right to have sensed that any discussion about an Australian republic would have to wait until after Elizabeth II’s death.

queen's visit to australia 1992

Queen Elizabeth II reigned across seven decades and her tours to Australia served as a marker of Australia’s changing relationship with the Crown as well as with its own colonial past and national identity.

Almost certainly, Elizabeth II’s reign as the stalwart, loyal, dutiful, and most cherished and admired of “Glorianas” is one we are unlikely ever to see again.

Correction: the article previously stated the queen was on her way to Australia in 1953 when she learned of her father’s death. This has been corrected to 1952.

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Six decades of royal visits: Queen Elizabeth II in Australia – in pictures

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The Queen first visited Australia in 1954 – when she became the first reigning monarch to set foot on Australian soil – and the last in 2011. The visits included motorcades, tram rides, two Commonwealth Games and plenty of horse racing

  • This article was amended on 14 September 2022 to correct the locations in two captions

Fri 9 Sep 2022 01.33 BST First published on Fri 9 Sep 2022 01.31 BST

Photograph: Alamy

Queen Elizabeth II inspecting merino sheep at the Wagga Wagga agricultural show in 1954.

Photograph: Popperfoto/Getty Images

The Queen and Prince Philip at the King George V memorial in Canberra in 1954.

Photograph: Keystone/Getty Images

The Queen at a garden party in Sydney, February 1954.

Photograph: Fox Photos/Getty Images

Parliament House welcomes the Queen in Hobart, Tasmania, 1954.

Photograph: Central Press/Getty Images

Mount Gambier Lakes in South Australia, January 1954.

Photograph: Reginald Davis/REX/Shutterstock

Driving through Adelaide, June 1963.

Photograph: Reginald Davis / Rex Features

Arriving in Sydney in 1970 for the bicentenary of Captain Cook’s first landing in Australia.

Photograph: Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Launceston, Tasmania, 1970.

Photograph: Getty Images

Awarding swimmer Tracey Wickham a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, 1982.

Photograph: Fairfax Media/Fairfax Media via Getty Images

At the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, 1982.

Photograph: Rex/Shutterstock

With Paul Keating, the Australian prime minister, in 1992. Keating was criticised for breaching royal protocol by putting his arm round the Queen.

Photograph: Torsten Blackwood/AFP/Getty Images

Watching a Tjapukai ceremonial fire-lighting during a cultural performance near Cairns, Queensland, March 2002.

Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

After the Commonwealth Day service in Sydney, March 2006.

Photograph: Scott Barbour/Getty Images

On the royal tram down St Kilda Road in Melbourne, October 2011.

Photograph: Pool/Getty Images

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip visiting Brisbane, 2011.

Photograph: Handout/Getty Images

With Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina, Australian prime minister Julia Gillard and Trinidad and Tobago’s prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM in Perth, October 2011.

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Royal Visits

This collection contains a small selection of archives relating to Royal Visits.

To find even more items relating to Royal Visits try the Search tool.

See also the Coronation Celebrations and Commemorations collection. 

Postcard of school sports at Sydney Cricket Ground during the visit of Prince of Wales, 1920

Celebrations for visit of Queen Elizabeth II to Darling Harbour, 1988

Queen Elizabeth II (QE II) at Circular Quay, 1985

Queen meets guests, Royal Tour, Sydney Town Hall, 1992

Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh in George Street Sydney, 1963

Queen Elizabeth II, evening reception, Royal Tour, Sydney, 1992

Illuminations for Royal Tour of Queen Elizabeth II, Sydney Town Hall, 1992

Queen Elizabeth II during Royal Tour, Sydney, 1992

Queen Elizabeth II greets guests, Royal Tour, Sydney Town Hall, 1992

Presentation ceremony, Royal Tour, Sydney Town Hall, 1992

Queen Elizabeth II and Lord Mayor, Royal Tour, Sydney 1992

Queen Elizabeth II and Lord Mayor in front of Sydney Town Hall, Royal Tour, 1992

Parade for Royal Tour, Alfred Street Circular Quay, 1954

Royal visit of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip, Alfred Street Circular Quay, 1954

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip on Royal Tour, Circular Quay, 1960

Royal Tour passes Paragon Hotel, Circular Quay, 1963

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip pass Maritime Services Building (MSB), Circular Quay, 1963

Decorated boats, Queen Elizabeth II royal visit, Sydney Harbour, 1954

Decorated boats, Queen Elizabeth II, Royal Tour, Sydney Harbour, 1954

Decorated boats for Queen Elizabeth II, Royal Tour, Sydney Harbour, 1954

Queen Elizabeth II with Lord Mayor, Royal Tour, Sydney Town Hall, 1992

Crowds surrounding Queen Elizabeth II at the Palace Garden Gate Sydney, 1986

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Letter - Forward of a cantata for visit of Prince of Wales, 1879

