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A little more than two years after stepping down as Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk has received Australia’s highest civilian award for her “eminent service” to the country.
Palaszczuk has been named a Companion of the Order of Australia, while her former cabinet colleague Anthony Lynham has been bestowed the honour of Officer of the Order of Australia in 2026’s Australia Day honours.
For Palaszczuk, who can now add “AC” to the end of her name, the hardest part was keeping it to herself.
“I am deeply honoured and humbled to receive this award and was so surprised when I opened the letter,” she said last week.
“I haven’t been able to tell my family yet so I think they will be in shock on Monday.”
Palaszczuk has been recognised for her “eminent service to the people and Parliament of Queensland, particularly as Premier, to educational equity, to multiculturalism, and to public health”.
That latter point was perhaps the most contentious of her premiership – the Palaszczuk government’s response to the pandemic, while popular at the time, has been remembered less fondly as time marches on.
Asked if, armed with hindsight, she would do anything differently, Palaszczuk was unrepentant.
“We did the best we could as part of a global pandemic and we always put Queenslanders health first and, together, we saved lives,” she said.
Former prime minister Scott Morrison, a fellow COVID-era leader, also received an AC in last year’s King’s Birthday honours.
Lynham, meanwhile, said he was humbled and honoured to be named an Officer of the Order of Australia, although he wondered why someone so “insignificant” would be bestowed such an award.
The former state development and mines minister received his honour for “distinguished service to trauma medicine as an oral and maxillofacial surgeon, to the Parliament of Queensland, and to the community”.
“It’s a shared award,” Lynham said.
“I share it with all the staff I work with – I couldn’t have done anything without the nursing staff, without the hospital orderlies, without the anaesthetists I work with. None of it would have been possible without them and all those people who helped me with my training.”
Although it was never his portfolio responsibility as a minister, Lynham is perhaps best known for his advocacy for Queensland’s lock-out laws to curb alcohol-fuelled violence in licensed venues – something of which he remained proud.
Lynham left politics in 2020, after new practicing requirements to keep his medical registration made it “untenable” to continue being a parliamentarian.
“I never wanted to receive anything for my [medical] services while I was keeping my registration and I believe every doctor should do the same thing – if you’re in politics and you’re getting that one income, a political income, your services as a doctor should provide it free to the community,” he said.
“And that’s what I did. I worked for Aboriginal health on a volunteer basis every Saturday and, on my holidays, I went to Papua New Guinea purely as a volunteer.”
Lynham said although he had returned to medicine, and sat on various boards, there were many things to miss about politics.
“I loved it, I really did. I honestly did,” he said.
“I really enjoyed the comradeship. In surgery, if something happens it’s all your responsibility – totally your responsibility and so it should be.
“In politics, it’s a collective responsibility. Decisions are made collectively, and responsibilities take collectively.
“I’d never experienced that before and it was wonderful. It’s a collective – you make decisions, you all reap the rewards, or you all suffer the consequences.
“I love that about politics.”
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