Eleven Coasties have been recognised in the King’s Birthday honours list.
The region saw one AO appointment, three AM appointments, six OAMs awarded and one Meritorious award.
Individuals are appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for distinguished service of a high degree to Australia or to humanity at large.
They are appointed 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.
Anthony David Buckley AO
Anthony David Buckley AM of Point Clare was appointed an AO for distinguished service to the cinematic arts as a producer, director and editor, and to film preservation.
At 88 years of age, he has a long and impressive list of achievements which have been recognised over the years with a multitude of prizes and awards, including the Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 1977.
His contribution to the growth of Australian filmmaking includes working on films such as Caddie, Bliss, Oyster Farmer (set on the Hawkesbury River), The Irishman, Jessica and The Killing of Angel Street and television series including The Harp in the South, Celluloid Heroes and Man on the Rim, to name just a few.
Buckley has been heavily involved with the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia and other significant organisations involved with the preservation of films.
“It is very important because when you come to think of it, it is (a recording of) our social history,” he said.
Previous accolades include The Ken G Hall Award (2000) National Film and Sound Archive; Life Membership (2010) Screen Producers Association of Australia; National Film Man of the Year (1982) The Society of Australian Cinema Pioneers.
Beverley Kingston AM
Dr Beverley Kingston of Woy Woy has been appointed AM for significant service to community history and tertiary education.
She was chair of the Australian Dictionary of Biography New South Wales Working Party from 1994 to 2023, editorial board member from 1996-2021 and member from 1970-2023.
She has also been a patron of Jessie Street National Women’s Library since 2022 and board member from 2006 to 2022.
A committee member of Pearl Beach Progress Association from 2017 to 2021, Kingston wrote Pearl Beach and Progress, The Story of a Community and Idea 1929-2009.
A history teacher and former associate professor, she also wrote: A History of New South Wales, Basket, Bag and Trolley; A History of Shopping in Australia, The World Moves Slowly; A Documentary History of Australian Women and My Wife, My Daughter, and Poor Mary Ann; and Women and Work in Australia.
Her awards and recognition include Fellow, Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, 1994, and Annual History Citation, History Council of New South Wales.
Graeme Hughes AM
Associate Professor Graeme Jackson Hughes of Pearl Beach has been appointed an AM for significant service to medicine in the field of fertility.
He has been clinical director of IVF Australia (Virtus Health) since 2002 and while he is now semi-retired, he still misses delivering babies.
The Graeme Hughes Birthing Room at the Royal Hospital for Women Randwick was named in his honour.
Born in Sydney, he studied medicine at the University of NSW and decided to specialise in obstetrics and gynaecology.
He worked for six years in Scotland before returning to Australia for a lectureship back at UNSW and the position of visiting medical officer at the Royal Hospital for Women and the Prince of Wales Private Hospital.
He ran the Ovulation Induction Clinic and then pioneered an IVF clinic with colleagues which became IVF Australia.
“It has been such a joy to me – there’s no other job in the world like it,” he said.
Hughes wrote a book in 2023 – The Baby Maker: Memoirs of a Gynaecologist and IVF Specialist – and has authored more than 15 articles.
Bronwen Dalton AM
Professor Bronwen Dalton of Umina Beach was appointed an AM for significant service to social advocacy, social justice academia and to charitable organisations.
She has been the Head of Department of Management, University of Technology Business School, since 2018 and Director, Masters Not-for Profit and Social Enterprise Program, since 2003.
She has held many positions and received multiple awards and recognition for her work in volunteering and the charity field and not-for-profit organisations.
“I am absolutely thrilled to receive such recognition; my inspiration is all of the amazing folk who work in Australia’s charity and not-for-profit sector,” she said.
“These selfless organisations have afforded me so many amazing opportunities, from being a high school Rotary exchange student in Korea to working with the University of Technology’s staff and students, to starting our own charity washing dogs for the homeless called Ruff Sleepers.”
