Copyright (2014) Bingara Advocate

The Bingara Advocate, Weds Feb 5th, 2014, Vol. 82. No. 3, page 1

The Bingara Roxy Greek Café Museum Committee is delighted to announce Her Excellency Professor the Honourable Marie Bashir AC CVO as the official guest to open the long awaited museum in Bingara on the weekend of 5 and 6 April 2014.

The Museum, which documents the history of Greek settlement in Australia with particular reference to their involvement in cafes throughout New South Wales and Queensland, will be open in style with a Gala open air dinner in the main street of Bingara. Bringing the glamour of the 1930’s back to Bingara, it will be an unforgettable evening of Greek feasting and festivity under the stars.

“Having Professor Marie Bashir open the museum is a real coup for the committee who have been planning the museum for the last three years” committee member Mr John Wearne said.

“Her attendance is definitely going to raise the profile of the project and hopefully bring the recognition that the museum deserves. Greek Australians have made a huge contribution to Australian society and have had a major influence on the development of many Australian industries such as the food and wine service, construction, real estate and tourism industries. It is important to document and celebrate the ways the Greeks have enriched our community and culture, as well as taking the time to remember when life was slower and people had time to enjoy a milkshake on a Saturday afternoon” said Mr Wearne.

Professor Bashir was the first woman to be appointed Governor of New South Wales and took up her office on 1 March 2001.

Born in Narrandera and educated at Narrandera Public School and Sydney Girls High School, Marie Bashir gained her bachelor degrees in medicine and surgery in 1956 from the University of Sydney.

Dr Bashir taught at the Universities of Sydney and New South Wales, increasingly working with children’s services, psychiatry and mental health services, and indigenous health programs.

At the time of her appointment as Governor of New South Wales, Dr Bashir was Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Sydney (a post she took up in 1993); Area Director of Mental Health Services Central Sydney (from 1994); and Senior Consultant to the Aboriginal Medical Service, Redfern (from 1996) and to the Aboriginal Medical Service, Kempsey.

Professor Bashir’s widespread involvements and interests have included juvenile justice, research on adolescent depression, health issues in developing countries, education for health professionals and telemedicine, and new technologies for health service delivery.

Along with many professional medical association roles, Dr Bashir was, at the time of her appointment as Governor, a member of societies as diverse as Amnesty International, the National Trust, the New South Wales Camellia Research Society and the Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Centre, as well as being a patron of the Sydney Symphony and Opera Australia.

She was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1988 for her services to child and adolescent health, and was invested by Her Majesty, the Queen with the insignia of a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO) in 2006.

Professor Bashir will be accompanied by her husband, Sir Nicholas Shehadie AC OBE. Sir Nicholas has also had an impressive career as the Lord Mayor of Sydney from 1973 to 1975, and a former national representative rugby union captain, making 30 career Test appearances. He is an inductee into both the Australian Rugby Union Hall of Fame and the IRB Hall of Fame.

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