Cate takes big bow for services to arts

SHE’S renowned as one of the most talented actors and Cate Blanchett shows no sign of slowing down any time soon.

Now, the two-time Oscar winner can call herself a Companion of the Order of Australia.

The 48-year-old has been honoured for services to the performing arts as an actor, artistic director and as a role model for young performers and women. She has also been lauded for her charity work.

The stage and screen veteran has been winning accolades, and rewriting record books, since she took home the Sydney Theatre Critics’ Best Newcomer Award in 1993 for her performance in Kafka Dances.

Blanchett is the only Australian to win two Oscars for acting (Best Supporting Actress for The Aviator in 2004 and Best Actress for Blue Jasmine in 2014).

Blanchett ran the Sydney Theatre Company with her husband Andrew Upton from 2008 to 2013, appearing in an internationally acclaimed production of A Streetcar Named Desire with Joel Edgerton.

She was made an honorary life member of the Australian Conservation Foundation in 2012, and a global Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Refugee Agency in 2016. BRIAN Robert Baxter, Pipers River. For service to natural resource management in Tasmania. John Graham Cameron, St Helens For service to the community through a range of roles. Gary George Carr, Prospect Vale. For service to community health, and to sport. Wendy Georgene Charleston, Wilmot. For service to heritage preservation, and to the community of Wilmot. Alan Francis Dyer, Devonport. For service to community history. The late Gordon John Ellings, Devonport. For service to rowing, to youth, and to the community. Matthew Henry Jacobs, Blackwall. For service to marine rescue organisations. Mary Carmel Knowles, Rossarden. For service to the community of the Northern Midlands, and to local government. Barry Alyn Lumley, Youngtown. For service to seniors’ education, and to the community. Graeme John Manning, West Hobart. For service to veterans and their families. Donald Stanley Ryan, Lenah Valley. For service to veterans and their families. Susan Shea, Riverside. For service to the retiree community. Barry William Smith, Glenorchy. For service to the community of Hobart. Robert Harry Wilsdon, Sandy Bay. For service to people with disabilities, and to the community of Tasmania.