She and her family moved to Umina Beach a few years ago and have immersed themselves in Central Coast life, including being involved at Umina Surf Life Saving Club.
Lise Blanche, OAM
Lise Marie Blanche (formerly Smith) of Long Jetty has been awarded an OAM for service to the community through a range of organisations, primarily VIEW Clubs of Australia, raising money for The Smith Family.
She was a National Councillor for the Central Coast Area in 2016 and a Zone Councillor from 2014-2015.
She is a former Vice President and Former Fundraising Co-ordinator of Bateau Bay VIEW Club and was a Founding Member in 2001, retaining her membership until 2023.
“I had just come to the Central Coast from Sydney when I met some people from VIEW and decided to start a branch in Bateau Bay,” she said.
“It has been wonderful to do whatever we can to help the children in their learning.”
Born in Mauritius, she emigrated to Australia at the age of 30 and began a career in the healthcare management sector.
She performed various administration and management roles in Western Sydney hospitals from 1980-2000 and started the HR department at Mt Druitt hospital.
“When I retired I chose the Central Coast because I grew up surrounded by beaches and had always loved the Central Coast’s beachside locations,” she said.
Lance Harrigan, OAM
Lance Elwyn Harrigan of Terrigal was excited to be awarded an OAM for service to the community through a range of organisations.
With a stellar career in education, he has been principal and deputy principal at various schools over the years, including at Erina High School in 1997-1998.
He first became involved with Rotary in 1999, after having previously been active with Terrigal/Wamberal Lions Club from1997-1998.
For the Rotary Club of Gosford North, he has served as Vice-President, Fundraising Director, Social Director and Secretary/Attendance.
He was an inaugural committee member of the Save our Kids from Suicide (SOKS) Project on the Central Coast in 2011.
“I am very proud of the fact that SOKS has raised over $1M for youth programs on the Coast, including in the fields of suicide prevention and the development of youth leadership,” he said.
He first joined Terrigal Country Club (now Breakers Country Golf Club) in 1997, and was made a Life Member in 2024.
He has also been active with South Sydney Referees Association and the NSW Rugby League Referees Association over the years.
“I am proud of helping young people become referees, coaching and helping them to develop,” he said.
He has also been very involved in junior cricket and rugby league.
Mark Holton, OAM
With an impressive career in accounting and a long involvement with sport, Mark Kevin Holton of Terrigal was “surprised and humbled” to be awarded an OAM for service to the community through a range of organisations.
“Back in 2003 Ian Robilliard approached me to help form the Central Coast Academy of Sport,” he said.
“There were so many good kids needing coaching and development on the Coast who were having to travel vast distances and that was putting pressure on their families.”
He became founding chair of the Central Coast Academy, which later merged with the Hunter and then with northern and south academies to form the Regional Academies of Sport, of which he is still Chairman.
“I have a wonderful team behind me and a wonderful Board,” he said.
“Some of our kids have gone on to Olympic and Commonwealth Games and others have fulfilled their potential, which is equally rewarding.”
A former rugby league referee for the Winfield Cup, Holton is also a Board member of Gosford Race Club, active in the NSW Rugby League Referees Association, a Director on the Board of Central Coast Basketball, a former Board member for Terrigal Wamberal Rugby League Football Club and an honorary member of the Professional Golfers Association of Australia.
He has been Deputy Chair of Bendigo Bank – East Gosford and Districts Financial Services, but it his work for Ronald MacDonald House that is his greatest passion.
Louise Lambeth, OAM
Louise Lambeth of Woy Woy didn’t obtain her bronze medallion until she was in her 40s, but has been a powerhouse in surf lifesaving ever since and has been awarded an OAM for her service to the sector.
“My husband has been a patrolling member of Ocean Beach SLSC for over 50 years and our daughter became a nipper,” she said.
“My husband encouraged me to do my bronze medallion at the age of 47 and it was wonderful to get out on rescue boards and learn how to catch waves and perform rescues.”