Letter - Letter about committee for public ball for Duke of Edinburgh, 1868

Letter - Gazette Extraordinary containing the reply of Duke of Edinburgh to Loyal Address, 1868

Letter - Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh - Reply to Address, 1868

Letter - Acknowledgements of sentiments on attempted assassination of Duke of Edinburgh, 1868

Menu and musical programme - Banquet for visit of Prince of Wales, Sydney Town Hall, 1920

Public reception held by the Prince of Wales at Sydney Town Hall, 1920

Invitation - Banquet for the Prince of Wales at Sydney Town Hall, 1920

Report about reception and the Ball given to HRH the Duke of Edinburgh 1868

Building Inspectors Card - Temporary Stand for royal visit, 323/329 George Street Sydney, 1954

File - Proposed pageant for royal visit, Centennial Park or Randwick Racecourse, 1948-1950

File - Visit of HRH Princess Alexandra of Kent, Royal Agricultural Society Showground, 1959

File - Royal Visit of Queen Elizabeth II and Duke of Edinburgh, 1963

File - Decoration Co-ordination Committee, royal visit of Queen Elizabeth II, 1954

File - State Dinner for Duke of Gloucester, 1934

File - Committee for Decoration of Route for Royal Visit, 1934

File - Entertainment on Sydney Harbour foreshores for royal visit, 1951-1952

File - Notice of streets to be traversed, Royal visit and official opening of Sydney Opera House, 1973

File - Address of welcome for Royal Visit of Queen Elizabeth, Sydney Town Hall,1973

Plan - White Horse of Hanover decoration Queen Mother visit, Town Hall, George Street Sydney, 1958

Plan - Red Dragon of Wales decoration Queen Mother visit, Town Hall, George Street Sydney, 1958

Plan - Royal visit decorations, Sydney Town Hall, 1952

Plan - Building decorations for royal visit, Oxford Street Sydney, 1949

Plan - Decorations for Campbell and Hay Streets / Manning Building, royal visit, 1949

Sydney Town Hall commemorative celebrations and re-dedication by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

The first royal tour 1867-1868/ Brian McKinlay

The State Theatre on public exhibition: as an official activity of the Sydney Opera House Festival

Commemorative vase - City of Sydney Sesquicentenary, 1992

Commemorative plaque - Visit of HRH Prince of Wales to Sydney in 1920, installed in 1925

Hand flag - Prince of Wales visit to Sydney, 1920

Royal Visit, 1954

Royal Visits

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In pictures: A look back at Queen Elizabeth II's visits to Australia during her 70-year reign - as nation mourns her death

Queen Elizabeth II visited Australia 16 times during her long reign, including to open the Sydney Opera House in 1973, Parliament House in 1988 and the Melbourne Commonwealth Games in 2006.  

Bryant Hevesi

Queen Elizabeth II's "deep affection" for Australia is being remembered as the nation mourns her death aged 96.

Her Majesty died "peacefully" at her Balmoral home in Scotland on Thursday afternoon (local time) surrounded by close family members. 

She was the first reigning sovereign to visit Australia, making a total of 16 trips Down Under during her 70-year reign, the longest in British history.

The Queen's visits included opening the Sydney Opera House in 1973, Darling Harbour in 1988 and the Melbourne Commonwealth Games in 2006.  

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The Queen walks with then NSW premier Robert Askin in front of a large crowd to open the Sydney Opera House on October 20, 1973. Picture: News Ltd

She first visited in 1954, two years after ascending to the throne following the death of her father King George VI, and made her last visit in 2011.

More than seven million Australians, or 70 per cent of the country's population at the time, turned out to catch a glimpse of the young Queen during her first visit. 

"From her famous first trip to Australia, the only reigning sovereign to ever visit, it was clear Her Majesty held a special place in her heart for Australia," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.

"Fifteen more tour before cheering crowds in every part of our country confirmed the special place she held in ours."

On a visit in 1988, the Queen opened the new Parliament House in Canberra, with the parliament's website on Friday stating: "She had a deep affection for Australia and its people, visiting on many occasions to perform official functions".  

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh after arriving at Canberra Airport on October 17, 1973. Picture: Staff photographer

"The Parliament of Australia sends its deepest condolences to her family and will commemorate her life in coming days."

Her majesty's 12 visits to New South Wales featured trips to country towns including Tamworth and Wagga Wagga. 

