Four months after he was notified of his Australia Day honours list nomination, Graham Smith says he is still in disbelief.
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A former Cessnock councillor, retired teacher and long-time volunteer with several community groups, Mr Smith was named as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM), which is awarded for service in a particular locality or field of activity or to a particular group.
A Kurri Kurri resident of 46 years, Mr Smith received the honour for "significant service to the community of the Newcastle region through a range of organisations".
Mr Smith said he was "astounded" to be recognised as an AM, which puts him in the company of notable Hunter identities such as former MPs Bob Brown, John Price and George Souris.
"I was notified by email in September, and I still find it hard to comprehend... to think that the work I have done has been considered as significant as someone who was a cabinet minister," he said.
The 70-year-old, who grew up in Sydney, has been volunteering since he was 12 years old.
"Mum and Dad were community service-minded people, so that's where it comes from," he said.
A railway history buff, he first joined the Australian Railway Historical Society NSW Division while still living in Sydney, serving as a divisional councillor from 1972 to 1980, and later as a member of the Newcastle Branch Committee from 1984 to 1987.
Mr Smith arrived in Kurri Kurri in 1976 to teach at the primary school, and quickly became involved in with many local clubs and committees, including the Apex Club, Australian Labor Party and the Civic Week committee.
He was a founding member of the Newcastle Area Teacher-Librarians Association and is a life member of the NSW Public Libraries Association.
As a teacher, he said one of the most rewarding roles was as chairman of the Hunter Region Stewart House committee - a charity which provides health, wellbeing and educational support for children in need through a 12-day stay.
He said there were many heartwarming stories of transformation from the children who attended, recalling one student who went on to become a teacher.
"Over nearly 40 years of teaching and all of those years of community service, stories like that make it all worthwhile... to know that you have played a small part in making a difference," he said.
Mr Smith's varied community involvement also extended to Hunter New England Health, as a member of the Local Health Advisory Committee, the Lower Hunter Health Council, Newcastle Health Review Committee and the Rural Health Taskforce.
Mr Smith was elected to Cessnock City Council in 2004, serving Ward D for three terms until retiring in 2016.
He remains heavily involved in the community with organisations including Towns With Heart, Masonic Lodge Tomalpin, the Anglican Parish of Mount Vincent and Weston, and Richmond Vale Railway Museum.
He said he continues to inspired by the can-do spirit of Kurri Kurri, the town that welcomed him so warmly back in the 1970s.
"There's a strength of community in this town - it's a town that just does things, it doesn't wait around for others to get things done," he said.
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