The Governor-General has announced the Queen’s Birthday 2020 Honours List, recognising 933 Australians.
Included in the list are:
710 recipients of awards in the General Division of the Order of Australia (3 AC, 50 AO, 200 AM and 457 OAM)
28 recipients of awards in the Military Division of the Order of Australia (3 AO, 12 AM and 13 OAM); and
128 meritorious awards.
“In this list we see all the positives that are in our community – we see the great ideas, we see the hard-work, we see the love and compassion for fellow human beings – it’s a microcosm of Australia,” the Governor-General said.
“This list recognises a group of outstanding Australians who have made a contribution to their community, to Australia globally or domestically. Their efforts have been noted by their peers, they’ve been nominated and assessed independently as worthy of recognition. At the top of the list is: The Honourable Tony ABBOTT NSW For eminent service to the people and Parliament of Australia, particularly as Prime Minister, and through significant contributions to trade, border control, and to the Indigenous community. ****************************************************** How do you get one? (from Wiki)
A list of approximately 1,350 names is published twice a year, at the New Year and on the date of the Sovereign's (official) birthday.
Since their decisions are inevitably subjective, the twice-yearly honours lists often provoke criticism from those who feel strongly about particular cases.
Candidates are identified by public or private bodies, by government departments, or are nominated by members of the public. Depending on their roles, those people selected by the honours committee are submitted either to the Prime Minister, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, or Secretary of State for Defence for their approval before being sent to the Sovereign for final approval.
Certain honours are conferred solely at the Sovereign's discretion, such as appointments to the Order of the Garter, the Order of the Thistle, the Royal Victorian Order,and the Order of Merit.
You can find a full list of recipients that includes South Coast residents below: Queen's Birthday 2020 Honours List
Biographical notes for recipients are available here.
Of interest:
A small number of people each year refuse the offer of an award for personal or political reasons.
Notable examples
Outgoing prime ministers:
Neville Chamberlain declined an earldom and appointment as Knight of the Garter.
Sir Winston Churchill declined a dukedom in order to remain in the House of Commons and to allow his son Randolph Churchill a political career.
Sir Edward Heath declined a life peerage in order to remain in the House of Commons.
Sir John Major declined a life peerage, saying elevation to the House of Lords was incompatible with retirement from politics.
Tony Blair declined a life peerage.
Gordon Brown declined a life peerage.
John Cleese declined appointment as CBE and later declined a life peerage.
Frank Pick declined both a knighthood and a peerage.
David Bowie declined a knighthood.
Stephen Hawking declined a knighthood.
Benjamin Zephaniah declined an OBE, describing it as a legacy of colonialism.
George Bernard Shaw declined an Order of Merit, replying that "merit" in authorship could only be determined by the posthumous verdict of history.
Honor Blackman declined a CBE as she is a republican.
John Lennon returned his MBE (awarded in 1965) in 1969, although no official provision exists for renouncing an honour.
Geraldine McEwan declined a damehood
Vanessa Redgrave declined a damehood in 1999, but accepted a CBE in 1967.
Gareth Peirce declined a CBE