"As the first reigning monarch to visit our nation, Queen Elizabeth set foot for the first time on Australian soil in 1954 at Farm Cove in Sydney Harbour where an unprecedented crowd of more than one million people greeted her," NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said. 

"The public's overwhelming jubilation and enthusiasm at seeing the young monarch was the beginning of the state's long-held joy in her frequent visits.

The Queen is pictured on May 28, 1980 during a visit to Australia. Picture: News Corp Australia

"Her Late Majesty will forever be connected to pivotal moments in our State's history. She officially opened the Parliament of New South Wales in 1954, Sydney Opera House in 1973, Parramatta Stadium in 1986, and Darling Harbour in 1988.

"She also visited NSW regional areas including Newcastle, Lismore, Orange, Dubbo, Armidale, Tamworth and Wagga Wagga, drawing huge crowds of well-wishers."

The Queen visited Victoria 11 times, with Premier Daniel Andrews saying "during those trips, she left her mark on the state we know today".

"She talked with patients and families at the Royal Children's – and opened our Commonwealth Games," Mr Andrews said. 

The Queen at the opening of the new Parliament House in Canberra in 1988. Picture: News Ltd

"She rode a tram around the Hoddle grid, watched Richmond win at the MCG, and caught a show at the Princess Theatre.

"She travelled across the state – visiting Tatura, Echuca, Rochester, Castlemaine, Maryborough, Ballarat and Geelong - touching so much of what makes Victoria special.

"Her historic reign and long life has come to an end, but Victorians’ deep affection and respect for Her Majesty lives on."

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk noted Her Majesty visited the state "often and displayed her care and concern for the people of this state, especially during times of natural disasters".

The Queen, standing next to Ron Walker, meets Ian Thorpe and Kylie Palmer on Day 1 of the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. Picture: Nathan Richter/News Corp Australia

Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan said the Queen will forever be an inspiration to the state's residents. 

"Most Western Australians have never known another monarch, with Queen Elizabeth II becoming the longest reigning British monarch," Mr McGowan said. 

"She led the Commonwealth through some of the darkest days and will forever be an inspiration to the world and Western Australia, a State she visited seven times."

South Australia Premier Peter Malinauskas said: "Her Majesty's great fondness and interest in the welfare of South Australians was evident through her seven visits to our state during her reign". 

The Queen and then prime minister Julia Gillard make their way to a reception at Parliament House in Canberra in 2011. Picture: Kym Smith

"Her Majesty's first visit to South Australia was with the late Duke of Edinburgh in March 1954," Mr Malinauskas said.  

"Some 200,000 people lined the route from the Parafield Airport, where they were met by the Premier, Tom Playford at Government House. Her last visit to South Australia was in February 2002."

Commonwealth countries will observe 10 days of mourning and remembrance in the period between the Queen's death and her funeral. However, in Australia there will not be a limit placed on mourning of the Queen.

The Prime Minister will declare a day of National Memorial Service and a National Day of mourning as he suspended parliament for at least a fortnight.

Mr Albanese and the Governor-General will travel to London in the coming days to meet with King Charles III, as they offer condolences on behalf of Australia.

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Visit of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and His Royal Highness The Prince Philip to the Victoria Cross Memorial, Queen Victoria Building

Guide to the Autographs and Autograph Books Collection, Souvenirs 10

Program to mark the Visit of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and His Royal Highness The Prince Philip to the Victoria Cross Memorial, Queen Victoria Building on the occasion of the Sesquicentenary of the City of Sydney, 23rd February 1992. Includes the signatures of three Victoria Cross recipients, including Sir Arthur Roden Cutler VC, Private Edward Kenna VC, and Warrant Officer II Keith Payne VC. The program also lists the names of all Australian VC recipients.

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Memories from Canberra, Queen Elizabeth II's most visited Australian city

Queen Elizabeth, a judge and other officials in front of the High Court.

The late Queen Elizabeth II visited the national capital more than any other Australian city.

Her Majesty made 14 trips to Canberra, out of a grand total of 16 visits to the nation itself.

A guest is presented to Queen Elizabeth II at a state reception at Parliament House.

Her first visit to the ACT was in 1954, during which the Queen opened a session of parliament at what is now known as Old Parliament House.

On that same trip, the Queen attended festivities at Manuka Oval, where legend has it she mispronounced the name of the locality and Canberrans were so polite, it has been accepted as the official pronunciation.

Queen Elizabeth with Charles E W Bean at the Australian War Memorial in 1954

On February 18, 1963, the Queen was accompanied on her second trip to Canberra by her husband, Prince Philip.

