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To map the Governor General's Award is to map both the past and the future of Canadian literature, and to be nominated for my first book is wonderful.

My nomination to be Governor was not to gratify ambition.

I wished for just one medal as a junior.

I was very surprised when I heard that I had been chosen to receive the James Cardinal Gibbons Award.

Well, I have a CBE and I accepted it with glee because it's not bestowed on you by the royal family, it's not bestowed on you by the government, you have to be nominated by the public.

Before I became a chief minister, I never thought that one day I'd be the chief minister.

The best governor in the world is the person who never really planned to be governor.

I had a 'Mr. Smith Goes to Washington' experience as governor.

I was appointed Poet Laureate. It came totally out of the blue because most Poet Laureates had been considerably older than I. It was not something that I even had begun to dream about!

I am extremely proud to have the honour and privilege to be the Premier of this great state of Victoria.