‘Best of us’: Full Australia Day honours list

More than 450 Australians have been celebrated for their contribution to the country in this year’s Australia Day honours list, which marks the 50th anniversary of the system.

Governor-General Sam Mostyn said the recipient’s stories reminded her that contribution to communities, underpinned by care, kindness, respect and love, is what mattered most to Australians.

“Recipients embody the best of us, and we are grateful to all of them,” she said.

NewsWire spoke with some of the nation’s most inspiring leaders who were recognised in the honours list this Australia Day.

MEGAN DAVIS AC

Professor Megan Davis AC is a powerhouse constitution and human rights lawyer who has sought justice for Indigenous people not only here in Australia but around the globe.

She became nationally prominent during the campaign for the Voice referendum in 2023, which was ultimately voted against by Australians.

Professor Davis was a co-author of The Voice, which set out to improve the lives of First Nation Peoples by giving them a say in parliament on polices and laws that impacted them.

While The Voice was defeated 60-40 in a national referendum, Professor Davis said the 13 regional dialogues from across Australia that were used to create the Uluru Statement were important mechanisms that allowed First Nations people’s voices to be heard.

“They (First Nations peoples) voted overwhelmingly yes to the voice to parliament and over 80 per cent of remote communities voted yes,” she said.

The Cobble Cobble woman from southeastern Queensland has worked tirelessly in law and social justice for more than two decades, in which she has also worked on the rights of Indigenous people with the United Nations Human Rights Council.

She began her career with the UN in Geneva before she had finished her law degree completing a fellowship on Indigenous people’s rights, before going to Paris with UNESCO, the Red Cross and sitting in the High Commission of Human Rights.

“I really got to know the bread and butter of human rights … it gave me a lot of really interesting insights into how other countries manage and recognise Indigenous people’s rights, and … a lot of insight into where Australia sits in relation to that,” Professor Davis told the Lowy Institute.

Adding to her huge list of achievements, Professor Davis was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia – the highest honour – telling NewsWire it was an emotional moment to find out she had received one of the nation’s highest accolades.

“I was at home with my 84-year-old Mum in the housing commission home we grew up in,” she said.

“I was able to share the moment with Mum. It is a testament to her love and care for me and my siblings.

“I am 49 and I have been privileged to have a lengthy career with the UN and as an international human rights lawyer.

“The biggest privilege has been working on constitutional recognition of First Nations people including the First Nations Regional Dialogues that led to the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

“The recognition is humbling.”

Professor Davis said she worked hard throughout her career with the UN and at home and felt very honoured to be acknowledged for her work.

“I was director of the Indigenous Law Centre for over a decade and participated in 12 years of government-led Constitutional recognition processes,” she said.

“I’ve been a Commissioner on a Queensland inquiry into youth detention and chair of a NSW inquiry into Aboriginal out-of-home care.

“Most of my work has been in the service of Indigenous peoples here and globally.

“But I am most proud of the work we did that led to the historic consensus of First Nations people at Uluru in 2017 and the Uluru Statement from the Heart.”

Professor Davis wrote in The Australian last month the movement for Aboriginal rights and recognition was a long journey.

“We were asking to be included in democratic decision-making during pre-Federation colonial times and we haven’t stopped since,” she said.

“We don’t stop seeking rights and recognition because of 2023.”

LATE GALARRWUY YUNUPINGU AC

One of Australia’s most inspiring Aboriginal leaders, the late Galarrwuy Yunupingu has been honoured as a Companion of the Order almost two years after his death,

The highly decorated Gumatj clan leader was named Australian of the Year in 1978 and was appointed a Member of the Order in 1985, with his most recent honour taking effect from February 2023.

Dr Yunupingu was instrumental in negotiating Aboriginal land rights and developing economic initiatives for First Nation Peoples across five decades.

In the 1960s, he helped draft the Yirrkala bark petitions, which were signed by his father and uncle and handed to the Australian parliament by Yolgnu to have their land rights recognised.

In the 70s, he established the Northern Land Council and advised government authorities on Aboriginal land rights in the Northern Territory negotiating the Ranger uranium mining agreement located within Kakadu National Park.

In the 80s, he handed Prime Minister Bob Hawke the Barunga Statement, which led the former PM to say he wanted to establish a treaty between Aboriginal people and other Australians by 1990.

His brother, the late Mandawuy Yunupingu, was Yothu Yindi’s frontman which released a song titled Treaty in 1991 in response to the government’s inaction.

The brothers founded the Yothu Yindi Foundation with other clan leaders, which runs the annual Garma Festival in Arnhem Land.

Dr Yunupingu was named a National Living Treasure and was awarded an honorary Doctor of Law from Melbourne University.

His daughter Binmila Yunupingu said in a statement that her dad was a born leader.

“Through his life he gained very high ceremonial knowledge, such that his life was spent honouring and guarding our laws and ceremonies, passing them on in perfection to the next generations,” she said.

