Craig Garraway, Annette Cooper among Queen’s Birthday Honours recipients

These marvellous Territorians have been recognised for their work and service to the community in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list. Meet them here.

A HANDFUL of Territorians have been recognised for their stellar achievements and contributions to the community in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.

Meet the marvellous locals doing the Territory proud.

Hilary Winchester, AM

PROFESSOR Hilary Winchester’s long list of achievements transcends her career in the education industry.

It is also why she’s been recognised with a Queen’s Birthday honour.

With an illustrious tenure spanning educational institutions in South Australia, Queensland, New South Wales and the Northern Territory, Professor Winchester has been honoured “for significant service to tertiary education, and to governance, committee and advisory roles”.

Prof Winchester said she was “very grateful” to have received the nod.

“It’s particularly special to be recognised by my adopted country — in that I came from the UK, became a citizen thirty years ago, and have lived and worked here since my arrival,” she said.

Professor Winchester, who is an academic governance expert, for Higher Education.

“Australia is full of great immigrant stories, and mine is just one of many.”

Her work in education has been focused mainly on ensuring university and academic governance is upheld and implemented for the right reasons.

“Higher Education governance is regulated and I have been in the privileged position of offering reviews, advice and training for higher education providers and the regulator to ensure sound processes and governance integrity,” she said.

For her work on academic boards across the country, Prof Winchester was even inducted into the South Australian Women’s Honour Roll in 2009.

Her highly sought-after experience saw her join the University Council and Academic Board at Charles Darwin University and she hasn’t looked back since the move.

“The highlight of the NT life is the friendliness of the reception for newcomers, the amazing activity of the dry season, the markets and festivals … and even the cat has adapted to the warmer weather,” she said.

Bob Shewring, OAM

A LIFETIME’S dedication to aiding others, particularly veterans and their families, has earned Bob Shewring a Queen’s Birthday Honour.

The Vietnam veteran, now president of Veterans Australia NT, has long served in the community as a volunteer with the express goal of making the NT a better place than he found it.

“I’m deeply honoured and humbled to receive this award,” Mr Shewring said.

“I’m a lifetime volunteer dedicated to helping others and ultimately to make a difference, strive for what could be and to leave the NT in a better place than I found it.”

Among his many achievements is bringing Corporal Reg Hillier, the only Territorian to die in active service in the Vietnam War, home.

He didn’t give up after the initial knock-back and lobbied harder, not only to bring his fellow Territorian back, but all 25 Australian soldiers whose bodies had remained in Vietnam.

In 2016, Operation Bring Them Home was successful and he was nominated for a Pride of Australia medal and named the NT Senior Australian of the Year.

Bob Shewring has been named in the Queens Birthday Honours.

“I spent years researching and lobbying governments at all levels to bring home one of the Territory’s own,” Mr Shewring said. “When we got knocked back, I said ‘stuff it, let’s bring them all home’.

Now, as president of Veterans Australia NT, he continues to support veterans and their families and is currently pushing for a treatment facility.

“We provide support to veterans and families suffering with mental and physical issues,” he said. “We are continually attempting to reduce the high number of veteran suicides by early intervention.

“We are in desperate need of a 10-bed inpatient facility right here in the NT where veterans and others suffering acute PTSD and high depression can go and get treatment.”

Mr Shewring’s volunteer work extends beyond veterans affairs. He was the inaugural president of the Southern Districts Football Club and is a former board member and chair of the Freds Pass Sport and Recreation Reserve.

“I’m a very passionate sportsperson and unfortunately, as a result of Vietnam, I was unable to continue playing. So I generated all of my energies into looking at sport in the corporate governance area of things such as starting Southern Districts, because a group of us were sick of driving all the way to Nightcliff to play.”

ROBERT CALABY, OAM

THE routine of waving goodbye to his father as he soared off in a plane planted the seed for a fruitful career in aviation for Robert Calaby.

It is his passion for the ­industry that resulted in Mr Calaby receiving a Medal of the Order of Australia.

When he was 19 he lost his right arm in a motorcycle accident but, like a galvanised force for good, did not let his passion for aviation dwindle and has a prosperous career for more than 25 years.

