Craig Knowles spent four years in one of the toughest jobs in Australian politics: wrangling the unwieldy and unpredictable beast known as the NSW public health system.
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He says being NSW health minister between 1999 and 2003 was "exhausting" but taught him an important lesson.
"Any health minister will tell you that the only way we manage an ageing Australia and our wellbeing into the future as a nation is to invest in wellness, rather than sickness," he said.
"Invest in prevention rather than dealing with the acute end of illnesses which happen to be hospital-based and exponentially more expensive".
Mr Knowles, 55, said his time as health minister was "the most interesting period of my political career, to work with some incredibly bright and committed people. It sort of shaped what I decided I wanted to do post politics".
That was immersing himself in the preventative and wellbeing sectors.
Now, the long-serving Labor minister and former mayor of Liverpool is being recognised for his services not only to local and state government but also to the community after leaving politics "through a range of health initiatives". He becomes a Member of the Order of Australia (AM).
Mr Knowles is perhaps best known as the retiring chair of the Murray Darling Basin Authority.
But he is also a former president of the Asthma Foundation NSW, a director of the Black Dog Institute and on the board of the Childrens' Medical Research Institute. He is also a trustee and director of the non-profit Hoc Mai Foundation, which aims to improve medical education in Vietnam.
"In terms of both the intellectual stimulus and the exposure to the wonders of some very bright people, it's been a big change in the course of my life," he said.
