J-Wire’s coverage of Australia Day Awards mentioned in NSW Parliament
In State Parliament, NSW Shadow Treasurer Walt Secord – in a debate on the Australia Day awards – paid tribute to J-Wire and its editor Henry Benjamin for their coverage of the annual Australia Day awards.
Walt Secord
Last week, NSW Parliamentary Secretary on Energy and the Arts, Ben Franklin moved a debate on the Australia Day awards as part of Private Member’s Day – and a number of parliamentarians participated.
In a wide-ranging speech, Mr Secord said that he supported the award system, but he believed that there was scope to review them.
“When it comes to the Australia Day awards, there is scope for wider recognition in the community. There is also scope for a revamping to ensure that the awards reflect the diversity of our community and scope for how they can be determined and awarded,” he said.
Mr Secord said he agreed with Mr Franklin that “most of the people who receive these awards, particularly people who receive OAMs, are the quiet heroes”. “They are the people who are most shocked and most surprised when they receive an award.”
“I wholeheartedly support the official honour system. I am familiar with the Australian system and the Canadian honour system.”
“In fact, I set my alarm to 12.01 a.m. on Australia Day to get up and read the first editions of the various newspapers to see who has received gongs and been awarded. I read and review those in the early hours of the day. I then go to specific news services to find out more. I have a good friend who runs J-Wire, Henry Benjamin, and he provides a very thorough and comprehensive run-down of various members of the Jewish community who receive awards,” Mr Secord added.
J-Wire’s editor said: “It’s a tough call to find out if many of those being honoured are Jewish. This is the first year I can remember when we didn’t omit someone. I’m very grateful for the detective work which Roz Tarszisz and Elana Bowman carried out in sorting the Jewish honorees from the “Don’t Know-Maybe” list.”