Later that same year Queen Elizabeth II opened the R.G. Menzies Library at the Australian National University, on March 13.

"It is no coincidence that the public burning of books and the destruction of libraries are the first acts of tyrants and dictators," she said.

"Books represent the freedom of thought and the highest expression of the human spirit."

Queen Elizabeth II spoke highly of the capital and, in particular, the new library, which she said had a very special significance.

"It stands at the heart of the National University in the midst of the national capital and thereby demonstrates that high standards of learning are the crux of good government."

The National Carillon in Canberra Australia, overlooking the shores of Lake Burley Griffin.

In 1970 the Queen returned to Canberra to officially open the National Carillon on Aspen Island in Lake Burley Griffin, a gift from the British Government to the people of Australia to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the national capital.

Aspen Island was renamed Queen Elizabeth II Island in honour of the Platinum Jubilee in June of this year.

Ten years later, in 1980, Queen Elizabeth II opened the High Court Building, planting her first of a few royal trees in the forecourt.

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip wave to the crowd on arrival in Canberra on October 19, 2011.

Two years after her visit to open the High Court, she travelled to the capital again, this time to open the National Gallery of Australia.

In 1988 the Queen headed to the races, opening The Queen Elizabeth Stand at Canberra Racecourse.

Black and white photo shows Queen Elizabeth II inspecting the guard in Canberra, 1988.

On May 9, the Queen opened new Parliament House.

Not all monument reveals and official events

Queen Elizabeth II didn't return to Canberra until the 1990s, planning a longer tour of Australia.

The Queen's trip to the ACT in 1992 is one that many still remember.

Woman wearing navy hat shakes hands with Queen Elizabeth II.

On February 24, the Queen opened Bonython Primary School, a day then-principal Faith Chegwyn can recall in great detail.

"The Queen was the guest of the ACT Government and the new Bonython school was one place put forward to her that she could visit on that day," Ms Chegwyn says.

"A great sense of excitement was building all week and on the morning when I arrived at school, people were in their deck chairs in the morning ready for her afternoon visit.

Elderly woman looking at photo album.

"When she arrived she interacted with the younger children very nicely, and they just thought she was this fine lady who came to talk to them.

"When she was leaving she said to me 'oh, those children are able to ride their bicycles to school, isn't that interesting?' And I thought, 'well, that was something you weren't able to do as a child.'"

Stuart Harris was a corporal with the RAAF when he was selected to open the Queen's car door over her two-day visit in Canberra that year.

After a 45-minute wait for Queen Elizabeth II to arrive for an organised visit to RAAF Fairbairn, Mr Harris's hands had gone numb from holding them behind his back in the same place for so long.

A man opening the queens door.

"The Rolls Royce came around the corner and I was just worried I'd get her dress caught in the car door or something like that.

"My hands were swelling up, standing there like a little toy soldier and I hoped when I brought my arm up to do a salute, I would be able to do it with some precision."

Mr Harris says he was touched to have been given the job of opening Queen Elizabeth II's car door and it was his greatest honour while serving in the RAAF.

The experience had personal significance for Mr Harris, who lost his mother at the age of nine. The Queen was born the same year as her, only eight days prior, also in the United Kingdom.

Stuart Harris and Queen Elizabeth II

He says the Queen played an integral part in his life ever since the loss of his mother.

"My mother was short in stature and quite petite like the Queen.

"The Queen has always been there. There was always this element of her being a mother figure for me," Mr Harris says.

In 2006, the Queen returned to the ACT and on March 14 attended a presentation of commemorative coins by the Royal Australian Mint at Government House followed by a tree planting ceremony.

The final visit

Queen Elizabeth's final visit to the nation's capital was in 2011.

She was greeted by Australia's first female governor-general, first female prime minister and the female chief minister of the ACT at the time.

Julia Gillard greets The Queen in Canberra as Quentin Bryce looks on

Prime Minister Julia Gillard was criticised for not curtsying to the queen on her arrival to Canberra.

The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh en route on Lake Burley Griffin

Many Canberrans caught a glimpse of the Queen and Prince Phillip as they attended the ACT calendar staple Floriade on October 20 .

Breana O'Toole, who was in year one at the time, was selected to give her a bouquet that day, and though she didn't really know who the Queen was at her young age, it's sunk in since then.

Queen Elizabeth II receives flowers from local children at Floriade in Canberra

"I remember getting all dressed up and getting the day off school, picking flowers to give to her from my grandma's garden.

"I think it was just really lucky because I was wearing blue and so was the Queen, so they just came over and said, 'Would you like to hand the Queen flowers?' and I said, 'Yeah! Of course'."

A readheaded girl smiling at the camera.

