Queen's birthday honours: top gongs for those who did the hard yards and had big ideas

The Queen’s birthday honours span the illustrious to the larrikin, including some of the nation’s star businesswomen.

Tony Abbott, Marcia Langton, Robyn Nevin and Michael Clarke are among this year’s recipients.

They span the illustrious to the larrikin, including some of the ­nation’s star businesswomen, a former Test cricket captain, and a 76-year-old lifelong volunteer surf lifesaver who has swum the ­English Channel twice and talks of a third attempt.

This year’s Queen’s Birthday honours recipients represent what Governor-General David Hurley described as “a microcosm of Australia”, with 933 Australians ­receiving an award.

“In this list we see all the positives that are in our community — we see the great ideas, we see the hard work, we see the love and compassion for fellow human ­beings,” General Hurley said in announcing this year’s honours list.

The top award, those appointed Companions of the Order of Australia (AC), went to business­women and philanthropists Belinda Hutchinson and Naomi Milgrom, former prime minister Tony Abbott, and Francis Sullivan, the former CEO of the Catholic Church’s Truth, Justice and Healing Council. Mr Sullivan was recognised for service to social justice and law reform, health and aged care.

This year’s awards displayed ­elements of a nation still dealing with a pandemic; Government House said recipients would be invested with their awards at an indefinite time in the future “when COVID-19 restrictions allow”.

When Ms Hutchinson, the chancellor of Sydney University, received the letter advising her about the award, she was, she said, “right in the middle of closing down the university and moving all the units of study online”.

“We now have to deal with the ongoing financial repercussions of losing a very, very substantial amount of our revenue for this year,” she said.

Ms Hutchinson was appointed as a companion “for eminent service to business, to tertiary education and scientific research, and through philanthropic endeavours to address social disadvantage”.

Ms Milgrom heads the massive Sussan women’s fashion retail group, and was made a companion for leadership and support for the arts, architecture, design excellence and cultural exchange along with business.

Mr Abbott’s citation lists “significant contributions to trade, border control, and to the indigenous community”.

This year, 710 Australians ­received awards in the General Division, along with 28 in the Military Division, while 128 meritorious awards were given to members of particular services.

Of those awards in the General Division, 41 per cent went to women, compared with a proportion in the low 30s just a few years ago.

The General Division awards are divided into four levels: this year they were received by the three new companions, 50 Officers of the Order (AO), 200 Members of the Order (AM), and 457 Australians who received the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM).

Some of those to receive a medal were just as enthused as those appointed to higher honours. “When I was told, it was such a surprise. I have always been a ­really proud Australian who feels so lucky to have this as his country,” said Cyril Baldock, who ­received a medal for services to lifesaving.

Mr Baldock joined Sydney’s Bondi Surf Bathers Life Saving Club in 1958, aged 15. He first swam the English Channel in 1985, and did so again in 2014 at the age of 70, becoming the oldest person to achieve that feat at that time.

In sport, Michael Clarke was appointed an AO for distinguished service to cricket. Clarke, 38, played 115 Tests, 245 one-day internationals and 34 T20s for his country. “This award is another example of why I owe the game so much,” Clarke said.

In media, the ABC’s veteran foreign correspondent Sean Dorney was appointed an AO after nearly four decades covering Papua New Guinea and the Pacific for the national broadcaster. Dorney, who in 2018 received a Walkley Award for outstanding contribution to journalism, said he was concerned with the lack of ­attention and resources Australian media was paying to its closest neighbours. “It is nice recognition for the work I did in PNG and the Pacific for so long, but really recognition of how important the region is,” he said.

Academic Marcia Langton was appointed an AO for service to tertiary education and as an advocate for indigenous Australians. Businessman Ryan Stokes also ­received the honour. Among the new AOs are a number of former politicians, including former Labor minister Graham Richardson, former Liberal minister Philip Ruddock, former NSW Liberal premier Mike Baird, and former Victorian Liberal premier Denis Napthine.