2014 QLD Pride of Australia finalists
We are very proud to announce the 2014 Pride of Australia Medal finalists for QLD.
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We are very proud to announce the 2014 Pride of Australia Medal finalists for Queensland. Read below the incredible stories of the leaders, campaigners, care givers, volunteers, teachers and everyday Australians whose extraordinary actions set them apart.
CARE AND COMPASSION MEDAL
To recognise a professional or volunteer carer or group, or a member of the health professions who has made a significant improvement to the lives of those around them.
Dr Jeannette Young
As Queensland's chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young looks after the health of Queenslanders every day. Her work to improve the state's vaccination rates has led to Queensland now having one of the best in the world in the face of pockets of opposition. She has supported cutting off some family payments to conscientious objectors arguing children are being put at risk due to ill-informed decisions not to vaccinate.
Dr Sarah Olson
Specialist neurosurgeon at Brisbane's Princess Alexandra Hospital Dr Sarah Olson is making a difference to patients with brain tumours by raising funds for a brain tumour tissue bank. As director of the John Trivett Foundation, Dr Olson has ensured researchers can work on finding out why some brain tumours return repeatedly and has contributed her own funds. She has worked with radiologists to introduce brain mapping and cranial techniques as well as teaching at the University of Queensland and conducting research at the Diamantina Institute of Medical Research.
Dr Lara Wieland
As a doctor in one of Queensland's most remote indigenous communities, Dr Lara Wieland has made a difference to more than just the physical health of her patients. With her husband Ron, her contributions have come through the not-for-profit Out There Kowanyama to give the children of the community leadership and life skills through a local vegetable garden and literacy programs. The couple also operate camps to prepare children for boarding school as well as taking in local students to complete their primary school education.
COMMUNITY SPIRIT MEDAL
To recognise an individual or a group whose selfless, tireless and largely unacknowledged actions have enriched the lives of those around them in their community.
Derek Smith
During his tours of duty in the Vietnam War, retired Australian Army Officer Derek Smith became aware of the thousands of children who were orphaned. In 2007 he established the ASK@VSO (Australians Supporting Kids at Vinh Son Orphanages) to improve the living conditions and prospects for the 900 children housed in six orphanages. He has corralled friends to help replace the roof of a dormitory, provide a well for fresh drinking water and supply school uniforms, all with his own funds and donations.
Leigh Webb
Leigh Webb knows what it's like to battle with the aggressive cancer sarcoma. Her husband Tony lost his second battle with the cancer but her son Corey is in remission after high doses of chemotherapy and stem cell transplant. Since 2002 when Tony was first diagnosed, she has worked to raise both funds and awareness of the cancer, which affects people between 12 and 25 years old. She serves as board director of the Hannah's Choice Foundation and provides support for those dealing with the cancer and their families while running her own business.
Forget Me Not (Michelle Hay, Craig Manley, Pete Mackay, Kate Van Doore, Mel Faulkner, Trent Harvison, Wade James, Andrea Nave, Emmalene Travers)
Travelling to dangerous parts of Asia and Africa to help needy children is part and parcel for members of the Forget Me Not organisation. The members provide funding for the education, living costs and medical care of more than 1000 children in Nepal, India and Uganda as well as executing the activities. Projects include providing options for children at risk of trafficking as well as vocational training for the parents of children of starting school and helping grandparents of orphaned children provide care and educational opportunities.
ENVIRONMENT MEDAL
For an Australian or a group of Australians who have demonstrated community leadership in the development and delivery of any of the following: responsible environmental practices (reducing environmental footprint), action to enhance the natural environment (clean air, clean water, clean spaces) or leadership in educating others on what they can do to enhance the natural environment.
Alex Harris
Alex Harris has created a new model for community involvement in conservation and planning when she established Koala Tracker, Australia's national koala map. With a simple aim to answer three questions about the number, location and health of koalas, she has developed a real time recording of location intelligence, points of impact and cause of death and injury of koalas for the public record, in an easy to use, freely available and mobile enabled tool that has become well used by government, researchers and community groups. This has come despite personal setbacks.
