austraLasia
1582
Australia honours
Salesian for work with street
children
SYDNEY: 13th June 2006
-- Fr Chris Riley yesterday became a Member of the Order of Australia
(AM), the third Salesian in fact to receive this honour over the years (the
other two being Fr Francis Moloney, current Provincial, and Bro James Hamilton -
also of Sydney). Monday 12th June was the annual Queen's Birthday official
holiday in Australia, which remains a member of the British Commonwealth of
nations. The honours given out each year on this occasion are part of a
system devised in Australia for Australians, but Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II,
as Head of State, officially inaugurated the system on 14th February 1975.
The Order of Australia is the pre-eminent means of recognising outstanding
achievement and contribution by Australians - its insignia is inspired by and
based on the wattle blossom, one of Australia's characteristic
blooms.
In Fr Riley's case the citation is "for his
services to disadvantaged youth through the establishment of Youth Off The
Streets and the development of a range of assistance and mentoring initiatives
for adolescents, and to the welfare of children overseas through humanitarian
assistance efforts". His single-minded dedication to these causes over
many years has brought him into contact with thousands of abandoned youngsters
on Sydney's streets, but the work has gradually extended to other areas and,
since the Asian Tsunami, to Australia's near neighbours. He is currently
in East Timor seeing to distribution of a shipment of foodstuffs - though not in
Dili. The YOT's work (Youth Off the Streets) has won backing from a number
of significant personages in the political and commercial arena. When
asked for his reaction to yesterday's award, to its motivating force for him, he
replied: "There's no need for incentives with me. The kids are incentive
enough, their smiles and just seeing....you know, helping them deal with their
poverty and their
misery".
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