“He was also a leader in the non-Yolngu world, establishing and leading the Northern Land Council for three decades.

“He balanced his world by gaining the influence and education from the balanda (non-Yolngu) world, as his vision was about balance and equality.

“He believed in equal rights for all people no matter what race.

“We miss him so much, but knowing the legacy he has left behind is something that gives our family the courage and strength to keep moving forward, working with my elders, guiding our children, empowering Yolngu to continue his legacy into the future.”

PROFESSOR ALLEN CHENG AC

Professor Allen Cheng assumed everyone had forgotten about the pandemic, or wanted to forget about it, and never expected to be recognised for his work during one of the most uncertain periods in recent history.

The expert epidemiologist of infectious disease said it was an honour to be appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia for his work during Covid.

“I’m only in the public consciousness because of the pandemic, and probably would have rather not had a pandemic and be an obscure infectious disease researcher,” he said.

During Covid, Professor Cheng was Victoria’s deputy chief health officer, the Target Vaccine Advisory Group chair and helped with some of the federal response to the pandemic.

“I counted in the first two years, in 2020 and 2021, I attended 1200 official meetings, and unofficial meetings as well,” he said.

“There’s only 730 days in two years, it was out of control.”

Professor Cheng said being a person who was an expert in epidemiology, immunisation and treating infections became really helpful in a very specific situation.

“I think that’s a message that is important, we do need people to be experts in unusual things or topics, just because you never know when they’re going to be helpful,” he said.

“We had smaller pandemics, there’s been SARS, which we were lucky to escape, and the ebola scare and those sorts of things.

“But on the scale of Covid, there hadn’t been anything like that since 1918, and it was pretty unexpected.”

The son of migrant parents who came to Australia from Malaysia and Hong Kong in the 1950s and 60s, Professor Cheng said Australia wasn’t quite so welcoming then.

His mother passed away a couple of months ago and his father died during the pandemic.

“They were allowed to stay, and they studied in Australia, as did most of my family here,” he said.

“I would want to think that somehow I’ve sort of repaid the faith that Australia showed them.

“I think they’d be pretty chuffed with some of the things I’ve done over the years.”

LAURIE LAWRENCE AO

Australian swimming coach Laurie Lawrence has taken some of the nation’s top athletes to Olympic glory and has now received one of the nation’s top honours himself.

Lawrence has been appointed to the Order of Australia, saying he had coached a few swimmers who received the honour in the past, but now he could rub it in, he had one too.

The former schoolteacher and rugby union player has coached swimming for five decades seeing many of his proteges go onto win Olympic gold medals and break world records.

The Australian Olympic swim coach took some of the nation’s most celebrated athletes to games from 1984 to 1992 and continued to be involved with the sport at an Olympic level up until 2008 inspiring the nation’s best swimmers.

In addition to his sporting achievements, Lawrence is a huge advocate for water safety and founded several organisations to promote children’s safety around water and swim schools.

“I coached because I loved it, I coached because I had to make a living doing something and it was something I enjoyed,” he said.

“There was always something more to look forward to, I’ve been very lucky and fortunate because I enjoyed everything I have done.

“This award is a nice little bit of strawberry on top of the cake.”

But Lawrence said his greatest achievement was his family and if he had done nothing else he was happy to have his wife Jocelyn, three daughters and five grandchildren in his life.

“I’ve got a great family that obey the law and will contribute to Australian society one day in some shape or form, which is what everyone has to do,” he said.

LLOYD AND SUE CLARKE OAM

Sue and Lloyd Clarke’s lives were shattered when their daughter Hannah and grandchildren were murdered at the hands of Hannah’s estranged ex-husband.

He had ambushed the family on their way to school, dousing the car in petrol and setting it alight on February 19, 2020.

During their unimaginable grief, Mr and Mrs Clarke found the strength to see that coercive control laws were introduced in Queensland.

Known as Hannah’s Law, the reforms become effective in May and will see perpetrators prosecuted over acts of coercive control carrying a maximum penalty of 14 years’ jail among other legislation.

Mr and Mrs Clarke have now been honoured with an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for their service to domestic violence support and welfare having founded Small Steps 4 Hannah and contributing to the Women’s Safety and Justice Taskforce.

“We weren’t wanting to get anything like this, we just wanted to have a conversation about coercive control, and that was five years ago,” Mr Clarke said.

“We’re still having that same conversation, which is good because we’re trying to get it out to all of Australia.

“The only reason we took it on was because it happened so quickly from the day (Hannah) left till the day she died, it was only 11 weeks.

“We didn’t know how dangerous it was and these professional people just kept saying, it’s so typical.”

Hannah’s parents have worked tirelessly with authorities in Queensland, NSW and Tasmania to establish coercive control laws in those states and hope all states and territories across Australia adopt similar measures.

“We need change and people are wanting change,” Mr Clarke said.

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