Dr Geoffrey Wilson, Judith DeBoer, Dr Michael Pyne: Gold Coast residents named in King’s birthday honours list
Passionate community advocates, wildlife warriors and medical experts are among the dozen Gold Coast residents recognised in the King’s birthday honours list.
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She is known as one of the Gold Coast’s most passionate community advocates.
Now, Southport’s Judith DeBoer can add Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) to her long list of awards and recognition.
But behind all the achievements and community work is a personal tragedy that remains with Mrs DeBoer still to this day.
A devastating accident became so profoundly painful, she could no longer stay silent.
“I needed someone desperately to talk to who had survived such an awful experience,” the OAM recipient said.
“And there was nothing like it available here.”
In 1982, Mrs DeBoer’s young son drowned at home.
“He was two years, seven months and ten and a half days old,” she said.
This tragedy would prompt the Southport grandmother to start her first community group called Gold Coast Compassionate Friends, which ran from 1982 to 1993.
The organisation was an early form of grief support group.
“It was really effective and it was survival for a lot of us,” Mrs DeBoer said.
“I have such admiration for humans, because no matter what happens, we continue to love. If you had any sense you would think ‘well I’m not doing that again because it hurts too much’.
“But we don’t. You can’t stop us from loving.”
Since then, the mother-of-seven has attributed her decades of community work to her own life experiences.
While raising her children, Mrs DeBoer joined the workforce out of necessity.
“When we moved here, we had a very big family and a high mortgage – I had to do bits and pieces of jobs that fitted around the kids,” she said.
“I started working on elections and being a Census collector.
“I finished up as a returning officer after a number of years and also managed the Census for the region.”
That led to roles with the United Nations, which included setting up the East Timor referendum in 1999, then later, the first democratic elections in Kosovo and Eastern Afghanistan.
Mrs DeBoer’s latest passion project has been saving the old Ridgeway TAFE campus site from development so it can be turned into green space.
The Southport Park-Ridgeway Neighbourhood group has fought for 17 years to ensure the 3ha block is handed over to Gold Coast City Council control.
“It will happen hopefully this year,” Mrs DeBoer said. “It will be so needed for generations to come. It is an exquisite spot.” Mrs Judith DeBoer was named a Medal (OAM) of the Order of Australia recipient as part of the King’s birthday honours list.
Full list of Gold Coasters recognised in King’s birthday honours list:
Member (AM) in the general division of the Order of Australia
Professor Alexander Jonathan Brown
Whistleblower protection advocate Professor Alexander Brown has been acknowledged for his significant service to the law and to public policy.
The Springbrook resident has served as a board member of Transparency International Australia since 2017 and was president of the Australian Political Studies Association from 2017 to 2018.
He has been a professor of Public Policy and Law at Griffith University since 2013.
Prof Brown’s early career involved being a senior investigations officer at the Commonwealth Ombudsman from 1993 to 1997.
Emeritus Professor Colleen Cartwright
This Burleigh Waters resident has been recognised for significant service to aged care planning, policy and research.
She has been an Emeritus Professor at Southern Cross University since 2014 and has served as chair of the Human Research Ethics Committee since 2018.
Professor Cartwright was a board member of the Council on the Ageing New South Wales from 2008 to 2018 and was awarded an honorary lifetime member.
She was also named a distinguished member of the Australian Association of Gerontology in 2009.
Dr Geoffrey Wilson
This Currumbin Valley resident has been acknowledged for his significant service to the community through charitable organisations.
He has embarked on several fundraising expeditions, including a solo crossing of Antarctica in 2019 to 2020 in support of the McGrath Foundation
In 2016, Dr Wilson launched a group of veterinary clinics called VetLove, which has seven locations across Queensland and NSW.
He was awarded the Australian Geographic Lifetime of Adventure Award in 2022 and Gold Coast Citizen of the Year in 2015.
Officer (AO) in the general division of the Order of Australia
Professor David Alan Ellwood
This obstetrician and gynaecologist was a founding member of the Australian and New Zealand Stillbirth Alliance in the early 2000s.
Professor Ellwood was the president of the Australian Medical Council from 2018 to 2020 and deputy president from 2016 to 2018.
He served as chair of the Queensland Maternal and Perinatal Quality Council from 2015 to 2019. The Paradise Point resident has been recognised for his distinguished services to medicine.
Medal (OAM) of the Order of Australia in the general division
Dr Michael James Pyne
Dr Pyne, who has served as the Currumbin Wildlife Hospital chief vet for the past 22 years, has been recognised for his contribution to veterinary science.
He is currently researching for trials of a new koala chlamydia vaccine.
Dr Pyne has been a member of the Australian Veterinary Association since 2013.
He received the City of Gold Coast Environmental Achievement Award in 2019.
Dr Margaret Shapiro
This Southport resident has been acknowledged for her service to community health.
Dr Shapiro has been chair of the Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service consumer advisory group since 2020.
She is also an advocate of health literacy and was named honorary professor of social work at the University of Queensland in the 1980s.
Dr Shapiro founded the ‘60 and Better’ healthy ageing program.
Mr Ian Alan Langdon
This Mount Tamborine resident has been the founding chair of the Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service Board since 2012.
He was the chair of Autism Queensland from 2018 to 2021.
Mr Langdon served as chair of Peanut Company of Australia from 2008 to 2018 and chair of the Dairy Farmers Cooperative from 1989 to 2008.
He was acknowledged for his service to the community and primary industry.
Mr Neil Athol McPherson
This Runaway Bay resident has been recognised for his service to the community through a range of organisations.
Mr McPherson founded the Rotary Club of Ashmore in 1990 and was an active member until 2015, serving as president from 1997 to 1998.
He was also a member of the Rotary Club of Surfers Paradise for a number of years and was named life member of the Surfers Paradise Apex Club in 1982.
Mr McPherson was admitted as solicitor of the Supreme Court of Queensland in 1967 and later to the Supreme Court of New South Wales and the High Court of Australia.
Mr Joseph John Russell
Mr Russell has been a member of the 4th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment Association Queensland since 1998.
He has served in various executive roles for the Tweed Heads and Coolangatta sub-branch of the RSL, including president from 2006 to 2019.
The Burleigh Waters resident was the Queensland coodinator of the Australian Vietnam Forces Mobile Museum from 1989 to 1996.
He was recognised for his service to veterans and their families.
Mrs Patricia Mary Speed
This Mermaid Beach resident has been acknowledged for her service to the community through a range of organisations.
She is a life member of the Mermaid Beach Surf Lifesaving Club.
Mrs Speed has been a volunteer crocheter and knitter for various charities and has volunteered with the Gold Coast Private Hospital since 2018.
She worked in schools as an administration officer from 1981 to 1999.
Mrs Sandra Johnston
Sandra Johnston of Worongary has been recognised for her service to community health.
Mrs Johnston created the Gold Coast Women’s Cancer Support Group in 2019.
She is currently a consumer advisory group member for the Gold Coast Hospital and Health Services and BreastScreen Queensland.
The Worongary resident has volunteered for numerous organisations and charities such as Lifeline, Days for Girls International and Beauties Feeling Fabulous.
Professionally, she was the director of Aussie Refrigeration Transport from 1994 to 2007.
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