Remarkable Australians recognised with King's Birthday honours

Dr Carl Le at Bathurst in 2021 (supplied).jpg

Dr Carl Le at Bathurst in 2021 Source: Supplied

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The achievements and service of 737 remarkable Australians have been recognised in the 2024 King's Birthday Honours List. The list reflects the diversity of Australian society, with many recipients from migrant and minority communities.


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For 26 years Dr Carl Le has worked in motorsports medicine, including 17 years as the medical delegate for Supercars Australia.

As well as responding to crashes, he's developed safer and faster methods for rescuing drivers from a vehicle, and shared his knowledge at events around the world, including at Singapore's inaugural Formula One.

" That was probably one of the highlights of my motor sport career, going to Singapore and seeing that event become what it is today. Highly successful, very safe, and a great spectacle.  A lot of what I try and do is just to try and keep it simple and prevent anyone from being injured, passing on the knowledge and passion to other medical officials to carry on the torch as well. We have made it safer, I believe, in the world of motorsport." 

He's been awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia, for services to medicine in motorsport.

But he's also one of 34 King's Birthday Honours recipients to earn a place on the COVID-19 Honour Roll.

At the height of the COVID pandemic, he helped produce 10,000 face shields for hospital staff around Australia, with funding from Erebus Motorsports.

"They were all donations and I know that they were very well-received. We got a lot of letters and emails back from intensive care units and emergency departments where they didn't have access to face shields." 

He then helped develop even more personal protective equipment, such as face masks adapted from scuba masks - all the while working as an emergency doctor in a Melbourne hospital.

Harinder Kaur has been recognised for services to the community.

When her eldest son Harman died in a car accident in 2012, she was devastated by grief, and searched for a service that would understand her cultural perspectives.

"I realised that the culturally we are a little bit different, a grieving process is same, but everyone grieves differently. And at the time I thought that there is a need of creating a support group which can be coming from the South Asian community and they can understand and grieve together."

With her husband, she created the Harman Foundation in Western Sydney, in memory of her son.

Staffed by volunteers and funded by donations, it offers a wide range of counselling, crisis and family support services, connecting with the community through initiatives like a free coffee van and thrift clothing store.

It also helps migrant women experiencing, or at risk, of family violence, and runs a shelter for women and children escaping abuse.

She says migrant families may face stigma, language barriers, and a lack of access to resources, when trying to seek help.

"In most cases the problems are complex and their solutions are complex and so as a bystander, it might be easy to look in and say that why didn't she walk away? // But it's not easy to walk away. It takes a lot of time to grasp what is going on and sometimes due to a cultural barrier, it could be considered as normal to live in that abusive relationship."

There are, as always, recognisable names on the Honours List.

The next Governor General Samantha Mostyn was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia for eminent service in several areas including gender equity, sport and reconciliation.

Former Labor Premiers Daniel Andrews and Mark McGowan, and the late federal Labor leader Simon Crean also received the top honour.

Among those from the sporting arena were cricketer and breast cancer campaigner Glenn McGrath, and former AFL player Bachar El Haouli, recognising his work with Muslim communities.

Half of the list were women and recipients' ages range from 29 to 98.

Gamilaroi elder Aunty Beryl van Oploo has dedicated her life to improving the lives of Indigenous people through the power of education.

For 50 years she's taught hospitality and employment skills, first at TAFE, then through the Job Ready program she developed in Sydney's Redfern 18 years ago.

"If I see one of them graduate or one of them go on their own journey and have a better quality of life, then I'm doing my job." 

Now 81, she still runs the Yaama Barrgay [[ YAH-ma BAH-gay ]] catering company, working alongside former students.

"There was nowhere for us to find employment for our students that we trained. So I set up my own catering company. So I became the employer as well. Not to make money, but to give our mob an opportunity to work and then eventually go on their own journey.”

She's promoted indigenous ingredients through her own restaurants, and in kitchens around the world, her tireless service being recognised with an O-A-M.

Jacqueline Ninio was the third Australian-born female Progressive Rabbi ordained.

Social justice has been at the heart of her life's work, including promoting interfaith dialogue and grassroots connections between Jews, Muslims and Christians.

These connections have been tested by the conflict in the Middle East but she says common ground can still be found.

She's helped organise two recent interfaith prayer gatherings, uniting worshippers of many faiths in prayers for peace.

"I think we are very lucky in that we had strong connections and relationships with people before this conflict happened. // And  I think that basis of trust and understanding that we have between us has enabled us to have some really difficult conversations. It can be incredibly challenging. I'm not saying that it's easy for any of us, but I think, again, all of our hearts are in the right place and we all want the same thing. We all want peace and we all want safety for everybody. And I think we can work together to continue to make that happen." 

Her dedication to helping others has been recognised along with hundreds of other Australians.

 


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