He said it was a huge honour to receive the recognition and a complete surprise.
“I’ve always just helped wherever I can in the local community as well as at a state and federal level,” he said.
Harry was appointed the first Indigenous Elder of the Royal Australian Air Force in 2012.
“I am a proud Charters Towers-born descendant of the Gudjala Tribal Group. I joined the Royal Australian Air Force in 1966, inspired by photos I had seen of my uncles and aunt in uniform,” he said.
“I enjoyed a wonderful career, serving in the airforce was also indeed an honour and I continue my work with committees that give recognition to Indigenous servicemen and servicewomen.”
Bankstown’s Australia Day Citizen of the Year in 2014, Harry is a member of the Chester Hill-Carramar RSL Sub-branch and has served on numerous organisations including the Gallipoli Council, the Coloured Diggers Project, the ANZAC Advisory Council, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Committee (ATSI), Bankstown Hospital committees, Bankstown Community Resource Group, NSW Aboriginal Housing, the Nangahmi Ngallia Aboriginal Corporation and in a range of Defence Industry and Commonwealth Public Service positions.
He has previously been awarded a British Empire Medal, a Warrant Officer of the Air Force Medallion, a Blaxland Community Service Award, an Elders Award, a Councillor Pat Dixon Lifetime Achievement Award and a Pauline McLeod Award for Reconciliation.
