Tim Wilson (Goldstein, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Our Australian honours system consists of a number of orders, decorations and medals, through which this country's sovereign awards its citizens for actions or deeds that benefit our great nation. The Goldstein electorate is excited to celebrate five Order of Australia Medal recipients in the community this Australia Day. Congratulations go to John Knowles OAM for his service to aged-care delivery in Victoria as the managing director of Arcare Aged Care since 1969—and as you are an old friend of mine, John, I want to extend my particular personal congratulations. Congratulations to Michael Lawrence OAM for his service to education, to youth, and to the community for work as president and committee member of The King David School and as a board member of Temple Beth Israel synagogue—a synagogue I visited only recently—as well as for his involvement with the establishment of the Victorian Union for Progressive Judaism and his work with the 10th Caulfield Scout Group. Thank you for your service, Michael.

Congratulations to Thomas Morris OAM for service to the building and construction industry: for his work as national president and committee member of the Australian Institute of Building, and as president and committee member of the Victorian Chapter of the Australian Institute of Building, as board member of the Master Builders Association of Victoria, Adjunct Professor of Property and Project Management at RMIT, as chairman and member of St Martin's, Beaumaris Uniting Church Council, and as president and vice-president of the Probus Club of Bayside. Thomas: thank you for your service. Congratulations also to Timothy Smith OAM for service to public administration, and for service to maritime history preservation for work as executive director of Heritage Victoria, as well as his ongoing contributions to the working group on HMAS Submarine AE2 as a maritime archaeologist, including as vice-president and secretary of the Australasian Institute for Maritime Archaeology. Finally, congratulations to Ken Wilson OAM for his service to people who are homeless, and for his service to the community in his work as president of the Matthew Talbot Fitzroy Soup Van and Night Leader at Margaret Oates Collingwood Soup Van, and for his work with the St Vincent de Paul Society Victoria—we are so appreciative of your service.

The Goldstein electorate is also excited to celebrate awards of Member (AM) in the general division of the Order of Australia. I particularly want to acknowledge:    Kevin Bailey for his significant service to Australia-Timor Leste relations, to philanthropic organisations, to the financial planning sector, and to the community; John Burdett for significant service to community health, through executive roles with medical research institutes, and for service to the financial services sector; Steven Knott for significant service to the resources and energy industries, and for service to the advancement of women and to industrial relations; and Campbell Rose for significant service to sports administration, to infrastructure and transport development, and to the community of the great state of Victoria.

However, as the federal member for Goldstein, I want to extend particular congratulations to a previous member for Goldstein: to the Hon. Dr David Kemp for his eminent service to the Parliament of Australia, notably in the areas of employment, education and training, and youth affairs, and for his service to the environment, to institutional reform and public policy development, as well as to the community. As the Member for Goldstein from 1990 to 2004, David consistently provided all of this and more for our community. When he retired from parliament, he did not just rest on his laurels but went about working hard on the history of the Liberal Party, particularly honouring of the enduring legacy of Sir Robert Menzies, our greatest ever Prime Minister. He also served as the president of the Victorian division of the Liberal Party, bringing together people to advance the good cause of Liberalism and our values, not just so that we can prosecute them here in this parliament but also in the Victorian state parliament as well. And more importantly, so that those values can live in the hearts and minds of Australians all across this country—because freedom is only ever one generation away from extinguishment. In his community service and at every point, David has made sure that he stands up for those values and works with people to advance the good cause of Liberalism. Working with young people as the chairman of Scotch College—no matter where there is an opportunity, he has sought to serve. And today we thank him for his incredibly tireless work and service—not just to his community and not just to the great state of Victoria but, more importantly, to this glorious Commonwealth.

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