Six New Englanders have been recognised in the 2026 King’s Birthday Honours, with five receiving the Order of Australia Medal and one receiving an Australian Fire Service Medal. Their distinguished contributions span community welfare, the arts, history preservation, emergency response, embroidery scholarship and a landmark environmental land rights battle.
Member for New England Barnaby Joyce extended his congratulations to all recipients.
“It is a great honour for these New England residents to be awarded an OAM. We should all be very proud to have them as part of our community,” Joyce said.
A life of service: Peter Kearsey honoured posthumously
Among the most poignant of this year’s recognitions is the posthumous awarding of the OAM to the late Peter Kearsey of Inverell, who passed away in August 2025 at the age of 79 following a short illness, surrounded by his family.
Kearsey’s story is one of remarkable resilience. Orphaned as a child in the United Kingdom, he arrived in Australia in the 1960s at just 14 years of age. What followed was a lifetime of giving back to the Inverell community across an extraordinary breadth of organisations.
He served the Inverell Lions Club for nearly four decades, holding almost every office available to him — president for five terms, treasurer for seven, and delegate to district, state and national conventions. In 2015 he was awarded the Melvin Jones Fellowship, Lions International’s highest honour. He was also recognised with the James D. Richardson Honour Award from the Australian Lions Foundation in 2022.
His service to Northaven Disability Services spanned 30 years, including more than six years as chair. Earlier in 2025, he was awarded life membership to the organisation. He was also a longstanding legatee of the Legacy Club of Inverell, serving as president from 2020 to 2022, and an active member of the Inverell Sub-Branch of the Returned and Services League of Australia from 2002 until his death.
Beyond those anchoring commitments, Kearsey served as a trustee of the Inverell Scout Group, a committee member of the Inverell Jockey Club, president of the Inverell Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the 1990s, a former justice of the peace, a former NSW ambulance officer, and a founding member of Inverell Community Transport. He was named Inverell Shire Council’s Citizen of the Year in 2021.
Joyce made special mention of Kearsey and his family in his remarks. “I would also like to make special acknowledgement of the late Peter Kearsey OAM and especially his wife Desma, who received an OAM in 2022 for her service to the Inverell community. I appreciate and thank your family for your service,” he said.
Kearsey is survived by his wife Desi, their three sons Bill, Bob and David, and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Farmer who helped defeat Shenhua mine recognised for community leadership
Susan Lyle of Gunnedah has been awarded the OAM for service to the community of Gunnedah, with her recognition anchored by one of the most significant grassroots environmental campaigns in the history of the Liverpool Plains.
A local farmer, Lyle served as chair of the Caroona Coal Action Group from 2011 to 2022, leading a 13-year fight against Chinese state-owned company Shenhua’s proposed open-cut coalmine on some of Australia’s most productive agricultural land. The campaign concluded in 2022 when Lyle facilitated a class action that resulted in Shenhua relinquishing its mining licences and local farmers buying back the land.
Beyond that defining campaign, Lyle has been a volunteer with the Gunnedah Branch of the Red Cross since 1984 and has served as its president since 2024. She also served as chairperson and board member of the Gunnedah Nursing Home from 1990 to 1997.
Walcha’s ‘Whitework Queen’ recognised for embroidery scholarship
Yvette Stanton of Walcha has been awarded the OAM for service to embroidery — a recognition that spans more than two decades of research, writing, teaching and preservation of some of the world’s rarest textile traditions.
A graphic design graduate who majored in book design, Stanton channelled her twin passions for embroidery and design into founding Vetty Creations in 2001, through which she has authored more than a dozen books on historical embroidery styles, particularly whitework. Titles include works on Portuguese bullion embroidery, Sardinian knotted embroidery, Norwegian pattern darning, Ukrainian drawn thread work and multiple volumes on Hardanger, the Norwegian counted thread technique.
Her expertise has earned her the informal title “Whitework Queen,” and her scholarship draws on more than 20 years of study of historical artefacts in museums around the world, as well as direct engagement with the cultural custodians of living embroidery traditions. She is now channelling this body of work toward a PhD in cutwork and whitework.
