Richard Dunstan, Rosemary Kariuki, Jason Ellsmore on Queen‘s Birthday 2022 Honours List

Three people from Macarthur have been recognised for their hard work and dedication to the community, including a beloved paediatrician who has been posthumously honoured.

Three Macarthur residents have been recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list for their incredible contributions to community.

David Hurley, the Governor-General, extended his congratulations after announcing honours for 992 Australians.

“Recipients share some common traits – including selflessness, excellence and a commitment to service,” he said.

“They’re from different backgrounds, their stories are each unique, and each has served in different ways.

“This diversity is a strength and each has impacted their community and made it better.

“For that, we thank them and, today, we celebrate them. Collectively the recipients, whose achievements span community service, science and research, industry, sport, the arts and more, represent the very best of Australia.”

Read all about the three local legends making a difference in our community.

RICHARD DUNSTAN, OAM

Richard Dunstan, fondly known as Ric to many, passed away in January at the age of 69 after a battle with cancer.

He had worked in the Macarthur region for more than three decades.

Dr Dunstan specialised in working in rehabilitation with paediatric patients and treated many children with severe and complex disabilities.

He helped to set up a paediatric ambulatory care unit, came up with the idea of the Kids of Macarthur Health Foundation and trained other medical professionals.

Donna Dunstan said she was thrilled and excited that her late husband’s legacy would continue to live on.

Ric Dunstan.

“It is very well-deserved and it means that his legacy, hard work and devotion has been recognised,” she said.

“I think the community of Macarthur are all very proud of him and someone mentions him to me daily, which I love because it keeps his memory alive in our eyes.

“I think Ric knew not everyone could afford private health insurance but believed everyone should have the same medical care and that came from his kindness and love for the patients he was treating.”

Mrs Dunstan said it had been a hard six months since losing him, but she held onto the beautiful times they shared.

“He was a devoted dad. He always gave the kids great advice and was very involved with them,” she said.

“It didn’t matter if he was helping them colour in or solving a work problem, he would give it his all.”

Mrs Dunstan encouraged the community to live by the lessons that Dr Dunstan instilled in their family.

“Walk with purpose and remember your ABCs - always be cool,” she said. “People won’t remember what you said but how you made them feel.”

Close friend and colleague of 35 years, Macarthur federal Labor MP Mike Freelander, said he was delighted to see his late friend honoured.

“I think it is great and overdue, but it is a shame he couldn’t be alive to see it,” he said.

“It’s an acknowledgment, not just of Ric, but of the sacrifices that he and his family put in over a long time and recognition of the Kids of Macarthur Health Foundation being very important to our community.”

Dr Freelander said that without a doubt, Dr Dunstan would have helped thousands of children.

“I love Ric and everyday I think about him,” he said.

“We worked together for almost 40 years and we never had an argument, and I think that says a lot.”

ROSEMARY KARIUKI, OAM

Oran Park’s Rosemary Kariuki has been awarded a Medal of the Order for her service to the multicultural community.

Ms Kariuki fled Kenya in 1999 to escape family abuse said her early years in Australia were terribly lonely, and she said she never wanted other women to go through the same thing.

She now works as multicultural community liaison officer for the Parramatta Police and a passion for helping migrants and refugees who are facing domestic violence.

Rosemary Kariuki poses during a photo shoot in Parramatta Park at Parramatta in 2019. Picture: AAP IMAGE / Troy Snook

“I do what I do because you see the change,” Ms Kariuki.

“Some of these women are so scared and then after a while you see the smile of their faces as they get stronger.

“Sometimes people are scared of the police because of where they come from so I want to help build trust.”

In partnership with the African Women’s Group, Ms Kariuki also helped to start the African Women’s Dinner Dance which has been running for more than 14 years.

She also started the African Village Market – a program to help migrants and refugees start their own businesses – which ran for four years.

JASON ELLSMORE, AM

Minto’s Jason Ellsmore has been recognised as a Member of the Order for his significant service to education and to youth sports. He said the honour was a great reward for some “long, long weeks”.

“I do feel that there are other people who are more deserving,” he said.

“Especially when you look at the work some surgeons do and some who do humanitarian help. But it is great to receive it, it’s a nice acknowledgment.”

Mr Ellsmore has been working as the assistant principal at Reiby Juvenile Justice Centre since 1997 with a passion for providing equal opportunities to education as his main driving force.

“I had previously taught in the schools for disadvantaged kids as a young teacher and I had a bit of success with them,” he said.

“I thought they were the kind of kids I wanted to help in life and the ones I have worked with over the years now have been in that category.

“Not everyone has the parents or the education that I had.”

Mr Ellsmore has also been volunteering and working with multiple sport organisations for games locally and abroad.

“I have been to almost 60 national, state and international carnivals, and I am about to go to my third world cricket cup” he said.

“I have been involved in the NSW Primary School team for 20 years and for almost 30 years with Sydney South West Schools Sports Association.

“I started coaching under 10s as a 17-year-old and been involved in sporting groups since then.”

Mr Ellsmore said there are a lot of people who he worked with both in a teaching and sporting capacity who dedicated themselves to helping the community.

He said that if the community of Macarthur could take one message away, he would ask them to consider being a volunteer.

“I am concerned about the lack of volunteers around sport these days,” Mr Ellsmore said.

“I think it is about giving back. The old coaches were there for me, not that I knew it. Without those blokes and ladies, I wouldn’t have had the fun and support I did as a kid.”

Michael McLean, APM

Detective Superintendent Michael McLean from the Anti-Terrorism and Intelligence Group was awarded an Australian Police Medal.

He commenced general duties at Campbelltown Police Station in 1994, before transferring to the Macarthur District Anti-Theft Squad in 1997.

In 1998, he returned to Campbelltown undertaking criminal investigation duties, becoming designated as a detective in 2000.

Superintendent McLean worked at the Homicide Squad before being promoted to the rank of sergeant at Lake Illawarra Local Area Command in 2002. He was promoted to the rank of inspector in 2005, transferring to St George Local Area Command then Lake Illawarra Local Area Command performing the roles of Duty Officer, Target Action Group Commander and Crime Manager.

Former Macarthur cop, Detective Superintendent Michael McLean from the Anti-Terrorism and Intelligence Group was awarded an Australian Police Medal.

In 2012, Superintendent McLean was promoted to the rank of superintendent and became the Campsie Local Area Commander. During this time, he created strong links within the diverse multicultural community to gain the trust of cultural and religious leaders.

He also promoted and worked with these leaders to maintain community cohesion in what had been a challenging and often difficult operating environment.

In 2017, Superintendent McLean transferred to the Counter Terrorism and Special Tactics Command as the Operational Assessments Centre Commander, before becoming the Anti-Terrorism and Intelligence Group Commander in 2019.

He has displayed leadership over risk and threat processes, along with investigative responses and other operational activities to mitigate threat in the community.

More recently, he has been instrumental in the implementation of the NSW Police Force response to the management of enduring terrorism risk. As the national jurisdictional project lead, his foresight and structured methodology has provided intelligence and investigative led opportunities for police to address new and emerging trends and areas of concern.

Superintendent McLean is recognised as having forged an outstanding reputation in the Force and wider law enforcement community, as a highly skilled thinker and leader across multiple policing portfolios.