A woman who has devoted years to women in regional Queensland and a man with the Mareeba District Rodeo at his heart have been recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.
Einasleigh’s Terry Ann Cranwell has been made a Member in the general division of the Order of Australia, for her “significant service to parliament and politics in Queensland, and to women in rural and regional communities”, while Jim Blakeney of Mareeba received a Medal in the General Division for service to horse sports.
Ms Cranwell jointly owns and manages Ellendale Station and has long been concerned about increasing debt levels and the psychological stress that drought and financial hardship has put on fellow cattle producers in the region.
Together with Seachange Psychology in Cairns, she has been concentrating on bringing psychological help out to the area on a regular basis, and she used the announcement of the honour to highlight the ongoing need for the service together with a need for funding for assistance to continue.
“It’s still very tough here for people who’ve been through fire and drought – there’s just not the money about, and I think it will cost the government more in the long term if they don’t address it now,” she said.
She added that she was a very proud AM recipient but had never looked for recognition.
Ms Cranwell’s service includes filling most executive roles on The Nationals Women’s federal council at some time from 2008, the vice presidency of the Queensland National Party in 2007-08, and honorary life membership of the Young Nationals.
She has been a member of the Queensland Nursing Council for six years, was the secretary-treasurer of the Mt Surprise Royal Flying Doctor Service from 1971 to 2001, served as an Einasleigh Hospital board member for nine years, and has been a vice president of the Atherton Tablelands Country Women's Association.
Ms Cranwell also worked for the Drought Victims Appeal in 2015-2016, and in the 1990s.
Jim Blakeney is just as well-known in his community, having been president of the Mareeba Rodeo Association for 35 years.
All up, he has been a member for 47 years and is currently the caretaker at the grounds.
Last year he was named the Mareeba Shire Council Citizen of the Year, and in 2006 he received the shire’s Australia Day Sports Administrator award.
The honours list announced on Monday showed a record 15 per cent increase in female recipients compared to the Australia Day honours list earlier in the year.
This was said to be due to a campaign to honour more women in the community.
The success rate for nominations of women was 77.6pc for the 2018 Queen’s Birthday honours list. This was 10pc higher than the success rate for men and continues the long-term trend for nominations of women being more successful than those for men.
It is now even easier to nominate someone for an honour in the Order of Australia, following the launching of a new electronic nomination form in January.
From implementation of the new nomination form on 26 January to 30 April, there was a 71pc increase in nominations overall, compared to the same period in 2017.