Queen’s Birthday honours for MacDonald, Adebiyi and Mulherin

In medicine, defence and politics, these three titans have served Central Queensland and the broader country with distinction. Find out why our Aussie heroes have been recognised by the Queen. FULL LIST

Gordon MacDonald, Dr Sunday Adebiyi and Tim Mulherin spent their lives in very different fields, but all are united by their common commitment to service and their membership of a very select group.

The Order of Australia has four levels:

Companion of the Order (AC)

Officer of the Order (AO)

Member of the Order (AM)

Medal of the Order (OAM)

Here is why these titans are a part of the order.

Gordon MacDonald – Defending Australia

Glasgow-born Gordon MacDonald immigrated to Australia at the age of 30 and Scotland’s loss has proved to be our gain.

This year, Mr MacDonald is recognised with an OAM for his services to naval architecture.

“It feels wonderful to be recognised for a type of work that you’ve done all your life,” he said.

“It came very much as a surprise.”

Though the recognition may have been a surprise, his entry into the maritime world seemed destined.

Born into a shipbuilding family, he served in the merchant navy as a young man, working on oil tankers before taking a degree in naval architecture at Strathclyde University.

Naval architects design, construct and repair ships, boats and submarines.

The Australian Department of Defence recruited Mr MacDonald to support the country’s Collins-class submarines and Anzac frigates.

“Those projects were just getting off the ground,” he said.

“We effectively oversaw the projects for the government, making sure the designer and the builder were doing what they were supposed to do.”

Mr MacDonald worked at the Department of Defence from 1990 until 2004.

“The complexity of warships is far more demanding than commercial ships and that is why I find it so much more challenging,” he said.

“It is all the aspects of warfare, the communications systems, weapons systems, helicopters on board interfacing with satellite systems – it is just far more complex.”

In addition to this service, he is also being recognised for helping educate Australia’s next generation of naval architects.

“They have tremendous tech skills but they do not unfortunately get the exposure to the throughput of projects we used to get 40 years ago,” he said.

Mr MacDonald continues to work full-time, spending a week each month in Canberra.

The Hunter class future frigate. Picture: The Australian

He works on the Hunter-class frigate program.

When not in Canberra, he lives in Cannonvale and said he loved its climate and the people.

“Australia is in the ascendancy as a nation,” he said.

“There is actually much greater opportunity and the lifestyle obviously is just wonderful.”

Australia’s strategic outlook has darkened in recent years and Mr MacDonald says we will need to “contribute” to meet the challenge.

“We have to strengthen our relations with our allies and as such we must be seen to be contributing,” he said.

“You’ve got to ante up if you want assistance.”

Mr MacDonald has six children between himself and his wife, all spread across Australia.

“I’ll probably go out with my darling wife to celebrate,” he said.

Dr Sunday Adebiyi – ‘I will never leave the people’

Dr Sunday Adebiyi is a much-loved member of the Dysart and broader Bowen Basin community.

He has proved to be indispensable after establishing a GP practice in the small mining township in 2004, so much so it is not certain his patients will “let” him attend his OAM celebration later in the year.

“If I have someone to relieve me I will attend,” he said with a laugh.

“If not, I won’t.”

After immigrating to Australia from Nigeria, Dr Sunday pursued his “passion” for rural health, though he admits 18 years in Dysart has not been “an easy thing.”

“It’s just the passion and the interest in rural medicine that makes me be here, wanting to be where you can be valued and feel important,” he said.

He said he hopes to find a doctor to take his place, but he will not abandon his community before then.

“I will never leave the people without a doctor,” he said.

Trained in Nigeria and South Africa, Dr Sunday said he pursued medicine in order to help people.

“After getting into it, it is very difficult to get out,” he said.

“Helping people, that’s the main reason.”

When asked to list some unforgettable moments in his time at Dysart, Dr Sunday chuckled and recalled the ‘always-on’ nature of his work.

“Not getting someone to relieve me and then working for two months straight, 24 hours, on call in the hospital, that is something you can never forget.

“Or you see some of the older people who say ‘oh we are very lucky to help you here’.

