Peter Sutton outside Parliament House in Canberra while participating in the Jobs Summit.
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He’s one of four current and former Moira Shire residents to receive the prestigious Order of Australia Medal.
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But it took just one moment to change the trajectory of Peter Sutton’s life irrevocably.
It happened one day during 2006, in a Melbourne suburb not too far from Caulfield Racecourse.
Despite the rain hammering the ground, Peter decided to walk from his Murrumbeena home to return a couple of DVDs he’d rented.
As he crossed the road, Peter looked up just in time to see a car slam into him.
He rolled on to the bonnet of the car, his body smashing the windscreen. Time seemed to stop, to splinter frame-by-frame. He was thrown to the ground, yards from where the car had hit him.
Miraculously, Peter got to his feet. He stumbled to a nearby doorway and sat down where paramedics found him and rushed him to Monash Medical Centre.
Peter was 43 years old at the time. The accident left him with chronic back problems that still rear their head today.
“It was a surprise,” Peter told The Courier of his OAM award.
“I’ve nominated quite a few people, but I didn’t expect to be nominated myself.”
Most locals to the Cobram district will know Peter as a key driver behind the installation of war memorials, like that at the Yarroweyah Memorial Hall last year.
“Funnily enough, people don’t really know much of what I do. Most people think of me as the local historian,” he laughed.
Over the years, Peter, who grew up in Yarroweyah and attended Cobram Secondary College, has worked with organisations such as the Australian Council of Social Services, the Anti-Poverty Network, Council of the Ageing and the Brotherhood of St Laurence.
While working as a banker, Peter was also involved in the Finance Sector Union of Australia for many years.
Peter speaking to Amanda Copp at ABC Canberra in 2022.
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Currently, Peter sits in a national reference group of people with lived experience with the welfare system.
Welfare is a subject close to his heart.
Almost 20 years after the crash, which cost him his job, Peter now spends the best part of his time tackling societal stigma and advocating for people who rely on welfare to get by each day.
“The misconception is that people on unemployment are bludgers, they’re young, sit around drinking, smoking, playing Xbox, when in reality the largest group of people on jobseekers are over-50,” Peter said.
“A lot of old people aren’t heard. A lot of unemployed people aren’t heard.”
He was humbled to receive his OAM.
“It acknowledges that my advocacy is important — that someone is listening, that someone is paying attention,” he said.
For a long time, he has looked up to people such as his grandfather, Bing Cox of Numurkah, who was pivotal in securing an ambulance service for his town.
He doesn’t think of himself as a social justice activist, preferring instead the term ‘advocate’.
His biggest piece of advice for people looking to make the world a better place?
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