Madison Stewart
At just 12 years old, Madison Stewart began diving with sharks and has since travelled the world to document and protect the life of the top predators. Now 19, her feature documentary Sharkgirl was aired around the world and she has encouraged supermarket chain Woolworths to stop selling shark fillets sourced from the Great Barrier Reef. While her stance has sometimes earned the ire of government groups, she has continued to campaign for the rights of sharks.
NTDL (Louisa Webster, Peter O'Brien, Bridget Scanlan, Jordan Cullinane, Amelia Websetr, Janayha Sukiennik, Janine Webster, Simoun O'Brien, Stella Echentille)
Started by Peter O'Brien eight years ago, National Tree Day Lockyer runs the largest combined schools environmental event in Australia. Thousands of students from more than 30 schools participate by planting thousands of tress across the Lockyer Valley, Somerset and Toowoomba regions in southern Queensland. The goal is to promote a healthy living environment and allows students as young as 13 to organise rosters and resources for thousands of volunteers.
FAIR GO MEDAL
For an Australian permanent resident or citizen, born overseas, who has enriched Australia through their community involvement, hard work and willingness to embrace their new home.
Elsie Dodd
As a recent migrant from England in the mid-1960s, Elsie Dodd was inspired to start Aid for the Blind Queensland with her husband Gordon when a close friend in England lost her sight. They raised funds to build accommodation units for people with vision problems to live independently with the first block of eight opening in 1982. Today Aid for the Blind Queensland has seven op shops for fundraising as well as 40 units for vision-impaired residents. Now in her 90s, Elsie continues to work to improve the outcomes for vision-impaired Queenslanders.
Theodore Tremblay
Master printmaker Theo Tremblay has been encouraging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island artists in rural, island and urban communities to experiment with printmaking and fostered a new generation of artists, including world-renowned Alick Tipoti and Dennis Nona. Born in the United States, he moved to Australia in 1977 where he has been a founding member of a number of committees for arts organisations as well as working in prisons to create a collective of artists. He has given confidence to an entire generation of indigenous artists.
David Forde
For a dad with a full time job and a young family, David Forde has managed to make a significant contribution to his local community. As president of the Lions Club of Kuraby and involvement in the Sunnybank RSL Sub-Branch he has helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for flood victims in Samoa and Indonesia, cyclone-affected communities in north Queensland as well as for the Milpera School in Brisbane. Born in Ireland he has given much to his chosen homeland.
COURAGE MEDAL
For an Australian, who through his or her act/s of courage have overcome personal adversity through determination and strength of character.
Korrin Barrett
Losing her hands and legs to a sudden attach of septicaemia hasn't stopped Brisbane woman Korrin Barrett from snorkelling in Indonesia, bungee jumping in New Zealand and learning to surf. She has even taken part in The Sunday Mail Suncorp Bank Bridge to Brisbane fun run. With a motto of embracing life to the fullest, she has learnt to walk again and returned to work. Next on the list for the fitness fanatic is to go skydiving, climb the Story Bridge and swim with the sharks.
Alex Baker
Getting people with a disability onto the sports arena and in employment is aim of 24-year-old Alex Baker. The all-round sportsman, who was born with autism and limited muscle tone and joint movement ad diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder, defied doctors' predictions and has represented Australia in cricket, is a fine musician and tennis player which working five days a week at the Endeavour Foundation. He is proof that having a disability does not limit aspirations and aims to improve the choices for young people with disabilities.
Karni Liddell
By the age of 14 Karni Liddell had broken a swimming world record. She has now competed in two Paralympic games, winning a bronze medal in the Women's 50m freestyle S6 event in Atlanta in 1996 and another bronze at the 2000 Games in Sydney in the Women's 4x50 freestyle 20 pts event. She was born with spinal muscular atrophy and now works to change general views disabilities as well as mentoring young people.
INSPIRATION MEDAL
To recognise a member of our teaching professions from early childhood to university education or a role model whose compassion and wisdom while teaching, coaching and mentoring our youth has been truly inspiring.
