Australia Day 2022: Shane Fitzsimmons, Emma McKeon among honour recipients
Meet some of NSW’s high-profile recipients of the 2022 Australia Day honours.
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Meet some of NSW’s high-profile recipients of the 2022 Australia Day honours:
CATHERINE COX
An Australia Day honour may have been decades in the making for netball star Catherine Cox, but the commentator still can’t believe she’s “the kiwi girl given Australia’s greatest honour.”
Born and raised in New Zealand before migrating to Sydney at the age of six, the former Australian Diamond player made more than a hundred senior appearances for Australia over the course of her career.
She was a prominent member of the Australia teams that won gold medals at the 2002 Commonwealth Games and the 2007 and 2011 World Netball Championship, before retiring in 2015 to work as a commentator.
Despite her illustrious career, the 45-year-old still has to pinch herself after being named a member of the Order of Australia.
“There were tears when I heard because I know so many people in my field and others who have an Order of Australia and they’re just incredibly successful and amazing people, so to be sort of considered in that category is mind blowing,” she said.
“It’s amazing to think I moved her at six and this is where I’ve ended up, it’s a big stretch to think the kiwi kid would have an Order of Australia, it’s dream time stuff.”
The achievement has given her an opportunity to reflect on some of her fondest memories as a player, including the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester and Singapore World Championship in 2011.
“This award coming out now, seven years after I retired, it gave me a chance to reflect,” she said.
“Being involved in sport, it has been amazing to me that while we’re still competing against each other, how much support there is for each other with women supporting each other.”
Now working as a netball commentator for Channel 9, Cox is enjoying shifting the limelight away from herself and onto other athletes.
“It’s been an opportunity to speak fondly of the sport I love. And talk up the great athletes we get to watch,” she said. “It’s a dream job.”
JOHN HARTIGAN
Respected media executive and former editor of The Daily Telegraph John Hartigan has been recognised in the Australia Day honours for his contribution to the news.
From humble beginnings as a cadet with Fairfax, the 74-year-old rose to the ranks of chair of News Corp from 2005-2011.
He spent several years working as a reporter in the UK and US for News Corp before founding The Daily Sun in Brisbane in 1982 and editing The Daily Telegraph from 1986-1989.
Following his departure from News, he became the chair of the Australian News Channel and Prime Media.
Mr Hartigan said he was thrilled to have his contribution acknowledged.
“I’m ecstatic. It’s a great privilege and particularly the fact it’s beyond my career. In terms of media, I got paid for doing my job and I enjoyed every day of it, but to be able to be recognised for two areas, sports and Indigenous affairs, makes me especially proud.”
Mr Hartigan has made a significant contribution to Indigenous welfare as an ambassador for the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation and sport as Director of the Australian Paralympic Committee.
He is now retired and spends most of his time enjoying life at his property in the Hunter Valley.
“I love it. I’m inherently lazy and I love to potter around, it’s a lot of fun,” he said.
PROFESSOR GEOFFREY DELANEY
Having saved the lives of hundreds of cancer patients over the course of his career, oncologist professor Geoffrey Delaney knows that life is not something to be taken for granted.
The South-West Sydney cancer specialist has been recognised in the Australia Day honours for a lifetime’s dedication to oncology.
“I feel very honoured to be recognised. I’ve looked up to a number of people who have won in the past so to be included in that group, really makes me feel very proud,” he said.
Prof Delaney says he owes a lot to those who work hard alongside him every day to save patient’s lives.
“It’s also a recognition of the team that I work with,” he said.
In his time as the Director of Cancer Services for the South Western Sydney Local Health District and the Director of Liverpool Cancer Centre, he has treated thousands of gravely ill patients.
“People often say it’s very depressing working with cancer patients but I find it very inspiring because of the bravery that some of my patients have shown, and even humour at really horrible times. It makes you feel very humbled that you’re involved in their care,” he said.
With a PhD and MD in radiation oncology, he may have an impressive list of qualifications, but he says some of the most invaluable life lessons have come from his sick patients.
