Australian Labor Party Southern Highlands branch secretary Rodney Cavalier has been made an Officer of the Order of Australia.
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A former State Government minister who has lived at Bowral for more than a decade, Mr Cavalier is one of seven Highlands residents recognised for their contributions to the community in the Australia Day 2004 honours list.
Two other locals - the Reverend Canon Howard Dillon and John McAllery - have been made a Member of the Order of Australia and an additional four - Dr David Browning, Dr Edward Freeman, Judith Green MBE and Theresa Testoni - have been awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia.
Mr Cavalier has received his OA for service to the community as a contributor to education and training, the NSW Parliament and a range of cultural, literary and sporting organisations.
A proud Australian, whose hopes for the future include increased education about the nation's history through vibrant literature and film, Mr Cavalier's interests are as diverse as his achievements are numerous.
He reflects on his time as the Minister for Education from 1984 and 1988 with much enthusiasm, yet although politics often remains at the forefront of his thoughts, these days he considers his role in the Labor Party to be mainly as an administrative servant.
His job as the local branch secretary is, in his words, "not a terribly important position in the scheme of things".
However, at Premier Bob Carr's request he has accepted the chairmanship of the Committee for the Sesquicentenary of Responsible Government.
This role follows his work as deputy chairman of the National Council for the Centenary of Federation between 1996 and 2001.
A cricket fanatic - he named his son Nicholas Spofforth after demon 19th century Australian paceman Fred Spofforth - Mr Cavalier is also currently chairman of the Sydney Cricket Ground Trust.
Furthermore he is a member of the University of Technology's Institute for International Studies advisory committee and a director of the Charles Bean Foundation.
Previously he has served as chairman of the National Library of Australia's portrait gallery advisory committee and chairman of the National Archives of Australia's advisory council.
In addition, he has been a member of the NSW Centenary Committee and the National Board of Employment, Education and Training.
Mr Cavalier's interest in politics was sparked when he was at high school and he joined Labor in 1968 while a teenage university student, devoting endless energy to party affairs.
His political career was launched in 1977 when he was elected as an alderman of Sydney's smallest municipal council, Hunter's Hill.
During his time in Local Government he learned to accept that demands were limitless, though resources were finite - "you can only do what you can pay for" - and he became the Member for Fuller in the NSW Legislative Assembly in the Wranslides of 1978.
He was Member for Gladesville from 1981 to 1988, becoming Minister for Energy and Finance just 10 weeks before the 1984 election upon the retirement of his mentor Jack Ferguson and subsequently Minister for Education for the remainder of his time in Parliament.
His career was ended in 1988, at age 39, when a landslide went against Labor, though he recovered to find a new lease of life through love and fatherhood and settled at Bowral in 1992.
"You could say I've lived my life back to front," said Mr Cavalier.
