House debates

Monday, 22 July 2019

Constituency Statements

Bennelong Electorate: Queen's Birthday Honours

10:33 am

Photo of John AlexanderJohn Alexander (Bennelong, Liberal Party) Share this | | Hansard source

I rise to inform the House of some extraordinary achievements by some local constituents in Bennelong who have received their Queen's Birthday honours.

Firstly, I'd like to acknowledge the achievements of Mr John Croll, AM. Mr Croll has had great success in the field of business as the former CEO of leading media intelligence company Isentia. He is successful not only as a businessman but also as chairman of Disability Sports Australia since 2017, a highly valued organisation. Disability Sports Australia strives to be the peak national body for state and other sports and recreation organisations representing people with a physical disability. Prior to this position at Disability Sports Australia, Mr Croll was the vice-president of the Australian Paralympic Committee and, as such, has held vital roles in representing athletes with a physical disability. I thank him for his years of service to the disabled community and for the work he has done for athletes with a physical disability, and I look forward to his future success.

Another local constituent I would like to acknowledge the achievements of is Professor Constance Katelaris, who earnt her name on the Queen's Birthday honours list for her significant service to medicine in the field of immunology and allergy. An Epping local, Professor Katelaris has excelled in her field of immunology and allergy. She is currently the professor of immunology and allergy at Western Sydney University and the head of unit and senior staff specialist at Campbelltown Hospital. In addition to this, she has also authored and co-authored numerous publications on immunology and allergy topics and has held executive positions within the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy. I wish her all the best for her future endeavours and I'm confident she will continue to do great things for our community.

Finally, I'd like to recognise the success and impact within our community of environment expert Ivan Kennedy. Mr Kennedy has been acknowledged in the Queen's Birthday honours list for his five decades of service to higher education and agricultural research. Over the course of his career, Mr Kennedy has published, edited and co-authored several articles and research papers in this area of agriculture, educating us about different areas of environmental science and agriculture. He has also held different positions at the University of Sydney, where he has taught and lectured numerous students of environmental science and agriculture. I thank Mr Kennedy for his years of service to science, agriculture and industry, and I look forward to reading about his future success.

I acknowledge the outstanding achievements of these three local constituents and thank them for everything they have done for our community and the country at large.