"I told the Queen I really liked her hat, and she told me she liked my dress.

"It wasn't until later that I realised how amazing it actually was that I got to speak to the Queen."

And while Queen Elizabeth II opened many national monuments, the last thing she did in the ACT was rather simple.

On the final day of her 2011 trip, she lay a commemorative wreath at the Australian War Memorial, her last act as Queen on capital soil.

The Queen is accompanied by General (Retired) Peter Cosgrove at the Australian War Memorial

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queen's visit to australia 1992

Watch: Archive footage from Queen Elizabeth II's visits to Australia over the years

Steve Evans

Video transcript:

When Queen Elizabeth landed at Farm Cove on February 3, 1954. It was the first visit by a reigning British monarch.

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She and Prince Phillip visited 57 towns and cities in 58 days. It was to be the first of 16 visits to Australia.

In 1963 she visited the University of New South Wales.

The visits of the Queen were a chronicle of changing Australia.

For her Golden Jubilee visit in 2002 - to mark 50 years on the throne - she visited Brisbane.

Whatever the argument over a Republic, the personal affection was clear.

In 2017, the prime minister of Australia Malcolm Turnbull met the Queen of Australia.

The man who would abolish the monarchy met the monarch. And was charmed.

Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God Queen of Australia and Her other Realms, to give her her formal title, was the monarch respected, and even liked, by republicans.

We are all Elizabethans now.

Queen Elizabeth first visited Australia in 1954. Picture screenshot.

  • Why Queen Elizabeth touched so many people
  • Remembering the life of Queen Elizabeth II
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The Queen's many visits to Australia

The Queen visited Australia on 16 occasions, her first visit in 1954 and her last in 2011: 1954, 1963, 1970, 1973, 1974, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1986, 1988, 1992, 2000, 2002, 2006 and 2011.

Steve Evans

Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."

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Home News Reflecting on Queen Elizabeth II’s long relationship with Australia

Reflecting on Queen Elizabeth II’s long relationship with Australia

queen's visit to australia 1992

While the focus of the formalities and ceremony of the passing of Queen Elizabeth II will centre on London and the UK, there is no doubt it will be keenly observed by many Australians.

The queen liked Australia and Australians. She came here 16 times throughout her reign and was, famously, on her way to our shores in 1953 when she learned her father had passed on and she was now queen.

Her visits to Australia – from her first in 1954 through to her last in 2011 – offer a snapshot of the changing relationship Australians have had with their sovereign and with the monarchy.

An enthusiastic nation

The queen’s 1954 tour took place during a time described by historian Ben Pimlott as the age of “ British Shintoism ”. Deference to the Crown was paramount in Britain and the Commonwealth, and many Australians were madly enthusiastic about their queen.

After her arrival at Farm Cove in Sydney on February 3 1954, Elizabeth II became the first British monarch to set foot on Australian soil. The royal tour lasted nearly two months and consisted of a gruelling schedule taking in visits to every state and territory apart from the Northern Territory.

During the tour, the queen greeted over 70,000 ex-service men and women; drove in cavalcades that took in massive crowds; attended numerous civic receptions; and opened the Australian Parliament in Canberra. The tour saw Elizabeth travel 10,000 miles by air and 2,000 miles by road – including 207 trips by car and by appointed royal trains.

It is estimated as much as 75% of the population saw the queen and Prince Philip during this tour.

No Australian prime minister has ever had a reception on this scale or exposure to so many of the country’s citizens.

A “new” and prosperous country

During her first two tours in 1954 and 1963, the Australia laid-out for display for the queen was depicted as having gone from being a small colonial settlement to a thriving economy that had ridden to prosperity “ on the sheep’s back ”.

The queen was treated to endless displays of sheep shearing, surf carnivals, wood chopping, whip cracking, and mass displays of dancing and singing by school children. Federal and state dignitaries, mayors and civic leaders from across the political divide jostled to meet and be seen with her; the country’s florists were emptied of flowers for the hundreds of bouquets presented to her by dozens of shy, nervous school children nudged gently forward by awe-struck parents.

During the early tours, Aboriginal Australians were kept at a discreet distance. Apart from a demonstration of boomerang and spear throwing, the closest the queen came to experiencing anything of Indigenous Australian culture was a ballet performed by the Arts Council Ballet titled Corroboree, with no Aboriginal dancers but dancers with blackened faces.

During the 1970 visit, the queen witnessed the re-enactment of Captain James Cook’s arrival at Botany Bay, with Cook and his crew meeting “the resistance of the Aborigines with a volley of musket fire”.

