14 northern beaches residents named in Australia Day honours
A popular TV sports presenter and a volunteer firefighter are among 14 northern peninsula residents to make this year’s Australia Day Honours list.
Manly
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Well known TV presenter and swimmer Johanna Griggs is the most famous face on the northern beaches to feature on the Australia Day Honours list.
The other 13 who are not household names, are everyday heroes who have been honoured for their services to the community.
They include a volunteer firefighter, a music teacher and someone who devoted their life to fighting poverty overseas.
Another is Jason Baker, who has coached para-rower Erik Horrie since 2013.
Horrie became a paraplegic after a car accident aged 21.
Mr Baker, 45, from Curl Curl said he had never coached a rower with a disability before.
But the two of them work well together and they have seen considerable success since partnering in 2013.
Horrie is the only Australian to have won medals at five consecutive World Championships and has his eye on the Olympics in Tokyo this year.
The pair are currently involved in some intense preparation.
“I’m pretty lucky to have picked up such a great athlete,” Mr Baker said.
“He’s such an excellent competitor.”
But Mr Baker is also regarded as an excellent coach himself.
He was Para Rowing Coach of the Year, Rowing Australia, 2018 and Coach of the Year, Rowing Australia, 2013.
He is also head coach at Scots College where he takes pride in encouraging the next generation to take up rowing.
“Rowing is a super tough sport and super technical and I think it’s amazing for kids to get involved with,” he said.
His partner Kathrine Benge is a “rowing widow” who is super supportive, Mr Baker said.
“I spend a lot of time away every year,” he said.
Mr Baker said he never expected to receive an honour and it “wasn’t on his radar”.
“It’s pretty incredible,” he said.
JOHANNA GRIGGS
She was once one of the stars of the all-powerful Australian swimming team, She won medals at the Commonwealth Games and world championships who went on be one of the nation’s most popular TV and sports presenters.
It is the contribution of Johanna Griggs to improving community health, as well as her sporting and entertainment achievements, that have led to her becoming a Member of the Order of Australia.
Ms Griggs, of Collaroy, has been a board member, since 2014, of Beyond Blue, the non-profit organisation devoted to working to address issues associated with depression, suicide and anxiety disorders.
She has also given her time as chair of the Be You National Advisory Council. Ms Griggs was an inaugural ambassador for the The McGrath Foundation, set up to fund breast cancer care nurses and has been an ambassador for the The Humpty Dumpty Foundation, which raise money for medical equipment, since 1998.
DR ROBYN IREDALE
This retired academic, from Scotland Island, had a stellar university career and was a significant figure in the Asia Pacific Region for her work with international organisations on migration, refugees and ethnic affairs.
Dr Iredale is also a devoted mother who brought up a son with fragile X syndrome — the genetic disorder that is the most common inherited cause of intellectual disability and cause of autism.,
She is now a Member of the Order of Australia for her work in education and service to people with an intellectual disability.
Dr Iredale wrote a book, Growing Up With fragile X syndrome: The Road to Marty Campbell. She has a family history of fragile X syndrome, transmitted by her mother, which was only discovered when her son, Marty, was seven years old.
HARLEY JACOBS
Newport businessman Harry Jacobs has been honoured for helping to build relations with Japan.
He’s been the CEO of the Australia Japan Business Co-operation Committee since 2015 and before that he held various roles with the Australia Japan Society of NSW.
Mr Jacobs has had a long history of Australia-Japan relations going back to the 1970s when he was the director of Australia-Japan Economic Institute.
In 1989 he also founded the Australia-Japan Link (advisory).
In 2016 he was commended for his efforts by Japan’s foreign minister for “strengthening the friendship between Japan and Australia and deepening the bilateral relationship”.
Now his work has been acknowledged in Australia with the Member of the Order of Australia.
JUDY CHARNAUD
The environment and water consumption is a hot topic at the moment, but Warriewood’s Judy Charnaud has been spent years trying to improve the environment and well being of the citizens to Timor Leste (East Timor).
Ms Charnaud, of Warriewood, with now has an Order of Australia for her services to conservation and the environment in Timor Leste, has been manager of the East Timor Environmental Project since 2001. She spends about six months of the year there.
She also organises sporting competition, Youth In Action, for underprivileged youth in isolated and poor areas of the country as well as projects to improve the lives of young people.
MARK FERGUSON
This veteran of the Vietnam War has been recognised with an Order of Australia for helping fellow veterans and their families for more than 25 years.
Mark Ferguson, of Avalon Beach, has been president of the Palm Beach Sub-Branch of the RSL since 2002 and a past president, for 17 years, of the northern branch of the Vietnam Veterans Association.
Mr Ferguson is also a Life Member of the RSL.
KAREN CAREY
A teacher from Belrose who inspired many to develop a love of music is now a Member of the Order of Australia.
She has been honoured for her service to secondary education.
Ms Carey started her long teaching career in the 1970s, including MLC School in Burwood, where she is now Artistic Director Emerita.
A much-loved documentary Mrs Carey’s Concert in 2011 catapulted Ms Carey into the realm of minor celebrity.
