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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-06-23 Daily Xml
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QUEEN'S BIRTHDAY HONOURS LIST

The Hon. CARMEL ZOLLO (15:10): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for the Status of Women a question about the Queen's Birthday Honours List.

Leave granted.

The Hon. CARMEL ZOLLO: The Queen's Birthday honours recognise hundreds of Australians each year and events are held around the country to celebrate their achievements. In light of the minister's interests in seeing more women recognised for their contributions to our community, will the minister tell us how many of the recipients were women and how many of these were from South Australia and also provide details of any events that were held in Adelaide to celebrate the Queen's Birthday and women's achievements?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Public Sector Management, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Government Enterprises, Minister for Gambling) (15:11): I thank the honourable member for her important question and ongoing interest in these important policy areas. Each year, the Queen's Birthday Honours List acknowledges Australians who have made a significant contribution to their communities right across the nation. These recipients inspire us through their achievements and are obviously role models for all of us. They often include the unsung heroes of our communities, many of whom are women.

I congratulate all 376 recipients in this year's Queen's Birthday Honours List and particularly acknowledge some of them. The Australian High Court judge, Susan Kiefel, received the top honour, the Companion of the Order of Australia, for her service to law and the judiciary. Also at a national level I congratulate Marie Coleman on becoming an officer in the general division of the Order of Australia (AO), and she was recognised for her distinguished service to the advancement of women. Apparently, she was a public servant in the Whitlam and Fraser governments.

In South Australia, a number of women received awards across the spectrum of the honours categories and I will acknowledge a few of them. Ms Elaine Attwood was honoured for services to the community, particularly women, through executive roles in the National Council of Women. She is also a significant advocate for human rights, human nutrition and health care policy. Of course, we know that our own Natasha Stott Despoja was recognised for her service to parliamentary Australia.

In the Order of Australia division (OAM), there were a number of people who were successful: Mrs Patricia Johnson, for services to veterans; Ms Marion McCall, for services to aviation Dr Pamela Ryan, for services to psychology; Ms Phillippa Aston, for outstanding public service in the area of housing for people with special needs; and Ms Susan Ireland, for outstanding public service in the area of health services.

As you can see, Mr President, it is an impressive list but, sadly, there were only 125 women who received honours this year compared to 251 men. What is evident is that, while women continue to contribute through their work in the community in business and public life, they are still not being nominated in the same numbers as men. Many women miss out on a place on the honours list simply because they are not nominated. I will obviously continue to work on a number of programs to help close that gap so that we can make sure that women are given credit where credit is due.

As members know, one of the initiatives that I have put in place to help increase nominations for state and national awards is the Women's Honour Roll. The honour roll pays tribute to the South Australian women for their outstanding contribution to the community in either paid or voluntary work. I am very pleased to say that nominations of outstanding women selected for inclusion in the honour roll will be assisted by the Office for Women in nominating those women for national awards and honours, as well as the 'Women Hold Up Half the Sky' Australia Day Council of South Australia Award.

In relation to the second part of the question, one of the events held to celebrate the Queen's Birthday and the Commonwealth Day theme of 'Women as Agents of Change' was a reception hosted by His Excellency Rear Admiral Kevin Scarce at Government House, attended by his wife Liz Scarce. They are very generous hosts, I have to say. The focus of the event was on celebrating regional and rural women as agents of change. A diverse range of women from a range of sectors attended.

Ms Alysha Hermann, recipient of the South Australian Young Citizen of the Year Award presented at the Australia Day Council of SA awards in January this year, was the guest speaker. She was most impressive. She comes from the Riverland. In her background she was faced with a large number of challenges which she overcame. She was quite inspirational, and she was one of many inspirational, hardworking women who attended the event. She was a wonderful speaker, and I very much enjoyed hearing what she had to say and having an opportunity to chat briefly with her. I also would like to mention that my colleague the Hon. Michelle Lensink also attended the event. I am sure that she enjoyed the guest speaker's address as much as I did.

The Hon. J.M.A. Lensink interjecting:

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: She is nodding. As usual, Government House put on a really wonderful event. I also acknowledge the Office for Women, which helped Government House staff organise this event. They are absolute troopers, and I very much appreciate all the work that the team from the Office for Women do. It is important for young women, in particular, to see women honoured as it sends a very important message that women are valued in our community for the contribution they make in all areas of life.

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