Portarlington stalwart officially receives OAM

IT was an experience that Order of Australia Medal recipient John Rae will cherish, after months of delays, he was officially awarded OAM status at Government House.

Mr Rae, a Portarlington resident, was honoured at the Australia Day announcements in January, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic had been unable to officially receive his medal.

But, a fortnight ago accompanied by his wife, two of his sons and friend and integral partner Geoff Henderson, attended the official ceremony.

“I had never been (to Government House), it was a terrific experience, magnificent gardens, amazing hallways, it was very special,” Mr Rae said.

Mr Rae received the honour for the power of work over 11 years which saw Portarlington attain a number of key acquisitions for the town.

Mr Rae’s hard work saw Portarlington receive a ferry service to Melbourne, the Portarlington Safe Harbour, a United petrol station and a Woolworths supermarket. All these elements have been huge in the development of the seaside town and important in keeping business local.

Mr Rae’s persistence and vision for the town has seen Portarlington reap huge rewards over the last decade.

“The town has grown from all of those things… our first thing was to get some of these things done, then the second thing was to stop the loss of business to the town.”

Mr Rae, 75, moved to Portarlington from Melbourne to retire 17 years ago and said the recognition he had received was overwhelming.

“I felt very proud, I’ve never had anything like that previously,

“The recognition is lovely.

“The overwhelming emails from people congratulating me was very encouraging.”

Mr Rae remains an important part of the community, president of the Portarlington Business Development Association (PBDA).

He proudly showed off the medal at the most recent PBDA meeting, he said he will now find a spot for it at home.