Old Paradians the Rev. Father Joseph Caddy (1977) and Anthony McAleer (1984) have both been recognised in the 2018 Queen’s Birthday Honours list.

Ordained in 1990, Fr Joe (pictured in the blue shirt) was awarded an Order of Australia Medal (AM) in the General Division for “significant service to the community through a range of social welfare initiatives and policy reforms, and to the Catholic Church in Australia” and Anthony an OAM “for service to the community and military history”.

Fr Joe is Episcopal Vicar for Social Services in the Melbourne Archdiocese, the former CEO of CatholicCare in Melbourne, and is presently parish priest at St Mary’s in East St Kilda. Apart from his academic qualifications of Bachelor of Theology (Melbourne), Fr Joe holds degrees in Social Sciences from the Gregorian University Rome, where he focused his studies on Catholic social teaching and social ethics and economics.

“Australia is a wonderful country and so it is a huge privilege to receive this award. In a way it is a recognition of all those who work in the Church and its agencies for a fairer society, especially for those who are poor or in any way disadvantaged,” Fr Joe said.

“While I am enormously honoured to receive this recognition I would be even more pleased to see our Australian society step up do more for those who are in need.

“We are a generous and big hearted people but at times our policies towards those who are seeking asylum or who find themselves unemployed are unnecessarily mean. We lock increasing numbers of our indigenous brothers and sisters and our poor in prisons which fail to improve their life chances or make our communities safer.

“We can do better on many fronts and I am sure that as a nation we truly want a fair go for all.”

Anthony, the Mount Evelyn-based author, researcher and historian, was recognised for service to the community and to military history.

Through his involvement with Mt Evelyn and Lilydale RSLs, as a committee member on the Seville War Memorial Committee, author of several books on local and military history, and through numerous talks with school and other groups, Anthony has brought focus the personal stories and bigger picture of Yarra Ranges’ military history.

For the 1997 Yarra Ranges Shire Citizen of the Year, and recipient of the Centenary of Federation Award, the award is overwhelmingly a great honour.

“It certainly gives a big tick to some of the stuff I’ve been able to achieve over the years, and not just the written histories,” Anthony told the Yarra Valley Mail.

“It’s also the material collected for archives, the memorials we’ve created, the ceremonies, working with schools and other groups, and this is recognition that it’s appreciated.”

Anthony’s commitment to community as a volunteer and as a researcher in military history commenced around 1990 through his involvement with Lilydale RSL and Lilydale & District Historical Society. He has served as secretary of Mount Evelyn RSL since 2002, is editor and producer of its monthly newsletter, and is a member of the Mount Evelyn History Group.

He also serves Museums Victoria as team leader and tour guide at the Immigration Museum.

“I’ve always had an interest in Australian history, and especially Australian military history and that sparked my curiosity around what happened locally – how did that broader heritage affect the area that I’m living in, and what part did this area play in Australia’s military history?,” Anthony said.

“I started to scratch away and it and it was just extraordinary.”