Together with husband Peter she established the Beach to Bush program and in 2018 they co-founded Deepwater Publishing, which has published several water safety books.
“Everything we earn goes back into more books,” she said.
“They create conversations with families; seeing children reading Annie and the Waves and our other books is an amazing gift.”
Lambeth is sought-after as a speaker on water safety.
Her community work includes acting as Volunteer Liaison Officer for Central Coast Local Health District from 2018-2022 and volunteering at Woy Woy Presbyterian Church.
She was named Gosford Woman of the Year at the NSW Local Woman of the Year Awards in 2024.
Peter Lambeth, OAM
Joining his wife Louise on the honours list, Peter William Lambeth of Woy Woy was also awarded an OAM for service to surf lifesaving.
He first joined Ocean Beach Surf Club when they started nippers in 1966 and has been active ever since.
“I’m not real sporty but I spoke to a member of the club and he got me interested in what they were going to do,” he said.
For Surf Life Saving Central Coast he has been an Age Manager since 2010 and was named Lifesaver of the Year in 2014.
He received the Community Education Program Award in 2024, the Branch Innovation Award in 2023 and completed Supplementary Learning for Patrol Captains in 2021.
He is also a member of Management, Finance, Carnival, Social, Lifesaving and Executive committees.
With wife Louise, he has facilitated eight Beach to Bush tours and received a 50-year Long Service Award in 2024.
“With Bush to Beach, we visit mostly schools in the countryside and explain about the flags, rips, what the lifesavers do,” he said.
“Some of these kids are gobsmacked when we turn up in our red and yellow gear with surfboards at their schools.”
Rodney Charles Smith of Shelly Beach said news of his OAM came “out of the blue”.
Awarded for service to the welfare of veterans, Smith enjoyed a 35-year career as an officer in the Royal Australian Air Force and the Royal Australian Air Force Reserve.
“My father was ex-Army and I wanted to be a pilot,” he said.
“But I didn’t have the aptitude, so I worked in weapons systems – they called us gunnies.”
After 20 years in the Air Force, Smith joined the Air Force Reserve, continuing to serve for another 15 years.
He is a recipient of the British Empire Medal.
But it is for his volunteer work since his discharge that he has been recognised.
“I started out as Pensions and Welfare Officer for the Ettalong Sub-Branch of the Returned and Services (RSL) League of Australia and then joined The Entrance Long Jetty Sub-Branch when we moved to Shelly Beach,” he said.
He has been a committee member, Welfare Officer and Pensions Officer for the sub-branch since 2011.
He has been a trustee since 2016 and co-ordinator of the Drop-in-Centre since 2021.
“The drop-in centre is a place where veterans can enjoy a cup of coffee and a chat with like-minded people,” he said.
Stephen Ivan Raymond – Emergency Services Medal
While he lives at Dora Creek, Stephen Raymond has been recognised for his work in emergency services, including for Marine Rescue on the Central Coast.
He has spent half his life in emergency services, first in the Rural Fire Service and for the past nine years in Marine Rescue.
Raymond’s career began in 1989 as a volunteer for the NSW Rural Fire Service, followed by his professional appointment in 2001 as a fire control officer for numerous regions until he joined Marine Rescue NSW in 2016.
In his current role at MRNSW he has made a lasting and significant contribution through his operational duties as the former regional training manager, regional operations manager and current zone duty operations manager for the Sydney and Hunter Central Coast regions.
He manages seven units from Point Clare to Port Stephens.
“It’s a job I love doing … working with the volunteers (who are) passionate people doing things for their community … making sure they’ve got the training and equipment and that they’re safe as well, that’s my job and I enjoy doing that,” Raymond said.
His roles within MRNSW encompass significant responsibilities for operational search and rescue, management and resourcing, volunteer training and liaison, and as a mentor he is generous with his time.
Congratulations to all recipients. Great to see local people being rewarded.