By 1973, Indigenous Australians were given a more significant role in the royal tours. Aboriginal actor Ben Blakeney, one of Bennelong’s descendants, gave the official welcome during the opening of the Sydney Opera House, and the then unknown actor David Gulpilil was among those performing a ceremonial dance.

queen's visit to australia 1992

Invited guest, not ruler of the land

As early as the 1963 tour, the nation-wide royal fervour had dimmed a little. The 1963 visit witnessed smaller crowds and fewer mass public events. When Prime Minister Robert Menzies courted the queen with the now-famous line, “I did but see her passing by, and yet I love her till I die”, the ensuing blushes – including the queen’s own – reflected many Australians’ growing sense of embarrassment at public displays and unquestioning expressions of deference.

Despite this, Menzies’ displays of public ardour saw him being granted The Order of the Thistle shortly after, a bestowal which must surely remain the envy of some subsequent prime ministers.

The 1977 Silver Jubilee and 1988 Australian bicentenary visits perhaps marked the end of a period of royal tours as overt celebrations of Australia’s ties to Britain. This new flavour of tours positioned the sovereign as an invited guest to an independent, modern and multi-cultural nation.

On her 10th tour in 1986, the queen returned to sign the Australia Act , which brought to an end the ability of the UK to create laws for Australia.

Her role as our sovereign subtly transformed from cutting ribbons and opening Parliament to signing the documents that slowly, by degrees, contributed to the cutting of Australia’s ties to the UK and the Crown.

A question of the republic

By the 12th tour in 1992, the cost of the queen’s visits to Australia were increasingly scrutinised by a public feeling largely indifferent about the royal family. The prime minister of the day, Paul Keating, was seen not so much as an entranced liege lord revelling in the opportunity to see his sovereign “passing by” as one who instead – unthinkingly – committed an act of lèse majesté by placing his bare hand on the royal back and waist as he guided her through the crowd.

The gloves, it seemed, were coming off.

The queen made it clear in her last visits to our shores that whether or not Australia should become a republic was a decision for its own citizens to make. Her official announcement after she learned of the result of the 1999 Republic Referendum confirmed this:

I have always made it clear that the future of the Monarchy in Australia is an issue for the Australian people and them alone to decide, by democratic and constitutional means. … My family and I would, of course, have retained our deep affection for Australia and Australians everywhere, whatever the outcome.

In the last decades of her life, the queen retained the affection of many. Her popularity seemed to grow in line with Australians’ increased disenchantment with their home-grown political leaders: the former prime ministers Malcolm Turnbull and Julia Gillard are right to have sensed that any discussion about an Australian republic would have to wait until after Elizabeth II’s death.

Queen Elizabeth II reigned across seven decades and her tours to Australia served as a marker of Australia’s changing relationship with the Crown as well as with its own colonial past and national identity.

Almost certainly, Elizabeth II’s reign as the stalwart, loyal, dutiful, and most cherished and admired of “Glorianas” is one we are unlikely ever to see again.

This article is republished from The Co nversation under a Creative Commons license.

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The Queen's tours of Australia

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Queen Elizabeth II in WA 1926 -2022

Queen Elizabeth ll was the first reigning monarch of Australia to travel the country, first visiting WA in 1954, with her last visit in 2011.

She captured the hearts and minds of everyone in our state, with more than 25 000 school children gathered from Fremantle to Guilford when she left Perth for her visit to Albany.

Below we have a gallery of images of Queen Elizabeth ll visiting Western Australia. A video of Queen Elizabeth ll and Prince Philip touring Western Australia in 1954. A list of catalogue items including photos, ephemera and maps relating to all of Queen Elizabeth ll visits to WA.

Queen Elizabeth the Big Aussie Barbecue the final event of CHOGM on The Esplanade Perth

Video of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip visiting W.A. in 1954

Watch this video on the SLWA catalogue .

Catalogue items

Digitised photos.

  • Perth decorated for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth, 1952
  • Royal visit arrival at Perth Airport, 1954
  • The 1954 royal visit to Perth
  • Streets decorated for the royal visit to Perth, 1954
  • Royal visit arrival at Kalgoorlie, 1954
  • Royal visit arrival at Northam, 1954
  • Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh driving past a highland pipe band at the Busselton Showgrounds, Western Australia, during the 1954 Royal Tour
  • Ceremonial arches decorate St George's Terrace, Perth for the visit of HM Queen Elizabeth II, 3 April 1954
  • Perth decorated for the Royal Visit, 1954  
  • Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip travel through Claremont during their visit to Perth, 18 March 1954
  • Royal visitor’s tableau for Flower Day, 1954
  • Garden Party at Government House, 1954
  • William De Neefe painting 'Governor's Ball for Queen Elizabeth II visit to Australia' in Perth, March 1954
  • Radios and record players in Nicholson’s window display for the 1954 Royal Visit
  • Decorative street lighting for 1962 Royal Visit and the Empire and Commonwealth Games
  • The 1963 royal visit to Perth
  • Queen Elizabeth II at an Investiture Ceremony in the Government House Ballroom 7 October 1981
  • Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh leave Perth, 9 October 1981
  • Queen Elizabeth II officially reopening Forrest Place after a major refurbishment, 1988.
  • Queen Elizabeth II arrives in Perth for CHOGM, 28 October 2011