“I remember one patient who had cancer in his arm and asked me ‘will I be able to play piano?’ and I said, ‘I think so,’ and he said ‘good, because I’ve never been able to.’ This patient was dying so I was amazed by his humour.”
Born and raised in Bankstown, Prof Delaney is passionate about improving health outcomes for the people of south west Sydney.
“I’m a local and really quite dedicated to the area,” he said. “Often the patients that are the most grateful are the ones that are the most poor.”
He has also made a significant contribution to cancer research through the establishment of the Collaboration for Cancer Outcomes Research and Evaluation centre.
SHANE FITZSIMMONS
The “hero” of the Black Summer Bushfires and now Commissioner of Resilience NSW Shane Fitzsimmons will be recognised with an Order of Australia today for leading NSW through the deadly 2019/2020 bushfire season.
The Former Rural Fire Service commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons who was last year named the 2021 NSW Australian of the Year will once again be honoured with an Officer (AO) in the General Division of The Order of Australia.
The 52-year-old was recognised for “distinguished service to the community through leadership roles”, steering the state’s response to the deadly 2019/2020 bushfire season, which claimed 5.4 million hectares, 2,439 homes, and the lives of 26 people in NSW.
Fitzsimmons stepped down in 2020 after 35 years at the RFS and 12 years in the top job to lead disaster recovery agency Resilience NSW – helping the state deal with bushfires, drought and the coronavirus pandemic.
Appointed as the inaugural NSW Commissioner for Resilience, Fitzsimmons has more recently been responsible for leading the state recovering from Covid-19 lockdowns and flood disasters in late 2021.
Last year a mural was created at Erskineville station in inner Sydney honouring the former Rural Fire Service commissioner.
EMMA MCKEON
She’s the most decorated Olympian in Australian history, and swimming sensation Emma McKeon will add another medal to her haul.
Recognised among 36 of the country’s Tokyo gold medallists included on the Australia Day Honours list, McKeon has been appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for her service to the sport.
After winning seven gold medals in Tokyo last year – including four gold - the Wollongong golden girl eclipsed the likes of Ian Thorpe, Dawn Fraser and Shane Gould this year to become Australia’s most medalled Olympian.
By taking home seven medals from Tokyo, the 27-year-old from Wollongong equalled the record for the most medals won at a single Olympics by a female athlete. She joined Russian gymnast Maria Gorokhovskaya, who won seven medals in 1952.
McKeon won gold in the 100m Freestyle, 50m freestyle, the Freestyle relay and the Medley Relay and took home bronze in the 100m Butterfly, 200m Freestyle Relay and the Mixed Medley Relay.
Out of the pool, McKeon has been busy throwing her support behind a new initiative from Surf Life Saving Australia promoting beach safety after NSW has recorded a record number of summer drownings.
The initiative allows Aussies to find their closest patrolled beach by scanning a QR on boxes of Nutri-Grain.
CANOEIST JESSICA FOX
Dubbed the ‘Flying Fox’ the paddling great is a pioneer in her sport, winning gold in a new canoeing event which she pushed for years to be added to the Olympic program to ensure full gender parity for future athletes.
Australian paddling star Jessica Fox has been recognised with Australia Day honour after winning gold in Tokyo last year.
After nine years of Olympic heartbreak, the Penrith Paddler finally checked off the one career achievement that kept evading her when she won gold in the first ever women’s Canoeing Olympic final in Tokyo last year.
And the Olympic champion has added another medal to her collection.
Canoe Slalom Star Jessica Fox has been honoured with an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) “for service to sport as a gold medallist at the Tokyo Olympic Games 2020.”
Fox won gold in the women’s canoe event at the Tokyo Olympics, as well as bronze in the women’s kayak, making her the only athlete to finish on the podium in both canoeing and kayaking at the most recent Games.
The gold medal was the first of her career. She previously took home silver and bronze in the women’s kayaking event at the London and Rio games, respectively.
Since Tokyo, the 27-year-old gold medallist has backed up her Olympic campaign, taking out the women’s extreme slalom event at the 2021 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships in Bratislava, Slovakia in September last year.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL LIST OF AUSTRALIA DAY HONOURS
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