Political Figures Feature In Queen’s Birthday Honours

Political, vice-regal and government figures feature in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list released today.

The Governor of South Australia, Hieu Van Le, and the Governor of Western Australia, Kerry Sanderson, were each awarded the highest honour, the Companion (AC) in the General Division of the Order of Australia.

ACs were also awarded to the retiring Governor of the Reserve Bank, Glenn Stevens, and to the former Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet under Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott, Ian Watt.

In the Officer division, the AO award, four former MPs were honoured. Ric Charlesworth, the ALP member for Perth from 1983 until 1993, received the award for his service to sport and parliament. Judi Moylan, the Liberal member for Pearce (1993-2013) received the AO for services to parliament, women and advocacy for people with diabetes. Kay Patterson, a Liberal senator from 1987-2008 and former Howard government minister, received the award in recognition of her service to parliament and to public policy, particularly for women, and as a senior academic. Alan Stockdale, the Liberal member for Brighton (1985-99) was honoured for his service as Treasurer in the Victorian Kennett government (1992-99). [Read more…]


Kailash Satyarthi And Malala Yousafzay Awarded 2014 Nobel Peace Prize

The 2014 Nobel Peace Prize has been won by Kailash Satyarthi and Malala Yousafzay.

The 60-year-old Indian male and the 17-year-old Pakistani female received the prize for “their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education”.

The Nobel Peace Prize committee said it was important for an Indian and a Pakistani, a Hindu and a Muslim, to join in a common struggle for education and against extremism.

Yousafzay becomes the youngest person ever to win a Nobel Prize. She supplants the Australian-born British physicist, William Lawrence Bragg, who won the Physics prize in 1915 at the age of 25, sharing it with his father, Sir William Henry Bragg.

Nobel

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NSW Governor Marie Bashir Becomes A Dame In Queen’s Birthday Honours

The retiring Governor of New South Wales, Marie Bashir, has been made a Dame in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list.

BashirBashir, 83, has been Governor of NSW since 2001. She is to retire soon and be replaced by General David Hurley.

Bashir is the second Dame announced by the Abbott government. The former Governor-General, Quentin Bryce, became a Dame on the day she relinquished the position in March.

In other honours, the former Labor MP and Minister in the Hawke government, Barry Jones has been made a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC), the highest honour beneath a knighthood. Jones was a Victorian State MP before entering federal parliament as the Member for Lalor in 1977. He was Minister for Science from 1983 until 1990. He retired from parliament in 1998 and was succeeded in Lalor by Julia Gillard.

The NSW Chief Justice, Tom Bathurst, and the former Tasmanian Chief Justice, Ewan Crawford, have received an ACs, as has Les Carlyon, the journalist and writer. [Read more…]


Arise Dame Quentin And Sir Peter: Abbott Reintroduces Knights And Dames For “Pre-Eminent Australians”

The Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, has announced that Knights and Dames will be reintroduced for “pre-eminent” Australians.

Abbott

The outgoing Governor-General will become Dame Quentin Bryce, whilst the new Governor-General will be Sir Peter Cosgrove. [Read more…]