List of ephemera items related to the 1963 Royal Visit.

List of maps and plans relating to the Royal Visit of Queen Elizabeth II, to Western Australia, 26 March to 1 April 1954.

Physical Photographs

Physical photos yet to be digitised which you can request to view in the Leah Jane Cohen Reading Room .

  • A street in Perth with decorations for the royal visit of Queen Elizabeth II who is just visible in the back of a car
  • Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip visit Western Australia, 1954
  • Royal Visit, 1977 and Big Bell Gold Mine, 1937
  • The Big Aussie Barbecue, the final event of CHOGM, on The Esplanade, Perth, 30 October 2011

IMAGES

  1. Remembering Queen Elizabeth II's visits to Queensland

    queen's visit to australia 1992

  2. Queen Elizabeth II greets guests, Royal Tour, Sydney Town Hall, 1992

    queen's visit to australia 1992

  3. Queen Elizabeth II visiting Australia

    queen's visit to australia 1992

  4. Day 2: Queen Elizabeth’s Official Visit to Australia (PHOTOS)

    queen's visit to australia 1992

  5. Cheering crowds welcome Queen Elizabeth II to Australia in 1954

    queen's visit to australia 1992

  6. Cheering crowds welcome Queen Elizabeth II to Australia in 1954

    queen's visit to australia 1992

VIDEO

  1. Munster Rugby vs Australia 1992

  2. New Zealand vs Australia 1992 93 1st ODI Dunedin Full Highlights

  3. When Australia Considered Removing the Queen From her Role

  4. QE2 Leaving Sydney Harbour for the last time

  5. Pov: The Queen's visit for @meadowchanyukikosangacha2643

  6. Ceremonial greeting for King and Queen’s visit to Kenya

COMMENTS

  1. A Look Back On Queen Elizabeth's Visits To Australia Over The Years

    Queen Elizabeth II's first visit to Australia was in 1954 with her husband, Prince Philip. She is the first British monarch to ever step foot on Australian soil. ... 1992. The Queen receives flowers outside Town Hall in Sydney. 2000. Queen Elizabeth II and The Duke of Edinburgh receive a welcome from the residents of the outback town of Bourke ...

  2. Royal Visits to Australia

    2011. Royal Visit to Australia by Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh: 19-29 October 2011. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet published details of the Royal Visits to celebrate Her Majesty the Queen's Platinum Jubilee in 2022. More information about Australia's Platinum Jubilee celebrations is ...

  3. Royal tours of Australia

    19th century Prince Alfred's visit 1867-1868. The first member of the Royal Family to visit Australia was Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, son of Queen Victoria, in 1867.. The trip was fraught with disaster. Prince Alfred arrived on board HMS Galatea, of which he was also Captain, as part a world cruise.On 31 October 1867, he landed at South Australia and spent three weeks there.

  4. Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip arrive in Australia

    Feb. 18, 1992 Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip arrive in Australia ... A crowd waving the British Union Jack flag cheered from the public gallery set up for the queen's 12th visit to Australia ...

  5. 1992 Royal Visit

    Bruce Postle, Queen Elizabeth II and Dame Joan Sutherland with her Order of Merit at Admiralty House, Sydney, 1992, National Library of Australia, nla.obj-148396848 Timeline Tuesday 18 February 1992

  6. Queen Elizabeth II Adelaide, South Australia 1992

    Queen Elizabeth II & The Duke of Edinburgh visited Adelaide, South Australia in 1992. We were there to film the whole experience!

  7. 16 visits over 57 years: reflecting on Queen Elizabeth II's long

    The queen's visits to Australia from 1954 to 2011 offer a ... During the 1970 visit, the queen witnessed the re ... By the 12th tour in 1992, the cost of the queen's visits to Australia were ...

  8. Queen Elizabeth II's visits to Australia: How the Queen travelled, from

    In 1992 the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh flew London to Sydney on a chartered Qantas Boeing 747-400. ... The Queen's last visit to Australia was in 2011 and again she and the Duke arrived and ...