An accredited tutor and lecturer with the Embroiderers Guild of New South Wales, Stanton also runs online and in-person classes and a YouTube channel, White Threads FlossTube. She has been a consulting editor for international needlework publishers and a member of Walcha Council’s Arts Advisory Committee. She is a two-time recipient of the Roma Field Prize for Traditional Embroidery from the Embroiderers Guild of NSW, most recently in 2025.
From Gallipoli to the Pops: Lt. Col. Patrick Pickett’s musical legacy
Lieutenant Colonel Patrick Pickett CSM (Retd) of Tenterfield has received the OAM for more than 40 years of service to the performing arts, with a career that weaves together military distinction and orchestral leadership at the highest levels.
Pickett’s 37-year career in the Australian Defence Force began as an apprentice musician and culminated with his appointment as Director of Army Music, Head of Corps of the Australian Army Band Corps, and Commandant of the Defence Force School of Music — a position he held for five years. Among his most significant contributions was serving as music director for the 90th Anniversary Commemorations at Anzac Cove, Gallipoli, in 2005, and commander of the tri-service band element at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in 2006.
After retiring from the military, Pickett served as Chief Executive Officer of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra from 2009 to 2012, before launching Australian Musicians and Orchestra Services in 2013. That same year he became owner, artistic director and conductor of the Queensland Pops Orchestra, an ensemble that has been a fixture of Queensland’s entertainment landscape since the 1980s.
A Fellow of Conducting at Trinity College of Music London and a former adjunct professor in music at the University of Queensland, Pickett has also served on the Australian Music Examinations Board and as founding chair of the Independent Conservatorium of Music Council in NSW.
Now retired to Tenterfield, he remains active in the community through the Tenterfield Highlands Pipe Band and other community activities.
Archivist and historian Bill Oates honoured for preserving regional heritage
William Oates of Armidale has received the OAM for service to history preservation, recognised for more than two decades of work protecting the documentary and heritage record of the New England region.
Oates served for more than 17 years as director of the Heritage Centre at the University of New England Regional Archives before a university restructure led to his redundancy. He continues as an adjunct senior lecturer in the UNE School of Humanities, Archaeology and Social Sciences, and serves as a records officer for the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development.
He is patron of the Armidale and District Historical Society, a life member of the Glen Innes and District Historical Society, and a volunteer with the National Trust at Saumarez Homestead in Armidale. He also chaired the Australian Garden History Society’s Northern NSW sub-branch for nearly a decade.
Two decades on the fireground: Russell Clifton’s emergency service recognised
Russell Clifton of Uralla has been awarded the OAM for more than 20 years of service to the NSW Rural Fire Service, including over a decade as captain or deputy captain of the Kioloa Rural Fire Brigade on the NSW South Coast.
Originally from New Zealand, Clifton moved to Uralla four years ago after passing through the town and falling in love with the area. He and his wife Kathy became Australian citizens earlier this year at Uralla’s Australia Day ceremonies. He was awarded the National Emergency Medal for his service during the devastating 2019-2020 bushfire season and holds life membership of the Kioloa Fire Brigade.
A founding member of the Bawley Point-Kioloa and Termeil Men’s Shed and a founding member and treasurer of the Kioloa War Memorial Committee, Clifton’s dedication to community life long predates his move inland.
Half a century of firefighting: Garry Bashford receives Australian Fire Service Medal
Also recognised in this year’s honours is Garry Bashford of Kentucky, who received the Australian Fire Service Medal for distinguished service after joining the Kentucky Rural Fire Brigade in 1973.
Since taking on the role of group officer in 2004, Bashford has established himself as a respected member of the New England Senior Leadership Team, bringing exceptional leadership to both operational responses and community training. His commitment extends well beyond the fireground — he has significantly advanced local training through the Crew Leader program, mentoring new crew leaders for more than a decade, and was instrumental in helping deliver training as part of the NSW Rural Fire Service International Relations Project in Botswana.
Bashford has also served as chairperson of the Bush Fire Management Committee for the past two years, and is widely regarded as a welcoming and supportive presence for new brigade members.
Meritorious awards of this kind are recommended by the relevant minister for the Governor-General’s approval, with nominations coming from within service organisations.
Nominations for the Order of Australia can be made by any Australian at gg.gov.au.
Did we miss someone? If you know of a local or former local in the King’s Birthday Honours list, let us know by emailing newsdesk@netimes.com.au