One Australia Day honour created a "2AM" household for former ABC broadcaster Elaine Canty – while Melbourne advertising legend Peter Clemenger and wife Joan scored a rare double, each becoming an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for their philanthropy. They were among 824 Australians named by the Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove for honours and awards on Australia Day.
Three Victorians are among five recipients of the top honour – businessman and philanthropist Marc Besen, endocrinologist Professor John Funder and medical scientist Professor Brendan Crabb become Companions of the Order of Australia (AC). Two NSW professors, biomedical researcher Jeremy Chapman and educator Janice Reid, also were made ACs.
Sir Peter said the community had "many outstanding people willing to dedicate themselves to the betterment of our nation. Since 1975 these awards have drawn national attention to the personal efforts of individuals, made willingly, with no thought of recognition or recompense."
The four levels of the Order of Australia are Companion (AC), Officer (AO, Member (AM) and Medal (OAM). In the general division on 2015 list there are 406 male and 207 female recipients – five ACs, 38 AOs, 156 AMs and 414 OAMs. In the military division there are three AOs, 12 AMs and seven OAMs, all men. There are also 130 meritorious awards and 59 military awards.
The new nominees take number in the past 40 years past 40,000, representing all facets of Australian life. The 2015 roll call encompasses such fields as lawn bowls, surf lifesaving, conservation of historic military sites, juvenile justice, geology, medicine, ultra marathon running and classical music.
Familiar names among the 2015 recipients are champion surfer Layne Beachley (AO), Geelong powerbroker and football club stalwart Frank Costa (AO), the founder of Melbourne's iconic Flower Drum restaurant Gilbert Lau (AM), veteran film reviewer David Stratton (AM), media veteran Gerald Stone (AM) and former ABC broadcaster Ms Canty (AM) whose husband, sports journalist Roy Masters, was awarded an AM three years ago.
Mr Clemenger says he and Joan received two letters. "I opened the first and saw it was an AO for me and thought: 'That's nice'." Then the couple opened the second letter and found Mrs Clemenger had one too.
Mr Besen, already an AO, was elevated to AC. He and wife Eva, AO, founded a trust to support the arts and culture, health and welfare and Jewish interests. Mr Besen and fellow tycoon John Gandel were the co-founders of Chadstone shopping centre and the Sussan clothing chain.
Professor Funder, who has just stepped down as head of Obesity Australia, expressed surprise at his AC but took the opportunity to sound off about the nation's increasing waistline.
"No matter what your weight, a 10 per cent reduction can make a remarkable difference to glucose tolerance and blood pressure," he said.
Professor Reid, a passionate activist for Aboriginal health, said her AC – the only one for a female in this year's list – was a collective effort with friends and colleagues.
Veteran restaurateur Mr Lau, who was born in Canton and came to Australia in 1957 as a teenager, said his AM was "absolutely overwhelming – you want to pinch yourself several times". Mr Lau built the Flower Drum into one of the most famous restaurants in Australia. He sold it to three employees in 2003 and now lends his expertise to the Lau's Family Kitchen in St Kilda.
Melbourne lawyer John Denton – not to be confused with John Denton the eminent architect – received an AO for business and legal achievements and service to social welfare and refugees. The Founder of an Australian support group to the United National High Commission for Refugees, Mr Denton experienced the plight of asylum seekers first-hand as a young career diplomat in Baghdad.
Eighty-year-old Noel Tovey, the first Australian ballet dancer with Aboriginal heritage, received an AM for his work for indigenous performers and for gay and transgender groups. Mr Tovey, who lost a leg to cancer last year, endured a childhood damaged by sexual abuse but became a prominent performer in Australia and the UK. He founded a scholarship for underprivileged children.
Outstanding service in the battlefields of Afghanistan during Operation SLIPPER saw the Medal for Gallantry given to a special forces lance-corporal code named "M" (for security reasons). An army warrant officer code named "D" received an OAM in the military division for his actions in the same operation.
Possibly the youngest recipient of an OAM is School for Life Foundation founder, 28-year-old Annabelle Chauncy. In its eighth year, her charity now provides education for hundreds of Ugandan children.
