A lifetime of contribution
Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 130 No 5, 1 August 2025, page no 15.
The QTU Biennial Conference provides the opportunity to express our Union’s gratitude to some of its most dedicated activists, through the presentation of Life Membership. This year, the award, the highest that the Union can bestow, was presented to 11 QTU stalwarts who have now retired or resigned from the profession after giving long and outstanding service to the Union and its members. They were Rachel Bos, Neil Bradley, Letitia Choppy, Lin Esders, Elissa Ferguson, Sheila Forknall, Julieanne Gilbert, Callum Morrison, Kerry O'Connor, Chrissy Pobar and Jason Smith. Three further nominees — Jeff Backen, Maree Jackson and Patrick Miller — were unable to attend the ceremony and will receive their awards at a later date.
Campaign Action Awards
At every Biennial Conference, Campaign Action Awards are presented to campaigns and activists that prove what can be achieved when QTU members take the initiative and address issues in their workplaces.
The 2025 Campaign Action Award winners were: Queensland Academy of Science, Mathematics and Technology , whose vexatious complaints dispute took the Best Workplace Campaign award, and the It's For Every Body campaign for paid reproductive health leave, which took the Best Regional/Statewide Workplace Campaign award.
Elanora State High School's electrical safety dispute was highly commended in the Best Workplace Campaign category.
G. A. Daughtrey Art Bequest
Each Biennial Conference sees the presentation of the G. A. Daughtrey Art Bequest, an original work of art purchased or commissioned by the Trustees of the Union in honour of the contribution of George Alexander Daughtrey, QTU General Secretary from 1935 until his death in 1956.
This year’s bequest is Dearly Beloved by Tim Sharp (pictured third from right above with the QTU Trustees and General Secretary Kate Ruttiman), featuring Tim's recurring character Laser Beak Man.
According to Tim: "In the top centre is the lone tree. There are two trees of knowledge that come together with the lone tree, bringing all those trees together in a union, and all the power, passion colours of red, purple and crimson lighting up the sky because united we stand. No one is alone. In the surrounding boxes are trees that grow in different parts of Queensland, representing all the places teachers work in."
Tim's final words to Conference were: "I hope you like it."
