Noor Blumer says Canberra is where everything happened for her. Photo: Ruth Flores/Blumers.
A pioneering female lawyer who established a national personal injury firm from Canberra and called out a former High Court judge for sexual harassment has been recognised in today’s Australia Day Honours List.
Noor Blumer negotiated being a teenage mother to attain a law degree, a master’s degree at ANU, and became president of the ACT Law Society and director of the Law Council of Australia.
Speaking from her hometown, Perth, where she has been establishing the WA office of Blumers, Ms Blumer said she was thrilled and burst into tears when told she had been made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM).
She joins dozens of others from the Canberra region whose feats across academia, the law, the arts, the public service, sport and the community have been recognised.
Almost 1000 Australians have been honoured in the Order of Australia (General and Military Divisions), meritorious awards and for distinguished and conspicuous service.
Ms Blumer remains an Adjunct Professor at the University of Canberra, where she alleged that Justice Dyson Heydon groped her at the 2013 Law Ball, helping to bring to light a pattern of offending.
“I still have young women and young lawyers coming up to me saying how much they appreciated that I was prepared to speak out,” she said.
It emerged that young female law students were also harassed at the ball but were afraid for their careers if they spoke out.
Justice Heydon’s behaviour eventually resulted in an independent inquiry and compensation payouts to six associates at the High Court.
Ms Blumer said coming to Canberra felt like being at the centre of things.
“I’m very grateful, and I’m very, very thankful for those around me who have supported me in so many ways over the years and supported the causes that I’ve been involved in so passionately … particularly in the area of gender equity, court administration and access to justice,” she said.
Ms Blumer said that despite some old-guard resistance, the legal profession had come a long way since she started her career in the early 1990s, with the position of women within the profession greatly improved, particularly within the judiciary.
She still has a deep and abiding connection to Canberra. She is concerned about issues such as insurance companies’ “determined assault” to reduce people’s entitlements under the workers’ compensation scheme.
There is also the campaign to reverse through legislation the High Court decision that priests were not employees of the Catholic Church, which meant it could not be held responsible for their actions. Ms Blumer said the ACT had led the way on this, and its bill was the most comprehensive.
Fight goes on for Aboriginal Elder
Aunty Dr Matilda House-Williams: “Keep your feet firmly on the ground and be part of the caring of our country and each other.” Photo: Michelle Kroll.
Ngambri-Kumberri Elder Dr Matilda House-Williams’ service to Indigenous people has been recognised with a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM).
Dr House-Williams, who has spent her life supporting the Stolen Generations, fighting disadvantage and helping those caught up in the legal system, said she was “absolutely gobsmacked” and thanked her family for standing by her.
She said the fight went on against disadvantage, the impacts of Aboriginal people being removed from their families and a justice system that continued to disproportionally jail Indigenous people, especially in the ACT.
“There was a jail that was built here in the ACT and the first ones to go in were Aboriginal people. And guess what? They’re still going into that jail,” Dr House-Williams said.
But times had changed, with wonderful black organisations in legal aid and health available to support people.
Dr House-Williams said Aboriginal people also had to take responsibility for their actions and help themselves, their families and friends.
On Australia Day, she will join the Day of Mourning at the Tent Embassy and stand in solidarity with her fellow Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
“We still need to sit down and be there for each other,” Dr House-Williams said.
Her parting message: “Keep your feet firmly on the ground and be part of the caring of our country and each other.”
Keeping the Griffin flame alive
Brett Odgers: Canberra is a vision still unrealised. Photo: Sunken Stories of Old Acton.
Brett Odgers has been a champion for the national capital and the Griffins’ vision for it through the ACT Chapter of the Walter Burley Griffin Society.
He has received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to history preservation, planning and the Canberra community.
Mr Odgers said he was delighted with the honour.
He said Canberra was a brilliant choice for the national capital, but it remained an unrealised vision.
The Griffins, he believed, would say that Canberra had not fulfilled its potential.
