AN EMERGENCY doctor, community stalwart and advocate for people abused as children in care are three Redlanders named in the Australia Day honours list.
They and 1397 others have been recognised for their contributions to their local community and the nation.
Governor-General Peter Cosgrove said the efforts of all award recipients were inspiring.
- Read more: Meet the Redlands top Australians
- Read more: What’s on this Australia Day
- Read more: Australian of the Year winners honoured
“While typically they haven’t sought thanks or recognition, they deserve both,” he said.
Mr Cosgrove said some award recipients were well-known but most were unsung heroes.
They came from different backgrounds and fields but they were unified in their tireless efforts to make Australia a better place.
“Their generosity, selflessness, compassion, dedication, commitment to service and energy inspire and motivate all of us,” Mr Crosgrove said.
Dr Harvey Hunt, Mr Desmond Stevens and Mr Jim Luthy have been recognised today.
Read their stories below.
Dr Harvey Hunt, AM
DR HARVEY Hunt has been appointed to the Order of Australia for his services to emergency medicine.
The Cleveland man, who was a surgeon and continues to work in emergency medicine, said he loved helping patients.
Dr Hunt qualified as a general surgeon in 1981 after he finished studies in medicine at the University of Queensland less than a decade earlier.
He said he was inspired to enter the field by his invalid aunt, who he had helped care for.
“She said ‘you’re good at this, you should go into the field’,” he said.
Dr Hunt said he had always liked helping people.
His career had taken him overseas, across Australia and also to schools and driving workshops to help young people understand the impacts of crash trauma.
“I am very lucky because it is doing something I love doing,” he said.
The 70-year-old said his biggest achievement was helping people who would have otherwise died or become severely disabled.
He had taught more than 50 courses to young doctors and paramedics to help them understand how to care for patients.
“You acquire a lot of knowledge,” he said. “It is lovely to pass that onto juniors.”
“You help the person through their illness to lessen the burden of their acute and chronic disease.”
Dr Hunt, who found out he was nominated by colleagues, said he was humbled by the award.
He has helped people overseas during deployments with the Australian Defence Force to places like the Solomon Islands and East Timor.
He said he was delighted to find out a girl he treated more than five years ago had recently earned top marks at her school.
Dr Hunt has been employed by Queensland Health for roles including director of emergency services at both Redland and Rockhampton hospitals.
He has also served with the Rockhampton Aerial Ambulance, Royal Flying Doctor Service and Capricorn Helicopter Rescue Service.
Dr Hunt continues to help retrieve injured and unwell Australian citizens from overseas, provide medical support for Australian military during exercises and assist oil and gas workers and their families in remote Western Australia.
Mr Desmond Stevens, OAM
A REDLANDS stalwart who has helped domestic violence victims, steered local radio and agricultural shows and looked after community halls has been awarded.
Victoria Point man Desmond Stevens said he did not know who nominated him but was humbled by his Medal of the Order of Australia.
“You help some people and it can be such a simple and little thing and they can’t thank you enough,” he said
The 76-year-old, who was named Redlands citizen of the year in in 1989, said he had continued to be active in his efforts to help others.
Mr Stevens has a background in broadcasting.
He was a longtime president of the Actors’ Equity of Queensland and also Bayside Community Radio Station, which he helped set up.
Mr Stevens used to volunteer his skills at fundraising events like Relay for Life, donating his time and expertise in PA systems.
He continues to volunteer as a radio technician at classical music station 4MBS.
Mr Stevens, who grew up in a farming family, exhibited produce at Redlands Show before he became involved with the show’s co-ordination.
He became an announcer and helped other south-east Queensland show societies, also volunteering for Redlands Strawberry Festival.
Mr Stevens said he began his community work because he wanted to help people and make the Redlands a better place to live.
His has contributed extensively to different community causes throughout his life.
For the past 30 years, he has supported domestic violence service Maybanke Association with his wife Rosemary Skelly, OAM.
He continues to help Queensland Cancer Council’s Redlands branch and looks after community halls across the Redlands.
Mr Stevens is a life member of the Redland Show Society, RedFest, the Bayside Community Radio Association and Thornlands Dance Palaise Hall.
He is also a Paul Harris Fellow with the Rotary Club of Redland Sunrise and was a member and volunteer for Calisto Park Equestrian Centre for Special Needs.
Mr Stevens, a justice of the peace, said he regularly visited seniors at their homes to help them with paperwork.
Mr Jim Luthy, OAM
A BIRKDALE man who helped expose the horrendous abuse of children in care by Salvation Army church officers has been awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia.
Jim Luthy said he was the first person to write to the Salvation Army general in England demanding an apology for victims.
Mr Luthy was placed into the Gill Memorial Boys’ Home at Goulburn as a teen.
He later told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse about his experiences, helping to bring about justice for victims.
“I ended up being thanked by Julia Gillard,” Mr Luthy said. “My story is recorded and put into the national library.
Mr Luthy served as president of the Care Leavers Australasian Network from 2010 to 2014.
He said the verbal, physical, emotional and sexual abuse by Salvation Army church officers to children in care at orphanages was criminal.
Mr Luthy said it took 10 years of campaigning for plaques to be installed at orphanages, including girls’ homes, acknowledging the abuse.
He continues to help survivors of childhood abuse secure compensation.
“As a result also of my advocacy a Salvation Army officer whose brutality was well known was also dismissed due to his cruelty,” he said.
Mr Luthy said he did not know who nominated him for the OAM but he was honoured by the recognition.
“I was pretty flabbergasted and shocked,” he said. “I am quite excited and very happy and amazed.”
Mr Luthy has earned seven tertiary qualifications, including two masters and has worked for the Education Department throughout his career.
He set up Alexandra Hills TAFE’s hospitality program in the late 1980s, started a school of hospitality excellence at Calamvale Community College and managed business and justice faculties for the Metropolitan South Institute of TAFE.
He has also served on boards for the TAFE Bayside Branch and Wynnum/Manly Housing Co-operative, volunteered as an English language tutor and consulted at the Donald Simpson Community Centre.
Mr Luthy has been a justice of the peace for the past 25 years.