  9. Six decades of royal visits: Queen Elizabeth II in Australia

    The Queen first visited Australia in 1954 - when she became the first reigning monarch to set foot on Australian soil - and the last in 2011. The visits included motorcades, tram rides, two ...

  10. List of official openings by Elizabeth II in Australia

    20 February 1992 Bonython Primary School: Canberra: ACT: 24 February 1992: Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2002: Coolum: Qld: ... "Speeches Presented by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in Australia, 1954-1992". National Library of Australia This page was last edited on 6 February 2023, at 00:52 (UTC). Text is available under the ...

  11. Royal Visits

    Celebrations for visit of Queen Elizabeth II to Darling Harbour, 1988. Queen Elizabeth II (QE II) at Circular Quay, 1985. Queen meets guests, Royal Tour, Sydney Town Hall, 1992. Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh in George Street Sydney, 1963. Queen Elizabeth II, evening reception, Royal Tour, Sydney, 1992.

  12. In pictures: A look back at the Queen's visits to Australia

    The Queen's visits included opening the Sydney Opera House in 1973, Darling Harbour in 1988 and the Melbourne Commonwealth Games in 2006. ... "Her Majesty's first visit to South Australia was with ...

  13. Visit of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and His Royal Highness The

    Australia: Date made: 1992 Conflict ... Program to mark the Visit of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and His Royal Highness The Prince Philip to the Victoria Cross Memorial, Queen Victoria Building on the occasion of the Sesquicentenary of the City of Sydney, 23rd February 1992. Includes the signatures of three Victoria Cross recipients ...

  14. Queen Elizabeth II in South Australia: 1992 & 2002

    The Queen visited South Australia once in the 1990s before her final trip in 2002. less than 2 min read. September 9, 2022 - 2:17PM. The Advertiser. 1/50 Queen Elizabeth II with Prince Philip and ...

  15. Memories from Canberra, Queen Elizabeth II's most visited Australian

    The Queen's trip to the ACT in 1992 is one that many still remember. Bonython Primary School principal Faith Chegwyn (left) meeting Queen Elizabeth II in Canberra in 1992. ( Supplied )

  16. Queen's Australian visit stirs republican debate

    Feb. 24, 1992 Queen's Australian visit stirs republican debate. ... The queen and Prince Philip were due to pay a short visit to Adelaide, in South Australia Tuesday, on the last day of their week ...

  17. Watch: Queen Elizabeth's visits to Australia

    Footage from the late queen Elizabeth's many visits to Australia over the years. ... The Queen visited Australia on 16 occasions, her first visit in 1954 and her last in 2011: 1954, 1963, 1970 ...

  18. Reflecting on Queen Elizabeth II's long relationship with Australia

    Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip drive down Victoria Park racecourse, in Adelaide, 1963. Image credit: AP Photo. "Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God Queen of Australia and Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth" has died. Given her advanced years, this has long been expected, yet it still seems incredible this ...

  19. The Queen's tours of Australia

    10:17am Sep 6, 2015. THE QUEEN'S TOURS OF AUSTRALIA: THE QUEEN MEETS AUSTRALIA. 1954, February 3 - April 1: A newly-crowned Queen Elizabeth II toured Australia with The Duke of Edinburgh. The ...

  20. Queen Elizabeth dies: making history on royal tours of Australia

    In 1992, the Queen returned for the sesquicentenary of the incorporation of the city of Sydney. ... In the final years of the '90s the Queen did not visit Australia to avoid being embroiled in ...

  21. List of state visits made by Elizabeth II

    Presentation of a book of the Six Decades of H.M.The Queen's Commonwealth and State Visits, 18 December 2012. Queen Elizabeth II undertook a number of state and official visits over her 70-year reign (1952 to 2022), as well as trips throughout the Commonwealth, making her the most widely travelled head of state in history.She did not require a British passport for travelling overseas, as all ...

  22. 1992 in Australia

    24 February - Queen Elizabeth II visits Australia. Prime Minister Paul Keating breaks royal protocol by placing his hand on the Queen's back, causing an outraged British tabloid newspaper to dub him the "Lizard of Oz". In his speech welcoming the Queen, Paul Keating contrasts the current state of Australia with that of her first visit in 1954.

  23. Queen Elizabeth II in WA

    Queen Elizabeth II in WA 1926 -2022. Queen Elizabeth ll was the first reigning monarch of Australia to travel the country, first visiting WA in 1954, with her last visit in 2011. She captured the hearts and minds of everyone in our state, with more than 25 000 school children gathered from Fremantle to Guilford when she left Perth for her visit ...