Nicolle Flint (Boothby, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Compassion, dedication, courage, kindness, civility and service: these are the words that I believe describe the values of recipients of honours under the Order of Australia awarded recently to so many people. They are the true Australian values that have made our nation the best in the world and fostered our great culture of mateship and volunteerism.

Today I congratulate all those who were awarded honours in the Order of Australia, our nation's most prestigious means of recognising capable and selfless citizens. In particular I would like to congratulate those honours recipients who I represent in Boothby. The motion today notes the array of fields that honours recipients may have contributed to, and I think it speaks to the calibre of my community that we cover the majority of those fields, with service in science, education, sport and community service.

In the fields of science and education, I congratulate Emeritus Professor John Bowie AM for his significant contribution to our understanding of mass spectrometry and for passing that knowledge on to others. Professor Bowie was made a member of the Order of Australia for this service. Professor Bowie has held many positions at the University of Adelaide, including dean of the Faculty of Sciences, and has served as an emeritus professor of chemistry since 2012. Published in many international journals, Professor Bowie has also received a number of awards, most recently receiving the Australian and New Zealand Society for Mass Spectrometry Medal in 2010.

Contributing to community sport is Mr Phillip Davis OAM, who has supported the Adelaide and Suburban Cricket Association, of which he has been president since 1989. Mr Davis has also served as president of the Mitchell Park Cricket Club—which is right near my electorate office—and played himself from 1977 until 1993.

For service to veterans and their families, I extend my heartfelt congratulations to Mr Walter Beale OAM—better known to us locally as Wally—of the Mitcham RAAF Association for his work to support veterans and their families. Few can truly understand the trials for veterans and their loved ones once they have returned home from active service. Mr Beale served as a committee member from 1988 until 2015, and he has also been involved in the Brown Hill Creek Probus Club as president, vice-president and editor of their newsletter. He has also served as a justice of the peace for 33 years.

The Reverend Neale Michael RFD OAM received his honour for extensive work in the Uniting Church of Australia and the community generally. Reverend Michael served as a reserve chaplain in the Australian Air Force for 15 years, as well as in many other roles, including for Lifeline Australia and for other Uniting Church bodies. On behalf of all those who Reverend Michael has helped over the years, I wish to thank him and congratulate him on his service.

Mr Matthew Linn OAM received his award for service to the community through refugee support organisations. He has been the president of the Australian Refugee Association between 2002 and 2015 and, prior to that, their secretary; He has also been a board member since 1989. He is the chair of the Retired Engineers Group, South Australia Division of Engineers Australia and is also an active member of the Uniting Church.

Mr Ian Steel OAM received his award for service to children through social welfare programs. He was the founder of KickStart for Kids, a significant program in South Australia which has been running since 2009 and is a volunteer based organisation that provides breakfast, lunch, mentoring and vacation programs for disadvantaged and at-risk children in 300 schools, with some 500 volunteers.

I would also like to recognise Dr Jennifer Gardner OAM who has made a wonderful contribution to Urrbrae House and the Waite Arboretum since 1986. Her award was for service to conservation and the environment and, by chance, I ran into one of her dedicated volunteers during my listening post at the Mitcham shopping centre on Saturday morning, who told me that Dr Gardner is actually retiring this year from Adelaide university after so many years of dedicated service. She has been the curator of the Waite Arboretum since 1986 and the manager of Urrbrae house and gardens, and she founded the Friends of the Waite Conservation Reserve and also the Friends of the Waite Arboretum—truly a wonderful contribution. I wish her all the very best in her retirement.

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