Late charity campaigner and Catholic priest Father Bob Maguire is one of more than 1000 Australians to be honoured in the 2024 Australia Day Honours List.
Also honoured with awards were late INXS band manager Chris “CM” Murphy, TV journalists Sandra Sully and David Koch, former Victorian chief health officer Brett Sutton and veteran Hockeyroo Rachael Lynch.
The governor-general today recognised 1042 Australians for their dedication to the fields of art, science, medicine, charity work and military service.
Forty-nine Australians received recognition for their contribution to Australia’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Governor-General David Hurley today congratulated the recipients.
“In my experience most are humble and often try to deflect attention or praise – please enjoy the moment because your country has decided that you deserve recognition,” he said.
Maguire was made an Officer of the Medal of Australia (AO) for his service to the community through social welfare initiatives, including his own crisis relief charity the Father Bob Maguire Foundation.
Maguire, who died in April last year aged 88, was previously made a Member of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 1989, which was today boosted to the second highest degree in the order.
Also made an Officer of the Medal of Australia (AO) was Victoria’s former chief health officer Brett Sutton, who became the face of the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sutton’s part in harsh lockdown restrictions made him a polarising figure among Victorians, but his service is credited with helping the state achieve a 61-day streak of zero community COVID-19 cases in late 2020 and zero COVID-19 deaths for nine months to August 2021.
Controversially, a court ruled late last year that Sutton unfairly ordered the closure of I Cook Foods, after he blamed the catering company for the death of an elderly woman from listeria in 2019.
Murphy was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) posthumously for service to the performing arts through music.
He was best known as the long-time band manager of INXS from 1979 to 1995 and saw success in his personal record labels rooART and Petrol Electric.
Murphy died in January 2021 aged 66 following a battle with mantle cell lymphoma.
Dual Olympian and Commonwealth Games gold medallist Rachael Lynch was named a Member of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to hockey.
Lynch is a three-time medallist at the Commonwealth Games, winning gold for the Hockeyroos in 2010 and 2014, along with a silver medal at the 2018 Gold Coast Games.
The goalkeeper also represented her country at the 2016 Rio Olympics and 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
She worked as a nurse at the Fiona Stanley Hospital in Perth during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Australia Days Honours saw four Australians recognised as Companions of the Order of Australia (AC) – the highest degree of recognition in the order.
That includes Professor University of Queensland vice-chancellor and president Deborah Terry AO and criminologist Professor Lorraine Mazerolle, who was honoured for her development of innovative, evidence-based policing reforms.
Commonwealth Bank’s first female chair Catherine Livingstone AO was also made an AC, alongside chemical engineer Emeritus Professor David Boger, who is credited with findings and research of non-Newtonian fluids.
Australia Day Honours explained
- Individuals are appointed as a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) for eminent achievement and merit of the highest degree in service to Australia or to humanity at large.
- Individuals are appointed as an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for distinguished service of a high degree to Australia or to humanity at large
- Individuals are appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for service in a particular locality or field of activity or to a particular group.
- The Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) is awarded for service worthy of particular recognition.
