Mackay Whitsunday 2022 OAMs: Dr Deb Simmons among four local recipients
After rising to the challenge during two huge tragedies with many lives in the balance, it’s no surprise this Queensland health hero still struggles in the aftermath. Read inspiring stories about four 2022 OAM recipients.
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From rural medicine to youth rugby league, this year’s local recipients of the prestigious Order of Australia medal have left a remarkable legacy. Read about their inspiring lives.
Dr Deborah Simmons: a rural doctor at the coalface
After rising to the challenge during two huge tragedies with many lives in the balance, it’s no surprise a health hero at the coalface still struggles in the aftermath.
But North Queensland doctor Deborah Simmons she loves having a career where you have to manage “anything that walks through the door”.
She is now being awarded an Order of Australia Medal for her outstanding service as a rural generalist.
The responsibilities placed on rural doctors, such as the Proserpine Hospital medico, are immense.
And she has operated at the ‘coalface’ of some of the region’s most traumatic challenges, situations that bring with them a lot of pressure.
In May 2020, she was working at Moranbah Hospital when the shocking Grosvenor mine explosion put the lives of five men immediately and directly in her hands.
“I did end up with post traumatic stress disorder because I was by myself without the people I knew normally,” she said.
“And I had five men that I thought may die in front of me.
“They (the staff at the hospital) were amazing. They stepped up to the mark.
“Without them, those men’s lives would never have been saved.”
Dr Simmons was on the frontline for Covid in the early months of 2020.
“When it all began, it was a bit more frightening,” she said.
“It was a new virus and we had no vaccination for it, which meant when you were working in the hospital, we had all of our PPE, but we had no idea what was going to happen if we caught it.
“There was really nothing that you could do apart from treat patients when they came into the hospital if we thought they might have had Covid.”
Dr Simmons was also on deck for the tragic 2016 bus crash in Proserpine.
“As soon as everyone in the community found out we had a major bus crash, our patients who would normally come in stayed away, the doctors’ clinics around town closed so they could come in and help us,” she said.
“Any doctor or nurse that was around that wasn’t on that day, they all came in to help.”
Her journey to medicine in the isolated hubs of North and Central Queensland is all the more remarkable given she left school at just 15.
Dr Simmons first worked as a check-out girl, barmaid and manager of a coffee shop, but quickly realised she wanted more from her career.
She re-entered school to become a nurse, but her ‘points’ were good enough for her to go into medicine.
She specialised in anaesthetics and obstetrics and then moved to general medicine after moving to Central Queensland.
“I thought, ‘gee that’s amazing what they (generalists) can do’,” she said.
“They can manage anything that walks through the door and I absolutely loved it and it made me realise that’s what I wanted to do all along.
“I still got to do anaesthetics, we still do major trauma, but I get to do things like palliative care and I get to look after people who have anxiety and depression.
“I get to look after children, get to do everything that you can think of in medicine as a rural generalist.”
She has also received an Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine 2020 Distinguished Service Award for her significant contribution to rural and remote medicine and general service to the community.
Peter Russell: A spotlight on the truth
Bowen’s Peter Russell has been recognised for helping show Australia the truth about asbestos.
During the 1960s, Mr Russell worked for four years as a safety officer at James Hardie, one of the world’s largest building materials companies.
At the time, the use of asbestos was widespread.
“It was fairly effectively covered up and hidden,” the OAM recipient said.
“It was difficult. I had to search around a bit to get the knowledge.
“The reason I uncovered it was basically because I took a manager to task because of his attitude to the dust problem.
“At that stage, everything was in terms of dust and wasn’t specifically directed at asbestos.
“The managers knew about it because they had monthly safety meetings.
“But once again it was effectively covered up.”
Throughout his life, Mr Russell would give evidence as an expert witness in more than 50 asbestos cases.
Mr Russell was born in Lakemba, west of Sydney, but he left NSW in 1970.
“I had to escape from the problem of asbestos,” he said.
He made his way to Bowen and said he was happily situated in the small coastal town.
“It’s wonderful actually, the climate and the beaches.”
Mr Russell has advice for those who discover something in need of exposure.
“Get a good contact, such as an investigative journalist.”
