Australia’s beloved Olympic sprinter Cathy Freeman has been recognised in this year’s Australia Day Honours list alongside a driving force of one of the Games’ youngest sports, skateboarding, a world-leading quantum scientist, a children’s book illustrator, rock royalty and the enforcer of Australia’s world-first social media ban.
Freeman was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia, the country’s highest civilian honour. Her sensational athletic achievements were applauded by the honours committee, which also acknowledged her social impact across the community, her work on the reconciliation movement in the spirit of unity and inclusion, and as a role model to young people.
Julie Inman Grant, the eSafety commissioner, received a Public Service Medal in recognition of her work shepherding Australia’s social media ban, with her “exceptional leadership, courage and resolve in protecting Australians online” praised by the committee.
Midnight Oil’s Rob Hirst, whose death was announced on Tuesday, posthumously becomes a Member of the Order of Australia for his service to the performing arts.
Having formed the band in 1976, Hirst was best known for his incandescent drumming abilities, but he was also the cowriter of the lyrics and melodies for many of the band’s best-known songs including Beds Are Burning and The Dead Heart.
All awardees must be alive when nominated and are notified of their honour before it is made public.
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The world-leading quantum physicist and former Australian of the Year, Prof Michelle Simmons, whose pioneering work on atomic electronics has seen Australia become the only country in the world with the capacity to manufacture at the atomic scale, was appointed Companion of the Order of Australia.
“I’m delighted and surprised and very grateful to whoever nominated me,” she told Guardian Australia. “It’s a wonderful honour.”
Simmons came to Australia from Cambridge in 1999 and, having spearheaded the University of NSW’s quantum research and in 2017 founded Silicon Quantum Computing, “never looked back”. She is now at the forefront of the global race to build a full-scale quantum computer with the power to “transform the world”.
“I’ve pursued all the way through [my career] the thing that’s interested me the most and has given me the biggest sense of, ‘Wow, that was worthwhile doing,’” she said. “We’ve got this great Australian company that’s leading the quantum computing world globally, and it’s just the beginning.”
The list this year celebrated the efforts of 949 Australians across industries and backgrounds. Of the 680 civilian awardees, 496 were men and 184 were women.
Two of those were the former premiers of Queensland and NSW, Annastacia Palaszczuk and Kristina Keneally. Palaszczuk, who was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia, told Guardian Australia the recognition had come as a “complete surprise”.
“I’m deeply honoured to be receiving this award, but also, I’m extremely humbled. From the outset, I want to thank Queenslanders who stood by me through thick and thin, whether it was through cyclones, floods, bushfires, and of course, the pandemic. My hat goes off to Queenslanders who did everything that was asked of them during those times.”
She said she hoped to inspire a new generation of politically engaged Australians.
“I think in this uncertain world that we live in, it’s absolutely critical that young people understand government and politics. We need good people to step up and get involved,” she said.
Mathias Cormann, the OECD secretary general and a former finance minister in the Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison governments, also became a Companion of the Order.
The Indigenous social activist and former AFL executive Tanya Hosch was appointed a Member of the Order. She told Guardian Australia many of her career opportunities have been down to the work of important leaders before and peers alongside her.
She singled out her work as part of the Recognise movement, “warming” the country to 2023’s Indigenous voice referendum and serving as the AFL’s social inclusion manager as some of her proudest achievements.
“Despite the failure of the actual vote itself, the opportunity to talk to Australians from all around the country and all walks of life about that gap in our constitution was amazing,” she said.
Skateboarder Renton Millar, the head skateboarding judge at the Paris Olympics, was awarded a Medal of the Order after nearly 40 transformative years in the sport, including its induction into the Games at Tokyo 2020.
The children’s book author and artist Graeme Base, best known for his award-winning 1980s works Animalia and The Eleventh Hour, became a Member of the Order.
Anyone can nominate any Australian for an award in the Order of Australia. Nominations can be made now at www.gg.gov.au.
