Daniel Mulino (Fraser, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I congratulate two women who live in my electorate on their well-deserved Australia Day honours: Professor Emerita Cynthia Mitchell, on her Officer of the Order of Australia award for distinguished service to the environment as an innovator, leader and academic through her work on water resource sustainability; and the Reverend Canon Professor Dorothy Lee, on her Member of the Order of Australia award for significant service to the Anglican Church of Australia.

While both women are recognised as global leaders in their fields, they're so humble that neither woman initially believed that they were in fact recipients of the Australia Day honour. Cynthia thought the email, despite its fancy government crest, was a scam. She was about to delete the email, but, after checking the sender's address, realised that it was legitimate. Dorothy, meanwhile, said she had to read the email she was sent three times before it sank in. Both women have also made their mark in traditionally male dominated environments—Cynthia in the world of engineering, and Dorothy in the world of theology and the church.

As a teenager, Cynthia loved maths and chemistry. She also loved the natural environment and bushwalking. After completing her Bachelor of Chemical Engineering, she began working in the emerging field of biotechnology. However, it wasn't long before she realised she wanted to work in an area that more closely aligned with her values. After spending a year camping her way around Australia and travelling 40,000 kilometres, it was time to find a job. Fortuitously, the field of environmental engineering had emerged. Cynthia was soon tapped to lead the new environmental engineering programs at the Queensland University of Technology, the University of Queensland and the University of Sydney. She was able to combine her passion for the environment with her knowledge of biotech. And so her research career took off in the field of sustainable sanitation and water management.

In 2001 Cynthia was looking for opportunities to make a practical difference, so she joined the new Institute for Sustainable Futures at the University of Technology Sydney. For the next two decades Cynthia was instrumental in its emergence as a world-class research institute. The institute now numbers 150 people, a mark of its ongoing success.

Cynthia worked alongside industry and governments across Australia, Asia and the Pacific to improve ecological, economic and social outcomes of urban infrastructure. Along the way she collected numerous accolades: a fellow of the Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, a fellow of Engineers Australia and a fellow of the Institute of Company Directors. Cynthia was honoured in 2015 as one of the Australian Financial Review's 100 Women of Influence, and, in 2018, was recognised by the industry as a Legend of Water. But her work is not done. Determined to leave a proud legacy, in 2021 Cynthia started her first business, The Good Ancestor, which helps directors, leaders and their teams develop more effective ways to tackle the most complex challenges we face—including, of course, climate change.

Dorothy Lee, meanwhile, was born in Scotland into a very conservative religious family—one where women were seen and not heard, and certainly not encouraged to have a career. However, Dorothy didn't let that stop her. Her love for the ancient world was sparked by a visit to Pompeii as a youngster. She was immediately transfixed. She went on to study English and the classic languages, Latin and Ancient Greek, as part of her Bachelor of Arts. While she initially wanted to be an archaeologist, she was soon drawn to study theology. She completed a Bachelor of Divinity and then a PhD. In an act of rebellion, given her conservative background, Dorothy joined the church's ministry where she was eventually ordained an Anglican priest.

Dorothy was determined to be a force for inclusion in the academic world and in society and, more specifically, to ensure a Christian faith that was affirming of women. A leading New Testament scholar with a particular interest in the gospels, Dorothy has many years of experience in lecturing in the area of feminist theology and women's ministry in the New Testament. She also has numerous publications to her name, with her best-known work being The Ministry of Women in the New Testament. In October 2012, Dorothy was elected one of the 10 foundation professors of the University of Divinity, Australia's first specialist university. She is also a Canon Emerita of St Paul's Cathedral Melbourne and a fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities.

Congratulations to both Cynthia and Dorothy on their well-deserved honours and to the people around them who have contributed to their success.