Speeches
Thursday, 13 February 2025
Opening of Ngutu College Café and Shop
It is good to be back amongst the Ngutu College community for the opening of your college’s Ngani Café and shop.
When I visited you in 2023, I was immediately impressed by your sense of community, respect for each other, and celebration of Aboriginal culture and knowledge.
Today I am looking forward to my husband Rod getting to know you as well.
It is wonderful to see that the school has grown its student numbers and is reaching out into the community with the development of the café and shop.
It is often said that coffee not only gives you a boost, but it also has the power to bring people together.
This social enterprise will do that in many ways; through providing work experience, jobs and providing - as its name suggests - a “gathering place” for the Ngutu community as well as those who have migrated to Australia and settled near here and, of course, those who work in local businesses.
A multicultural society such as ours gains strength from experiencing the many cultures of Australians.
Learning of differing customs, food and experiences enables us to grow in respect for each other.
Importantly, the café and shop provide a pathway for young people to gain skills and experience, which is difficult when you are first setting out to gain qualifications or that important first job.
Under the guidance of the head chef and co-educator young people will make the coffee, serve the food, and see the ins and outs of running a business. You will learn discipline and what goes into preparing ethically produced food and eating well. All valuable skills.
I know you will enjoy meeting customers and interacting with them and please know that coffee tastes all the better when served with a warm smile and a brief conversation. In my experience baristas are some of the best-informed people in Adelaide!
Importantly the café and shop are the result of requests from the Aboriginal community for opportunities for young people to gain experience and enter a difficult job market.
At Government House we are in the middle of building works to change the entrance to the house to make it more accessible for people with disabilities. So, I know of the dust, noise, and disruption you have experienced during the renovations.
But now at the end of the project, you have a great place to learn and meet. It will be a springboard for opportunity.
Friends,
Having visited Ngutu, I was delighted, as Governor, to have been invited by Impact 100 in 2023 to present Andrew, your head of college, with a cheque for $100,00 to help make the café and coffee shop a reality. Since then, Rod and I have joined Impact 100 as members, so you can imagine how happy we are to be here today. And Kath House is too and all the Impact 100 members will be so happy to hear about this opening.
I also thank those generous South Australians who provided a further $195,000 for the project.
I commend Andrew on his vision for the school and innovations such as the café and shop, as well as the board and staff for bringing it to fruition.
This café and shop again demonstrate that Ngutu College has “Aboriginal cultures as its soul, young people at its heart and creativity as its backbone.”
I have great pleasure in officially declaring the Ngani Café and shop open.