Two Busselton and Dunsborough locals have been awarded prestigious Order of Australia Medals for 'service to the community through a range of organisations.'
Identifiable by his Akubra hat, Walter "Wally" Lord is a self-described 'true blue Busselton-boy', who has lived in the area his whole life.
A long-time member of the Southern Districts Agricultural Society, Acton park Fire Brigade, Busselton Hockey Association, Junior Farmers and many other associations, Mr Lord's list of service and volunteering roles is a long one.
These roles have ranged far and wide, from driving St John ambulances and cruise ship shuttle buses, shearing fundraising, ring mastering at the Busselton show and coaching multiple generations at hockey.
Speaking about the Order of Australia award, Mr Lord said he wasn't wanting to make a fuss.
"What I do, I do purely for the fun of it, for the fact that I'm in the company of absolutely bloody wonderful people who are all volunteers just like me," he said.
"All people in this world have got more good points than bad. It's just fun fitting in with all these different sorts of people from different walks of life.
While he said he doesn't do what he does for the accolades, Mr Lord was clearly warmed by his nomination.
"But you could call it a bit of a feather in your cap, couldn't you."
Now retired, Mr Lord remains President of South West Group Affiliated Agricultural Societies, President of the Busselton Hockey Stadium, Secretary Treasurer of the fire brigade and is a patron of the Busselton Historical Society.
Previously, Mr Lord has been recognised with a national medal for his 35 years of service with the fire brigade.
He also received a community service award for his work with the Festival of Busselton and the Rotary Paul Harris Fellow.
When asked why he does so much in the community, Mr Lord said it was just what he had always known.
From the time he left school, at 16 years old, he was the Junior Farmers Representative on the committee of the Agricultural Society.
Working with the fire brigade was another obvious step, as Mr Lord would follow his dad out to help with fires.
"You just learnt to do that for your friends, your family and your district, to help protect them."
"That's why you do it. It's very selfish because you're looking after your family and your friends and the people in your district."
"There's lots and lots of people in this world who do as much, if not more than me, but someone saw fit to nominate me," Mr Lord said.
Doting on his wife, three children and five grandchildren, Mr Lord "reckons" he's got it good.
"I'm the luckiest man alive. What else would you want in this world."
Dunsborough local Terence Keys was also awarded the Order of Australia Medal, for volunteering as an ambulance officer for almost 40 years.
"I read the email about a dozen times from the Governor General to make sure it was the right one," Mr Keys said.
"It was a very good surprise. You do all these things and you don't expect it."
Mr Keys drove ambulances for 35 years in Boddington, and is now close to reaching the 40 year mark while driving in Dunsborough.
He has spent many years volunteering as a medic and camp cook at the annual Legacy Camp in Busselton, which hosts children of veterans.
His other gestures include supplying the bacon at the yearly RSL ANZAC Day barbecue over the last 40 years.
"Mainly because you're always able to help someone out in the community," he said.
"I suppose over my period of 40-odd years I've saved a few lives and made a few people happy."
"You get a bit of self satisfaction out of it as well
"I've had a pretty good life. It's good to be able to give something back. That's one of the biggest reasons. You give something back."
"At the end of the day sometimes you look back and realise you made the right decisions and you made the right suggestions to get people to hospital when they needed to go."
Despite many jokes about threatening to quit, and being in his 70s, Mr Keys continues to serve with the ambulance.
"I'm still fit and able, I can still do CPR, I can still get into hard access places. So while I can do that, I can be quite useful," he said.
Mr Lord's and Mr Keys' medals were part of the honours announced by the Governor-General today to 1040 Australians, including awards in the Order of Australia (General and Military Divisions), meritorious awards and recognition for distinguished and conspicuous service in the Australian Defence Force.
Of the 732 awards in the General Division of the Order of Australia, the highest ever percentage (47 per cent) are for women and 45 per cent are for service to local communities.
