Queen's Honours list

13 Jun 2011, 6:43 am   -   Source: SBS
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The Companion of the Order of Australia has gone to Honourable Justice Susan Kiefel of Queensland in the Queen's Birthday list.

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Australians from a range of backgrounds have been honoured in this years Queen's Birthday Honours List.

376 people in the General Division have been recognised for their contribution in areas ranging from architecture, community and migrant assistance, public service, science and sport.
 

 


More than 200 other Australians have been honoured with awards in the categories of Military Division, Meritorious and Gallantry, Distinguished and Conspicuous.

The Australian Honours System was established 36 years ago in 1975.

It recognises and celebrates the outstanding contributions and achievements of a diversity of Australians, with awards usually given twice a year: Australia Day and today, The Queen's Birthday.

The highest level of recognition, the Companion of the Order of Australia has been awarded to the Honourable Justice Susan Kiefel of Queensland.

Justice Kiefel has been recognised for her eminent service to the law and to the judiciary, to law reform and to legal education in the areas of ethics, justice and governance.

She is one of 125 women recognised this year.

 

264 HONOURED

Brian Greig is one of 284 honoured with a Medal of the Order of Australia.

He has been recognised for his service to the community as a social justice advocate for the gay and lesbian community.

Mr Greig says he is able to look back over the last two decades at the developments that have come about because of his work.

"What it means to me is an opportunity to step back for a moment and reflect upon the changes that I have seen. It was 1989 when I first got involved with gay and lesbian law reform. At that time, it was a complete criminal offence for gay men simply to have sexual relations and even sex in the privacy of their own home. It was a criminal offence worthy of 14 years in prison with or without whipping."

Mr Greig says while he is honoured to be recognised in this way, it does not mean the work is over for establishing rights for the gay and lesbian community.

"Work has been done at a state level, all of the states and territories have to varying degrees introduced equal ages of consent and anti discrimination protections but we don't have those protections at a federal level. It is true the former Rudd government introduced a raft of commonwealth legislation to end discrimination against same sex couples under commonwealth law but that did not go so far as recognising equal marriage. We certainly need to move on that."

LANGUAGE HONOURS

Doctor Jayant Bapat is also the recipient of an OAM.

He is being honoured for his service to the Hindu community in Australia and to education, recognised in part to the assistance he has provided to Indian migrants for the past 30 years.

He says when he arrived in Australia in 1965 he found it challenging to adjust to his new life.

"I decided that when I settled myself, those who do come here I will personally see or people from India would write to me and they will come and stay with me. Lots of families came and stayed with us, we would offer them all kinds of help to look for housing and other things. And that I have been doing ever since."

Doctor Bapat is also credited, among other things, with teaching the official languages of Maharashtra and Sanskrit.

He says he believes its vital to keep these languages alive.

"They are ambassadors sort of to Australia back to India. For instance, there is now an emerging economy like China, and a lot of these people will take important positions in Australia and they will be visiting India in an official basis. Also at home, unless you know the language, you do not know the culture and it is very important for people to know what culture they came from", he said.

ARTISTIC ENDEAVOURS

A Member of the Order of Australia has been granted posthumously to Makinti Napanangka of Alice Springs.

Ms Napanangka has been recognised for her service to the arts as a contemporary Indigenous artist, to women painters of the Western Desert Art movement, and to the community of the Northern Territory.

Ms Napanangka provided funds for health, education and wellbeing initiatives for the Pintupi communities through her art sales.

Surita Quinliva is from the Papunya Tula Artists, with whom Ms Napanangka was a former shareholder and Director.

She says Ms Napanangka would have seen the recognition as an acknowledgment of her passion.

"If Napanangka were here to receive the honour she would have accepted it with a measure of amusement, yet also a contentment that her artistic ability and knowledge was being recognised", Quinliva said.

"When Makinti painted it was to communicate her knowledge and love of her country. She painted the site of Lupul and all the women's narratives and ceremonies that went with that landscape and yes, she just had a passion to paint and a passion to record her story."

Ms Napanangka's daughters Jacqueline and Winnie have both expressed how proud they are of their mother.
 

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