It says a lot about Kay Hull that she helped launch Julia Gillard's memoir last year.
The former Nationals MP for the federal seat of Riverina has been appointed a member in the general division of the Order of Australia in the Queen's Birthday honours list.
The 61-year-old former tow truck driver represented her NSW seat from October 1998 to July 2010.
She had a 20-year career in politics which also included eight years on Wagga Wagga City Council, where she still lives.
Mrs Hull rose to the position of Nationals whip but turned down offers of further advancement up the political ladder in order to maintain her community focus.
In 2005 she was the only coalition MP to cross the floor of parliament to vote against the full sale of Telstra, raising the eyebrows of colleagues.
But she received support at the time from Labor's Julia Gillard, who wrote a note praising her for her courage.
Last year Mrs Hull repaid the favour by launching the former prime minister's book, My Story, in Wagga.
"She is the first woman prime minister and that in itself commands respect," Mrs Hull said at the time.
One of her key political achievements was leading what she described as an "emotionally exhausting" push to stop the sale of iconic Australian company Snowy Hydro in 2006.
In 2010, Charles Sturt University named its veterinary teaching hospital in her honour and in 2011 she was awarded Freedom of the City in Wagga for her "tenacity, resilience, courage and conviction in her representation of her constituents".
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