Bridgetown public servant wins OAM

A Bridgetown man who has dedicated countless hours to the health, agriculture and entertainment sectors has been recognised for his outstanding service to the community with an Order of Australia Medal. Adrian Elder has spent his life in the public service sector working for groups involved in healthcare, agriculture and entertainment. Mr Elder was chair of the Warren and Blackwood Community Health Service when it was opened and vice-chair when the first ever South West Health Research Forum was launched last year. He has been a Justice of the Peace for 31 years and still works voluntarily at the Shire of Bridgetown-Greenbushes. About three months ago, Mr Elder started to receive calls and emails inquiring about his life work in Bridgetown and became somewhat suspicious. Then in the middle of March Mr Elder was offered an Order of Australia Medal. “When you start getting questions from odd people asking you peculiar questions about when was this and when was that you think, ‘what do you want to know that for’,” he said. From WA 84 people were recognised across all categories for the Order of Australia and although he was surprised and gracious to receive the award, Mr Elder said he was tossing up whether to accept it. “I mulled it over for a while and then I thought, ‘well a lot of people have done a lot of work to find out what you’ve been up to’ so this thing is for them as much as it is for me,” he said. In a letter from the Governor Kim Beazley’s office Mr Elder was invited to a ceremony later this year. Mr Elder said although he was grateful for the award, all he wanted was to keep helping out his community. “All these things entitle you to keep working for the organisations always supported,” he said. Pemberton woman Julie Shuttleworth, chief executive of Fortescue Future Industries, will also be recognised with an OAM.