General News
27 January, 2026
Three honoured on Australia Day
A POWERHOUSE in the region’s agricultural industry, a well-known retired paramedic, and a Millaa Millaa paramedic have earned 2026 Australia Day honours.
Founder of the Howe Framing Group, Dennis Howe, who passed away in June last year, and Charles Khan, who retired after 31 years as a paramedic with the Queensland Ambulance Service, were awarded Order of Australia Medals in Monday’s honours.
Mr Howe was awarded the OAM for “service to the agricultural industry, and to the community”, while Mr Khan was awarded “service to the community of Dimbulah”.
Mr Howe, who was one of the pioneers in the agricultural sector in the region, died on 7 June last year surrounded by his family, after battling prostate cancer and emphysema.
The Mareeba identity founded the Howe Farming Group, a multi-property business across the Tablelands, specialising in bananas, avocados and coffee, and also growing lemons, lychees and mandarins.
It has about 450 staff and is the largest employer on the Tablelands.
He also attributed with establishing the banana industry on the Tablelands. He began growing his cavendish, despite the naysayers, and his success triggered others, who began banana crops.
In 2016, Dennis was presented with the Australian Farmer of the Year Award for Excellence in Technology and was named Farming Legend of the Year.
Mr Khan’s recognition in the honours list was for his service to the Dimbulah community, including the 31 years he served in the QAS, and when he retired in 2023, he was believed to be one of the longest serving paramedics at the Dimbulah station.
He was recognised for his efforts in servicing his local community through various roles at the local Men's Shed, Queensland Fire and Emergency Services, P&C committee, Chamber of Commerce, and Bendigo Community Bank Mareeba and Dimbulah.
Mr Khan has also been a qualified Justice of the Peace for nearly 30 years and is an honorary member of the Dimbulah Railway Museum.
Charles Khan is a well-known name in the community and he has tended to thousands of patients across the region during his time as a paramedic, saving the lives of many along the way.
From humble beginnings as an honorary officer in 1992, Charles began his journey as a first responder that would see him become a respected figure in the community.
Spending a year at the Mareeba station gaining as much experience as he could, he then spent time in Townsville completing an introductory course.
He worked various jobs until he was successful in gaining a position at the Mareeba QAS Station on 31 July 1994, completed on the job training and became fully qualified in late 1996.
In December 1996, he moved to Dimbulah station remained there, working full-time until he retired in August 2023.
Also on the Australia Day 2026 Honours List was Millaa Millaa paramedic Dahleen Nugent who was awarded an Ambulance Service Medal.
The medal recognises distinguished service as a member of an Australian ambulance service.
Officer-in-Charge Nugent has served her beloved Tablelands town for over 25 years, having first joined the QAS in 1987 and moving to Millaa Millaa in 2000.
Working in a rural location, often as a solo officer, Officer Nugent has relied on her excellent critical thinking and problem-solving skills to determine the best course of action when responding to emergencies.
Officer Nugent said she was proud to be awarded the ASM but it was never a recognition that she expected.
“I consider myself reliable and dependable, but I didn’t think that I was ever special,” Officer Nugent said.
“I turned up, I did my job and enjoyed my job. Above all I served my community.”
Officer Nugent carries a family legacy of over 70 years of service in Queensland ambulance as she follows in the footsteps of her father, who joined as an ambulance bearer in the early 1950s.
“Being of service has always been important to me and my family. That’s the way my parents raised us,” Officer Nugent said.
“It was always an intrinsic value in our family.”
