John Williams (NSW, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise tonight to speak about two outstanding Inverell citizens who were awarded Medal of the Order of Australia medals on Australia Day. The Inverell district owes a debt of gratitude to Brian Laurance Baldwin and Margaret Ann Hodgens.

Brian Baldwin is known to everyone as Spike. That is his nickname. Many of us get nicknames, Madam Acting Deputy President. Spike has devoted much of his life, in fact, since the age of 16, when he first joined St. Vincent De Paul, to helping his community.

He was regional president of St. Vincent De Paul for five years, but has been heavily involved at many levels and is still involved today. This included visiting Inverell Hospital for 21 years and popping in to cheer up patients, some of whom had no-one else to visit them. For 17 years he was a member of Inverell Apex Club and then he moved on to Inverell Rotary Club where he has held many positions and was named a Paul Harris Fellow, a coveted Rotary award.

He loves his church and has a strong Catholic faith. Parish priest Father Joe Adriano once said:

Brian Baldwin is the parish. One of the greatest citizens of this country. He shares his time with people without personal motive. If you want to know what an Australian is, look at Brian Baldwin.

This extends to Holy Trinity School at Inverell where he has led fundraising activities and held positions on the school board.

Spike's career was as a stock and station agent and he has been a member of the Australian Livestock and Property Agents Association since the early sixties. He gave his time to young men who wanted to learn how to be a good auctioneer. Spike himself has donated his services as an auctioneer at hundreds of charity events.

Spike is also a race caller. He called the Texas Cup meeting last Saturday. He has been a racing official, Inverell Citizen of the Year in 2011 and just an all-round good bloke who has done so many things for so many people in our community.

Thank you to his wife Helen, his two daughters Wendy and Libby, and sons Shon and Peter for sharing their husband and father with all of us in our community.

And now to Margaret Ann Hodgens. She is called the gatekeeper of Inverell's family history. Ann saw a need to revive and preserve Inverell's history and, rather than expect someone else to do it, she became the founder and president of the Inverell District Family History Group Inc. from 1984 to 1987 and from 2005 to 2012.

Since 2003 she has been the research coordinator for the Family Ties project, in conjunction with the University of New England, researching the histories of the people of the Newstead-Elsmore pastoral district near Inverell in northern New South Wales. Ann was also involved in the early stages of the restoration and conservation of the Newstead homestead in partnership with the Inverell Shire Council in 2007. Newstead Homestead was owned in the 1800s by Duncan Anderson—a relative of former Deputy Prime Minister, John Anderson—and his good friend and artist Tom Roberts was a frequent visitor. This was the inspiration for his classic paintings: The Golden Fleece which centred on Newstead's shearing shed; Bailed Up, which was the scene of a bushranger holding up a stagecoach on Paradise Road; and In the Corner of the Macintyre .

Ann was an invited speaker at the New England and North West Regional Royal Australian Historical Society's annual conference, held in Armidale in 2010, and again at the society's annual New South Wales State Conference, held in Maitland during 2011. Also in 2011, Ann was the co-convenor of the New South Wales and ACT Association of Family History Societies Inc. State Conference, held in Inverell. I remember the events very well. She was the author and co-author of local history publications including, The Byron Arcade and A Fine Body of Men: Inverell Remembers the Kurrajongs 1916.

My sincere congratulations to both Brian Baldwin and Ann Hodgens on this wonderful honour bestowed upon them this Australia Day. I congratulate all those Australians who received awards on the recent Australia Day. We are fortunate to have so many fine Australians who do so much for their communities and make such a contribution to our country towns, our states and our country. I also mention former mayor of Inverell shire Mal Peters, who received an Order of Australia medal. So to those people: well done, we are very proud of you and the community is very proud of you. To Ann Hodgens and her wonderful work with the historical society and to Brian 'Spike' Baldwin, a legend of Inverell—everyone knows Spike at the saleyards, at the racetrack, at church or wherever—we congratulate them for a well-deserved reward.