Nathan Haley
When St Mary's School at Laidley was flooded for second time in two years, the community rallied to help the school. As the drought spread through Queensland's food bowl, the students, under the direction of principal Nathan Haley, paid back their neighbours, donating thousands of dollars of stock feed and other supplies. The students raised more than $10,000 in 24 hours to send their first shipment of aid. To date, Nathan has co-ordinated the delivery of 115.4 tonnes of hay, 1600kg of dog food and 140 personal care packs.
Nicole Gibson
After suffering mental health challenges as a teenager, Nicole Gibson turned her energy to helping other young people. As the founder of the Rouge & Rouge Foundation at just 18 years old, Nicole helps young people with mental health challenges both financially and through the education system. She has spoken to more than 50,000 young people in more than 250 schools to develop a nine-week wellbeing program now being operated in Queensland and Victoria to address the needs and skills young people are lacking in their current education.
Marc Renai
As a volunteer for a government group Marc Renai saw a need for a program for young at risk males. So he used his business contacts as the operator of a lifestyle clinic on the Gold Coast, to raise money to set up Men of Business. The eight-week program helps 13-18 year old boys who need life skills and support. Mentors guide the young men to deal with anger management, attitude and how to develop a healthy lifestyle so they can continue with their education. Now 200 boys per year go through the program.
OUTSTANDING BRAVERY MEDAL
For an Australian, or group of Australians, who, through their act or acts of bravery, helped save or attempted to save a life.
Emily Schofield
Fifteen-year-old Emily Schofield had just one goal as she pulled 25 people from rough seas at Surfers Paradise last year: make sure no one died. The Year 11 student rescued the swimmers who were caught in a rip, paddling her board for more than four hours to pull people to shore, saying she just concentrated on getting everyone to safety. As a member of the Surfers Paradise Life Saving Club, she received Surf Lifesaving Australia's inaugural rescue of the month award for her act.
Kim O'Keefe
Former detective Kim O'Keefe saved the life of a car passenger who was thought to be dead by other passersby. Risking his own life, he crawled into an upturned car to check the pulse of the passenger who was hanging upside down. He was able to remove blood and blockage from her airwaves and was able to get her breathing. As far as Kim's family knows, the passenger is still alive.
Andrew Beiers
Early for an appointment, Andrew Beiers was in his car studying for his first aid exam when he heard an engine revving. Inside the car was a woman slumped over steering wheel and an unconscious man in the passenger seat. Andrew used his first aid knowledge to perform CPR on the man and stopped the woman from turning the key in the ignition which would have propelled the car into heavy traffic on Gympie Road at Chermside. In his haste he failed to see both had syringes in their arms and is being tested for any contagious virus until the middle of 2015. His actions were commended by emergency service workers when they arrived.
YOUNG LEADER MEDAL
A person under 25 years who has advanced a community, or will advance a community, through academic or personal endeavours.
Ashleigh Peplow Ball
Recent Bond University graduate Ashleigh Peplow Ball has spent her tertiary education years helping others. A week-long event she founded at the Gold Coast university, Aid for AIDS Week has raised more than $15,000 for local and international HIV/AIDS foundations as well as raising awareness among students and the community about how to prevent AIDS and breakdown stigmas. She also has led a team of students to raise funds to provide scholarships to girls in Sierra Leone so they can attend school. She currently is working in Uganda to oversee the building of a community centre as as part of an international fellowship program.
Chern'ee Sutton
Bundaberg teenager Chern'ee Sutton is using her talent as an artist to help raise funds for everything from football teams and flood victims. The 17-year old contemporary indigenous artist has donated more than $60,000 of her artwork to charities, organisations and individuals including the Queensland under 15 indigenous football team, Bundaberg junior cricket and junior netball clubs after the flood, a children's home in Fiji as well as Make a Wish Foundation, Phoenix House in Bundaberg and Safe Sista Foundation. She has two paintings hanging in the Queensland Parliament House and her work was been displayed as part of NAIDOC Week. Her goal is to establish a reconciliation art competition for primary school children across Queensland and to study law at university.
