Following consultation with the Governor-General, Sir William Deane AC, KBE, I am pleased to announce the appointment of seven new Councillors to the Council of the Order of Australia. The Council for the Order of Australia meets twice a year to consider nominations and to make recommendations for awards in the Order of Australia to the Governor-General.
Rear Admiral ( rtd) Peter Sinclair AC will be the new chairman of the Council, which next meets on 11 and 12 September. This follows a decision by the Chief Justice of the High Court,Sir Gerard Brennan AC KBE to relinquish the position.
The other new Councillors are:
- Rear Admiral ( rtd) Peter Sinclair AC - Former Governor of NSW
- The Hon Sir James Killen KCMG - Barrister and former Federal Minister
- Mrs Marjorie Turbayne OAM - President ACT Australia Day Council
- Ms Anne Fulwood - News Presenter and member of the Film and Literature Board of Review
- Mr Allan Border AO - former Australian Cricket Captain
- Dr George Santoro AM - Former President Australian Medical Association ( Victorian Branch)
- Ms Sara Henderson - Grazier/ Author
Lois O'Donoghue CBE AM, Chairman of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commnission, has been reappointed to the Council.
All appointments are for two years.
I am delighted that these distinguished Australians have agreed to give freely of their time to this important national cormmittee. They bring with them a breadth of' experience and achievement which encompasses the whole community and which all Australians can respect and admire.
10 September 1996