He grew up in Canberra and made the daring decision to ­relocate to the NT in 1986 for his work as a surveyor.

His work on large-scale projects such as the construction of the RAAF Base Tindal and mapping out the runway Darwin International Airport helped cultivate his love of planes and “the fragrance of burnt kerosene”.

Career highlights include helping evacuate people from East Timor in 1999 and medical retrievals during the 2002 Bali bombings.

“I felt like I could help people and create a meaningful impact ­– that’s what I do, I do enjoy helping people,” he said.

“I have no plans to retire anytime soon … What I would hope to do in my career is pass on the knowledge and train others.”

Laurence Ah Toy, OAM

A DARWIN-born pioneer in the NT’s mango and buffalo industries, who has also made important contributions to the education system, has been recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.

Born in the old Darwin Hospital in 1939, third-generation Territorian Laurence Ah Toy is still involved in the community, operating Koolpinyah Station.

His name is emblazoned on the Darwin High School’s recently-constructed facility, the Laurence Ah Toy Building, the result of his work helping secure the school’s future. For Mr Ah Toy, the work is a thank you. He said he owes much of his success to his learning at the Darwin High School and in particular his science teacher at the time Margaret Watson.

“I’m a passionate believer that schools can change lives,” he said.

The humble Territorian thanks the “enormous contribution” of his wife of over 40 years, Marian, who he says does the hard work that’s ­allowed him to leave an indelible mark in the community.

CRAIG GARRAWAY, ASM

ST JOHN Ambulance operations manager Craig Garraway has been serving Territorians in their hour of need for more than three ­decades

Mr Garraway stepped away from his substantive role as manager of the Emergency Communications Centre in 2020 to provide leadership throughout the Covid-19 ­pandemic.

In the role, he established new transport services including swab cars, Covid buses and ambulances to move patients through the health system. Mr Garraway represented St John on various committees and groups, including the Territory Emergency Operations Committee.

He provided leadership and input to the operational team as well as NT Health agency co-ordination and outbreak management.

St John Ambulance NT operations manager Craig Garraway with Territory Administrator Vicki O'Halloran. Picture: Supplied/St John

Mr Garraway said he was excited to receive the Ambulance Service Medal on the back of his recent appointment as a Knight of the Order of St John.

“It’s obviously a lot of years involved in the industry and the organisation, so it’s a great thrill,” he said. “It’s just been a great journey with St John over 33 years and giving back to the community, so very excited to get it.

“It was a shock and it wasn’t expected and I don’t do it for that but it’s a great reward.” Mr Garraway said his fondest memory from over the years was always being able to be “there to help people”, ­including delivering numerous babies.

“I’ve been lucky enough to save a lot of people in bad situations where they probably would have died and some of those people I still see today for coffee and it’s their way of saying thank you,” he said.

Bob Richards and Julii Tyson, OAM

THE story of Bob Richards and Julii Tyson’s Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours is also the story of how one of the Territory’s business success stories grew out of the wreckage of one of the nation’s greatest agricultural failures.

In the late 1950s, Territory Rice Limited’s Humpty Doo Rice Project promised agricultural jobs and investment for the Top End until inexperience and every magpie goose in Southeast Asia combined to kill the dream after just a few years.

Decades later, at the same site, Humpty Doo Barramundi was also struggling, as it was a new business in the new aquaculture industry of barramundi farming.

Bob was approached by an old school friend to become an investor and the couple bought into the business in March 1994, a year after the operation began.

Almost 30 years later, and with hits and misses along the way, their family now owns the Territory’s only and the country’s largest barramundi farm.

Neither knew much about keeping fish, let alone thousands of them.

Julii was a librarian raised on a dairy farm in northern NSW and Bob, from Tennant Creek, was an agricultural scientist.

Along with the rest of the small team running the farm during start-up in the mid-90s, they learnt from their early successes and failures, obstacles and disappointments.

Bob received a Churchill Fellowship in 2002 which enabled him to visit and learn from international aquaculture enterprises.

Both he and Julii built their knowledge base by attending conferences and workshops and visiting both national and international farms. This networking proved invaluable in the development of their business.