Tani Stubbs
Tani Stubbs raised more than $1 million for schools in Tonga after hearing 800 students were trying to learn without chairs, desks or computer equipment. The 17-year-old student at All Saints Anglican School on the Gold Coast called everyone she knew to gather 1800 computers and enough desks and chairs to fill four containers. She has now established a sister school arrangement wth Tupou High School in Tonga, which will start next year.
CHILD OF COURAGE MEDAL
A child, aged 16 years or under, who has helped save, or attempted to save, the life of another or overcome personal adversity through determination and strength of character, allowing them to improve the quality of not only their lives, but also those around them.
Jayden, Cameron and Kaylea Caulfield & Zane and Samantha Fields
The Caulfield/Fields children saved their mother after she was shot by a gunman in their home. Cameron elbowed the attacker "in the guts" before grabbing the shotgun and hiding it outside while Jayden applied a chokehold on the man. Kaylea helped lead her mother out of the bedroom were the incident took place which the Zane took his two-year-old sister, Samantha, and hid under a bed. The older boys, who are actors, had been taught some moves previously in a fight choreography class.
Calyn Hoad
Calyn Hoad, 7, saved his brother Kya, 4 when the youngster walked into the path of a car last year by pushing him out of the way. Calyn was hit by the car, fracturing his skull and resulting in brain damage with doctors forced to remove about 30 per cent of the front of his skull before reinserting it about two months later. While he is still making good progress and recently was able to stand by himself, the family is still trying to reteach him to chew and talk. . "He just loves his brother (Kya). He does anything to keep him from harm," dad Benjamin said.
Cheri Ah-Kiau
While holidaying on the Gold coast with her family, Cheri Ah Kiau and her dad Donny Misilei were playing in the swimming pool when Donny hit his head on the bottom. Without panicking, twelve-year-old Cheri lifted her dad, nearly three times her weight by swimming under him until they reached the side of the pool. The youngster also cared for her brother while her parents went to hospital.
HEROISM MEDAL
To recognise a member or members (professional or volunteer) of the SES, police, fire, ambulance, coastguard, defence forces, air rescue service who have gone beyond the call of duty to protect the community.
Gary Hamrey
Two millimetres saved Gary Hamrey when he was shot in the face by an armed offender holding up a Gold Coast tavern on Police Remembrance Day. He was responding to an armed robbery alarm
two years after fellow Gold Coast officer Damian Leeding was killed. The bullet went straight through his cheek and after a number of surgeries that left him with physical scars, the head of the Gold Coast dog squad returned to work just two months later. But the career police officer
shrugged off his brave act, saying it was just part of his job.
Brett Williams
Firefighter Brett Williams twice risked his life to rescue a boy stuck in floodwaters that swamped Rockhampton in January 2013. After working all night, Brett headed out with his team to help the boy who was stuck in a tree surrounded by swirling floodwaters. He swam to the terrified teenager to give him a life jacket before returning to help the boy to safety. But once the boy was on land, Brett had to let go of his safety harness because of the strong current but emerged 100m down the creek in a story that made international news.
Mark Dutton
Durack firefighter Mark Dutton was driving home from a 10-hour shift when he saw smoke billowing from a house in Oxley, saving the life of two children. Borrowing an extension ladder from a neighbour, he climbed into a smoke-filled bathroom and smashed the door with a sledgehammer. The mother of the children died in the fire, which is being treated as suspicious and Mark hopes to meet them one day.
‘Family is everything’: Woman, 100, shares secret to happiness
A born and bred Mackay lady, who used to run the town’s largest wedding venue and has always been “out and about” in the community turns 100. Read what kept her happy all these years.
‘Boat goat rodeo’: Soldiers share memories of cyclone Debbie
North Queensland combat engineers remember cyclone Debbie for the resilience of locals but also for having sent soldiers to a “boat goat rodeo”, as they are bestowed the greatest honour a regiment can get from a local community.