“People bringing cake.

“You just appreciate them for what they are doing.”

When asked how he managed the problem of burnout, Dr Sunday replied:

“You get used to it, it is what it is.

“You have to do as much as you can.”

Dr Sunday said he was “happy” to receive recognition for his service.

His impulse to help others appears to run in the family.

His daughter Catherine is training to become a doctor at JCU.

“She doesn’t want to come to Dysart,” he said with a laugh.

“It takes a lot of sacrifice.”

Tim Mulherin – An honour for Mr Mackay

Labor legend Tim Mulherin receives a posthumous AM for significant service to the people and parliament of Queensland.

Mr Mulherin represented the people of Mackay for 20 years from 1995 until 2015 and this latest recognition adds to an extensive body of accomplishments.

In the political realm, perhaps his signal achievement was his service as deputy leader of the opposition from 2012-2015, helping his party to topple the Campbell Newman government and usher in an era of Labor rule under Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk.

In her tribute to Mr Mulherin after his passing in 2020, Premier Palaszczuk wrote:

“It was after that 2012 election, when Labor was reduced to just seven members, Tim turned to me at that first sitting of parliament and said ‘We’ll have hides as thick as rhinos by the end of this’.

“That was true.

“But underneath that thick skin was a heart as big as Queensland.”

Tim Mulherin and his beloved papillon Mac

Closer to home, he is remembered for his remarkable contributions to the city and people he loved.

He had a helping hand in many developments and industries in the region but on his retirement he cited Bluewater Quay, the MECC, Showgrounds redevelopment and the courthouse expansion among his biggest legacies as Mackay MP.

He also tirelessly lobbied a succession of premiers to improve the hospital and eventually $480 million was committed.

In 2015 at the official opening of the redeveloped hospital, he told media: “I recall when we had the floods at Glenella in 2008 and the then Premier Anna Bligh came to town, I took her to the hospital first because we had water coming into the theatres and she was just astonished. She gave me her personal commitment that day that we would build a new hospital.”

Mr Mulherin’s successor Julieanne Gilbert described him as a “great champion of Mackay”.

Emma Novosel – Australian Police Medal

The Mackay Child Protection and Investigation Unit officer in charge believes one of the biggest accomplishments in her branch is giving a voice to victims.

Acting Detective Inspector Emma Novosel was one of six within the Queensland Police Service recognised with the Australian Police Medal, which is the highest award to be bestowed on an officer.

“It’s pretty exciting actually to be recognised among the many thousands of men and women who come to work everyday and do that same job that I do,” Inspector Novosel said.

She was sworn in as an officer in August 1995 and is just shy of 27 years in the QPS.

“In all the time I’ve been here there’ve been big changes in our organisation, changes in legislation, policy and certainly advancements in technology and in the forensic space,” Inspector Novosel said.

“But essentially it’s still a job where you deal with people and you deal with them in times of crisis and you hopefully can help people come out the other side with some sort of resolution.”

Inspector Novosel said she had written in her graduation book in 1995 that she had wanted to work in child protection, but it had taken her a number of years to move into that unit.

She took over as OIC in 2017.

“I’m really privileged to lead a group of really dedicated specialist investigators who just want to make a difference in people’s lives,” she said.

“Child protection is an uneven playing field because we’re dealing with vulnerable victims, children who are being offending against by usually adults and they’re people that they trust.

“It’s really important work, it’s valuable … sometimes some of our greatest achievements in that space are just actually letting victims have their voice and tell us their story.”

One of their biggest challenges, she said, was the online space.

“Trying to keep up with law enforcement, trying to keep up our skill set and our ability up with those people who are offending against children online,” Inspector Novosel said.

“Also a big achievement is that we’ve got a wonderful culture in our office … every one looks after each other.”

Inspector Novosel was recognised for her exceptional leadership through which she effectively guides junior investigators in the adoption of strategies, to ensure all available evidence is recorded so that complex and critical incidents will be later admissible in criminal court proceedings.

She said the award was the “last thing” she expected.

“It’s really a big thrill and a big honour,” she said.