PERTH, October 28, 2011 (AFP) – Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II Friday invoked an Australian Aboriginal proverb which notes “we are just passing through”, as she called for enduring results from a Commonwealth summit. Dressed in a powder blue silk jacquard dress and coat with navy trim adorned with a brooch which previously belonged to her late mother, the queen said the 2011 CHOGM promised “to bring new vibrancy to the Commonwealth”.
“I wish heads of government well in agreeing further reforms that respond boldly to the aspirations of today and that keep the Commonwealth fresh and fit for tomorrow,” she said.
“In these deliberations, we should not forget that this in an association not only of governments, but also of peoples.”
Thousands have thronged public events in Canberra, Melbourne and Brisbane to see the queen, with scores bringing flowers and momentoes to her, with the suggestion this could be her last visit to the distant realm.
“We are grateful to the people of Australia for their welcome,” the queen said in her address. In an address to open the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Perth, the 85-year-old monarch said she had attended many such summits which had looked to