Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On 11 June 2007 Queensland’s oldest provincial newspaper, the Queensland Times, wrote this:

HAVE you heard the Irish joke about the Malaysian student who went to Dublin to study medicine and ended up a much-loved GP in Riverview?

It isn’t a joke, of course. It’s the life story in a nutshell of Dr Harry Ratnam, who has been awarded an Order of Australia Medal for his service to medicine in the area of general practice and to the community of Ipswich.

Harry is a wonderful, beloved doctor in the Ipswich area. On 15 August 2009 I was pleased to be present at the naming of a park after him at Henty Drive, Redbank Plains. It is 18 hectares in area, 1.8 kilometres of Goodner Creek. It is an important urban link area and is part of the Ipswich City Council’s nature conservation strategy. It was great to be there with Dr Harry, as he is well known in Ipswich. Present also were the member for Oxley and also the Mayor of Ipswich, Mr Paul Pisasale, and the Deputy Mayor, Mr Victor Attwood. Maha Sinnathamby, the founder of the Springfield Land Corporation and the satellite city of Springfield, was there. A good friend of Harry, he spoke movingly and brilliantly about the contribution of Harry to the life of the Ipswich community.

Harry is an extraordinary man. As I said, he was born in Malaysia and completed the early part of his schooling in Kuala Lumpur and subsequently finished his education in Dublin. After completing high school he entered the Royal College of Surgeons and Physicians. He graduated in June 1977. After graduating he was invited by the Agent General of Queensland in England to migrate to Australia but for family reasons—and they were very personal family reasons—Harry went back to Malaysia, where he stayed for four years and during that time found the love of his life, Radji.

Harry and Radji arrived in Australia in 1981 and in February 1982 they set up a practice in Riverview in the federal electorate of Blair. The park is in the federal electorate of Oxley neighbouring. Harry is now the longest serving GP in the area. They made Ipswich their home, raised two children and have lived there for 28 years. Radji is the manager and the power behind the throne and she manages Harry’s medical practice.

Harry has demonstrated loyalty, compassion, commitment and humanitarianism to the people of Ipswich. He is the longest serving general practitioner in Riverview. He looks after residents in Riverview, Goodna, Gailes, Camira, Collingwood Park, Ebbw Vale, Bundamba and Raceview. He started providing medical services to the Salvation Army Riverview Gardens in 1991 and he is much loved down there.

In 2004 he received special mention in the Queensland parliament for his dedicated work and I think it is appropriate to mention him in the federal parliament in 2009. In 2004 he received the Ipswich Centenary Medal for volunteer services to the community. In 2005 he was appointed inaugural director of the after hours family care medical service and continues to do this role. In 2007 he received the Order of Australia, OAM, for services to medicine in the area of general practice and to the community of Ipswich. He is a member of the conduct review committee of the Ipswich City Council. He is a standing member of the medical advisory committee. He also happens to be the GP for the Mayor of Ipswich. Mayor Paul Pisasale said the park was named after Harry as:

… a mark of respect to a man who has served this community for more than 35 years as a general practitioner.

His efforts in the Ipswich community have been so good he received an order of Australia medal in 2007 for his services …

The Deputy Mayor of Ipswich said this of Harry:

I nominated the name of the park in celebration of the work done in this area by … Harry …

With the growth in this area Harry’s services need to be honoured. Harry, we thank you for your wonderful humanitarianism to Ipswich, for your love of the community and your love of your patients. The fact that there were hundreds of people there that day for your park’s naming demonstrates the affection with which the Ipswich community holds you. Well done, Harry.