Mr Odgers said complacency had set in after the building of the new Parliament House, and now scarce national land was being taken up with mediocre projects such as the placement of a swimming pool in Commonwealth Park and the plan for apartments at West Basin.
He feared what might happen to the Commonwealth Avenue corridor and the potential loss of the vistas to the Brindabellas and Parliament House.
“People lament the loss of the open space and recreation and the natural environment,” he said.
Mr Odgers also believed the public service was using up significant land, citing the new security precinct in Barton and the associated giant carpark in Parkes, compromising future symbolic and commemorative uses.
“There was so much more to do in terms of the national capital’s symbolic character,” he said.
Queanbeyan stalwart
Bill Baker received the OAM for services to the Queanbeyan community.
He has been president of Treehouse Queanbeyan since 2018 and founded the Treehouse Family Fund.
Mr Baker is also a founding member and former president of the Queanbeyan Business Council.
He is a former president of Telopea Swimming Club ACT, Triathlon ACT, and NSW Country Children’s Services Association, as well as chair of the selection committee for the Australian triathlon team at the 2000 Olympics, and a member of the Karabar Housing Cooperative.
Mr Baker had been heavily involved with organisations associated with children and youth, including the Pre-School Association Advisory Board, the Queanbeyan YMCA, and the Campbell Street Children’s Centre.
A respected lawyer, Mr Baker retired from Baker, Deane & Nutt in 2023 after 50 years.
Canberra region recipients
Companion of the Order of Australia (AC)
Professor Peter John Cook CBE, Forrest, ACT.
For eminent service to science as an innovator, pioneer and international expert in the development of carbon capture and storage, to policy development, and to climate change mitigation.
Officer of the Order of Australia (AO)
Dr Bruce Moore, Isabella Plains, ACT.
For distinguished service to linguistics, to the scholarship of Australian English, to lexicography, to the history of language, and to tertiary education.
Member of the Order of Australia (AM)
Noor Blumer, WA
For significant service to the law, to the legal profession, and to the community.
Bruce Charles Gosper, Curtin, ACT.
For significant service to public administration, particularly international policy and trade, and Asian-Australian business.
Air Vice-Marshal Margaret Mary Staib AM (Mil) CSC (Retd), Parkes, ACT.
For significant service to business, to the aviation sector, and to the freight and logistics industry.
Kylie Walker, ACT.
For significant service to scientific communication and advocacy.
Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM)
William John Baker, Rosedale, NSW.
For service to the community of Queanbeyan.
Caroline Lindsey Bartlett, ACT.
For service to public administration in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Beverley Anne Clarke, ACT.
For service to the performing arts through administrative roles, including the Canberra International Music Festival.
Martin John Clarke, Kaleen, ACT.
For service to basketball as a coach and player.
Kerin Jayne Cox, Red Hill, ACT.
For service to the community through a range of organisations, including the National Gallery of Australia and Koomarri.
Robert Barry Cranston, Calwell, ACT.
For service to the arts, including the Queanbeyan Art Society.
Catherine Anne Hindson, Deakin, ACT.
For service to community health, including through the Brain Tumour Alliance.
Dr Matilda Ann House-Williams, Queanbeyan, NSW.
For service to the Indigenous communities of the Canberra region.
Viola Kalokerinos, Curtin, ACT.
For service to the community of Canberra through a range of organisations and volunteering.
Dr Roger Vernon Lee, Jerrabomberra, NSW.
For service to history preservation, including at the Australian War Memorial.
Emeritus Professor Elizabeth Hume Minchin, Forrest, ACT.
For service to tertiary education at the ANU.
Tony John Morris, Hall, ACT.
For service to the community of Canberra, including through the Village of Hall and District Progress Association and agricultural organisations.
Dr William Joseph O’Malley, Garran, ACT.
For service to baseball and to public administration.
Dr Stephanie Owen Reeder, Rivett, ACT.
For services to children’s literature.
Thomas Roberts, MacGregor, ACT.
For service to veterans and their families.
Jennifer Reay Tyrrell, Hughes, ACT.
For service to the community through a range of roles.