It traced the ups and downs of school life as hundreds of girls worked – with varying degrees of enthusiasm – towards an ambitious musical concert.
The documentary told the story of Mrs Carey, her unrelenting passion for music, and her belief in its power to strengthen and develop students in all facets of their lives.
PETER HEMERY
This Newport Beach yachtie, one of the most well connected sailors and sailing administrators in Sydney, is now a Member of the Order of Australia for his service to sailing.
Peter Hemery has been the Honorary Secretary of the annual Australia Day Regatta since 1990.
He was secretary and chief executive officer of the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron from 1990 to 2001, which organises the regatta each year.
Mr Hemery, a member of Australia’s winning Admiral’s Cup Team as crew on board Balandra in 1967, was director of the Sydney Harbour Regatta for 14 years.
MICHAEL MANNINGTON
This tech wizard and photographer is being honoured for his service to the community through a range of organisations.
The Bilgola Plateau resident is the founder of Volunteer Photography and volunteers his expertise at a range of clubs including Pittwater Probus Club, Newport Resident’s Association, Friends of Currawong Pittwater, Friends of Currawong and Dee Why Camera Club.
He’s also been a technology trainer at Avalon Computer Pals.
For his efforts he has been made a Member of the Order of Australia.
MAREE NUTT
This therapist has worked at Mona Vale Hospital helping to rehabilitate the sick and injured but has also devoted much of her life to improving the lives of the poor overseas.
Maree Nutt, of Newport, has worked hard in many fields to help eradicate poverty internationally for which she has been made a Member of the Order of Australia.
She has worked and volunteered for a range of organisations including Results Australia, United Nations Association of Australia and the Parliament of Australia where she was Member, Secretariat for Australian TB Caucus.
GUY WINSHIP
Described in his 2018 obituary as one of Australia’s “great humanitarian leaders”, the late Guy Winship has been made a posthumous Member of the Order of Australia.
In 2003, Mr Winship founded World Education Australia, later known as Good Return, to fight poverty in Asia and the Pacific.
Some 15 years on, Good Return’s work has helped more than 600,000 people who have accessed microfinance loans and skills training.
Guy grew up in Durban, South Africa, and as a student during the apartheid era, he was a passionate activist in the social justice movement.
After completing studies in economics and town planning, Guy worked for a social enterprise that provided vocational skills training and employment to returning political exiles after freedom was established in 1994.
He later became country manager for FINCA Uganda, a pioneering non-profit microfinance institution in Africa, growing its banking program to provide economic opportunity to more than 30,000 Ugandans.
In 2001, Guy and his family moved to Sydney, where he set up World Education Australia as a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to improving the lives of those living in poverty in the Asia-Pacific region, through financial inclusion and education.
In 2018, Good Return funded its 10,000th microloan to Roxan Lacandula from the Philippines who borrowed $150 to start a small pig-raising business.
Guy also served as a voluntary non-executive director on the boards of the Salvation Army International Development and Habitat for Humanity Australia.
In 2014, Guy, who lived in Belrose, was diagnosed with ocular melanoma and had one eye removed. Within a year, the cancer had metastasised and his illness was diagnosed as terminal. Guy worked tirelessly as CEO of Good Return during this period.
WARREN CREE
If you’re looking for a northern beaches action man, look no further.
Warren Cree, 49, of Belrose, is an active member of Davidson RFS, where he has served for the last 30 years.
It’s a family affair with his father, brother, son and wife, also involved in the RFS.
When he’s not putting out bushfires he puts young army cadets through their paces.
He works at the Sydney Grammar School Cadet Unit, where he helps kids on the Duke of Edinburgh program and the army cadet program.
Once a year he runs a week long training event for the best 200 army cadets in the country.
He says he is a “man of many uniforms” and is honoured if not a bit embarrassed at being made a Member of the Order of Australia.
He says he’s only able to volunteer because of the support from his family.
RONDA ALTERATOR
Across five decades Ronda Alterator, of Warriewood, has been a mentor to thousands of netballers on the northern beaches. She is now a Member of the Order of Australia.
Ms Alterator has been a passionate and committed servant of the game through her work as an administrator with the Narrabeen Youth Club and Manly Warringah Netball Association.
She has been praised for her work as a coach, umpire, manager and administrator since the 1970s.
SUPERINTENDENT DAVE DARCY
Detective Superintendent Darcy, the head of the Northern Beaches Police Area Command, has been awarded the Australian Police Medal.
He joined the NSW Police Force in 1983 before transferring into criminal investigation roles on the Central Coast until 1993. He later became a sergeant, in 1995, at Kings Cross before moving not an executive support role during the NSW Royal Commission into Police Corruption and then later to the Commissioner’s Executive Support Group.
In 1999 he was promoted to the rank of Inspector as Commander, City East Region
Target Action Group & Anti-theft Unit.
He was promoted to Superintendent in 2002 and has been an operational superintendent as Commander of Kings Cross in 2002, Bankstown in 2005, and
Manly in 2008.
Superintendent Darcy has also contributed to the community’s response to suicide prevention, mental health, community safety and crime prevention.