Humpty Doo Barra Pioneers Julii Tyson and Bob Richards. Picture: Glenn Campbell

“My background is in agriculture and the Northern Territory pretty much, and what I’ve seen is the people that succeed are those that persist,” Bob said.

“It’s survive, learn and grow. Basically, you have to survive your learning curve.

“If you’re growing too big and too fast, my general observation has been that you will fail.”

Complementary skill sets helped in the early years, with Bob concentrating on farming and Julii the business’s administration, marketing and promotion.

The farm and its success is only part of the reason for the royal gong though. As Julii says, you don’t get a Queen’s Birthday Honour “just for running a business”.

Both she and Bob have been heavily involved in developing barramundi farming locally and nationally, with a shopping list of achievements over decades both personally and as co-owners of Humpty Doo Barramundi.

Julii’s include being a director of Women in Seafood Australasia from 2003 to 2016, leading to being inducted into the Women in Seafood Australasia’s inaugural Honour Roll in 2018.

Bob is a founding member of the Australian Barramundi Farmers Association, which represents the industry, and has been on the executive committee in various roles including president since it commenced in the late 1990s.

He also won an NT Seafood Industry ambassador award and served on the Churchill Fellowship judging panel from 2016.

He and Julii are passionate about contributing to the community and have hosted and supported the Palmerston Game Fishing Club’s Junior Angler Education Clinics since 2011.

Both Bob and Julii said they were extremely honoured and surprised at being awarded the OAM “for services to the aquaculture industry” and wish to acknowledge that their awards are on behalf of all those who pioneered barramundi farming in Australia and those who assisted in building their business over many years.

JUDITH HENSCHKE, OAM

DEDICATED volunteer Judith Henschke has been awarded a medal of the Order of Australia in honour of her work in the disability sector.

The 59-year-old has volunteered across numerous organisations in the NT for more than 10 years.

Mrs Henschke, who has a long association with Down Syndrome Association NT and is a volunteer and board member of Total Recreation, said the honour was unexpected.

“I’ll spend the rest of my life growing into it,” she said.

“There are so many people, both paid and unpaid doing fantastic work in the disability sector. It is profoundly meaningful to help others and so much fun.”

A defining moment for Mrs Henschke was when she worked with a young woman who was deaf at the NT News more than 20 years ago.

“She was probably the first person with a disability that I spent a lot of time with and got to know personally,” she said.

“I learnt the importance of communication and that communication takes many forms, not just verbal. People with disabilities have a lot to say but often we aren’t listening.

“This was the beginning of my understanding and empathy for people with a disability.”

Mrs Henschke said she had received far more than she had ever contributed through bonding and connecting with people in the disability sector.

“I encourage people to step outside their comfort zone and befriend people with a disability,” she said.

ANNETTE COOPER, APM

DETECTIVE Sergeant Annette Cooper has served with the NT Police force for almost four decades after starting her career in general duties in 1984.

After working in Nhulunbuy, Tennant Creek and Yulara, Sergeant Cooper spent time working in Neighbourhood Watch before moving to crime command, where she obtained her detective designation in 2000.

At the time, she was one of only a handful of women to have completed their advanced diploma in investigation.

Since then, Sergeant Cooper has served in the Darwin and Palmerston criminal investigation branches, major crime squad, fraud squad, sex crimes squad, child abuse task force, serious crime squad and the joint counter terrorism team.

NT Police Sgt Annette Cooper. Picture: Glenn Campbell

She said she had been “grateful and honoured” to receive the Australian Police Medal, while thanking her “awesome team”.

“There’s so many great hardworking members out there and to be recognised by them is just a huge honour,” she said.

“I know how hard they work because I’ve been with them and we’re a team, and we achieve, and I’m just so honoured to be a part of that team and get this recognition.”

Sergeant Cooper said working on investigations “where you have true victims and that you get a result for them, for that family” had been a career highlight.

“At the end of the day, we are doing this for the community and it’s for those true victims out there that turn to the police for a resolution,” she said.

“To find their missing loved ones, to find out what happened in terms of a death etc.”

Originally published as Craig Garraway, Annette Cooper among Queen’s Birthday Honours recipients