Janice Whelan: lifting every voice
She began playing piano at age five in a convent in Winton and Janice Whelan’s dedication to musical accompaniment has been officially recognised this year.
“I always wanted to just accompany,” she said.
“I’m a bit shy, I’m not really a stage person.”
An accompanist provides the backing music for a choir, religious service or theatre production.
The musician is not centre-stage, but still central to the success of any production or ceremony.
The impressive range of endeavours Ms Whelan includes serving as an accompanist for the Mackay Choral Society from 1994-2020 and, even now, helping out at St Joseph’s Catholic Church in North Mackay and at Emmanuel Catholic Primary.
She has also accompanied a range of jazz and theatre groups.
“I’ve had some extraordinary opportunities to accompany people,” she said.
“It’s been a very special thing in my life.
“There have been a couple of very special singers and instrumentalists that I’ve played for and they’ve given me the most extraordinary moments.”
Ms Whelan said her most memorable experience came in providing the music for a choir singing Gabriel Faure’s Cantique de Jean Racine.
“The choir sang it at the North Queensland eisteddfod and that probably is my most special moment in accompanying the choral society,” she said.
“It was just an extraordinary performance by the choir.
“I always remember the adjudicator Richard Morphew.
“At the end of the performance, his words were: ‘I just want to leave with that sound in my head. I don’t want to say a word.’”
Ms Whelan, who has three children and three grandchildren, says music runs in the family.
She said her son worked as an instrumental teacher and played the trombone.
Douglas Knight: Coaching Mackay’s ‘fair dinkum’ kids
Rugby league has always been a part of Douglas Knight’s life.
“I grew up in Bowen and there were only two sports, and I was bloody shocking at cricket,” he said.
He coached junior rugby league for 35 years and, during that time, watched the kids he taught grow and develop into men and women.
“Funny thing with kids is you can’t tip which way they’re going to go,” he said.
“Most of them have gone on with life and done pretty well for themselves.”
He is still in touch with many of his rugby leaguers to this day.
“I run into them a lot. I saw a lot of them grow up.”
For Mr Knight, coaching rugby league was a “relaxation” and one that helped him through a shocking tragedy.
Mr Knight lost his first daughter in a car accident.
She was just 12 weeks old.
“It still affects you,” he said.
“That’s probably why I ended up coaching too.
It was my thing, it would relax me.”
Mr Knight said his life in rugby had been a happy one.
“I’ve enjoyed the kids and I’ve enjoyed the people I’ve been with,” he said.
“Most of the ones that do get involved are fair dinkum.”
He observed life for children had changed in his time and not always for the better.
“Kids are under a lot of pressure nowadays,” he said.
“When I was a kid, all you had to do was get away from the immediate houses and you were free.
“Nowadays, people are on top of kids all of the time. They need to be able to get out and do something for themselves.”
Three other medal winners
Alongside our four distinguished OAMs, three other Aussies connected to the region have earned medals for their outstanding contributions.
Jeffrey Stewart-Harris
Mackay’s Jeffrey Stewart-Harris has been awarded a Public Service Medal for his 38 years of service to local and state government.
Mr Stewart-Harris now serves as chief executive officer to Isaac Regional Council.
His career has seen him take on a range of senior leadership roles across Queensland, including seven years as Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Chief Executive Officer at North Queensland Bulk Ports Corporation, two years as Chief Executive Officer of Mackay Port Authority and four years as CEO of Mackay City Council.
Senior Sergeant Craig Shepherd
Senior Sergeant Shepherd has been awarded the Australian Police Medal for his 31 years of service with the Queensland Police.
Beginning in 1990, he served in a variety of stations as a General Duties Officer.
In 2016 he was transferred to the position of Officer in Charge of Bowen Police Station where he demonstrated exemplary leadership during Tropical Cyclone Debbie in 2017.
Assistant Commissioner Brian Connors
Beginning his career as a general duties officer in Mackay and Cairns, Brian Connors has gone on to become an Assistant Commissioner.
For his stellar career, he has now been awarded the Australian Police Medal for his 35 years of service to the Queensland Police.
During the summer of 2010-2011, he was instrumental in safeguarding the communities of Far North Queensland during cyclones Oswald and Yasi.
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