Australia Day Awards

The Hon. MICHAEL VEITCH [5.14 p.m.]: I refer the House to the valuable contributions of several Australia Day recipients in the electorate of Burrinjuck. Australia Day is a symbolic day in both white and black Australian history. It is important to remember that Australia Day was the day white settlers arrived in this country, some would say invaded this place, dispossessed the indigenous community and took control of the land. Australia Day is a very important day in our history, with some things to celebrate and some things to commiserate about. It is a day in our history that is always to be recognised.

For me, Australia Day means recognising fellow Australians that have made a lasting contribution to their community, whether through high achievement in a particular field or by serving their community above and beyond what is expected. There are two forms of awards handed out on Australia Day: those handed out by local council communities, recognising people within their local community; and the Order of Australia awards, recognising people from all over Australia and their contribution to the broader community.

I have been Chair of the local Australia Day Awards Committee in my home town of Young for eight years. Locally based Australia Day awards allow locals to nominate and recognise local people for their commitment and contribution to the community in which they live. This year I was glad to accept the role of master of ceremonies at the Young Australia Day awards, held in beautiful Carrington Park. It was a great day and a wonderful ceremony held before about 500 people. There are many special people living in Burrinjuck who received awards from their local communities. Awards included Junior Citizen of the Year, Citizen of the Year, and Senior Citizen of the Year. I offer my congratulations to those people and I apologise for not being able to read out every name of every person who received an award. I will read the names of some of the citizens and junior citizens of the year in my home electorate of Burrinjuck: Shirley Cox, Jake Anlezark, Aaron Rhind, Alfred McCarthy, Patrick Sullivan from Gundagai, Ben Blay, Marie Hardin, Amy Walker, Frank Willis and Andrew Palmer from the Upper Lachlan—

The Hon. Duncan Gay: Good people.

The Hon. MICHAEL VEITCH: Yes, good people. Other recipients included Colin Payne, Andrew Carter, Michelle Potter, Lisa Thompson, Merle Karsten, Anthony Pullen, John Strudwick, Megan Callow, Pauline Davidson and Elyce Green from Young, Kath Smith and Robert Maslin from Grenfell. Aside from local council awards, Australians who have achieved and contributed beyond their local community are recognised through the Order of Australia awards. An Order of Australia award confers the highest recognition for outstanding achievement and service to Australia. It is the pre-eminent way that Australians recognise the achievements and service of their fellow citizens. Ordinary Australians nominate extraordinary Australians and the Council for the Order of Australia then considers the nominations that come directly from the community. The recipients are selected against a set of basic criteria.

I take this opportunity to congratulate all Australians who received an Order of Australia award this year. I have the very privileged role of representing constituents in not one but three electorates. I make special mention of those constituents who were recent Order of Australia recipients. There were two Order of Australia award recipients in Burrinjuck: Dr Michael Mullany from Young, for his service to the community of Young particularly in the area of aged care and disability support; and Nevin Hughes from Grenfell, for service to health in rural and remote areas through a range of executive and advisory roles to local government and the community. There were also two Order of Australia award recipients from Goulburn: Ray Leeson for service to the print media, as editor of the Goulburn Post, and to the community; and Jennifer Lamb for service to art, as Director of the Goulburn Regional Art Gallery, and to the community.

The Hon. Duncan Gay: That Ray Leeson is a great bloke.

The Hon. MICHAEL VEITCH: I congratulate those people on being awarded one of Australia's highest honours. But more importantly, I join with many communities across Australia in thanking those people for the tremendous amount of work they have done in contributing to this great nation. I thank them and I know Australia thanks them as well.

The Hon. Duncan Gay: Ray Leeson is the former editor of the Goulburn Post.

The Hon. MICHAEL VEITCH: I concur with the Hon Duncan Gay that Ray Leeson is the former editor of the Goulburn Post and a good man. I also mention all the Australians out there who have noticed others contributing to their community and taken the time to nominate them for Australia Day awards. It takes a special kind of person to notice another's contribution and to take action to see that it is formally recognised. Time and effort are required to fill out nomination forms, seek references and referees, and ensure that information is correct. I urge others to look around their own communities and nominate those wonderful individuals who are performing extraordinary deeds to make this country an even better place to live for the present and future generations.