Order of Australia awarded to Fremont Place resident
Television reporter and journalist Robert Penfold of Fremont Place was honored with The Order of Australia in 2021. But, because the pandemic was in full swing when the award was announced, ceremonies were delayed. Penfold just recently traveled to the country of his birth to receive the great honor in person.
ROBERT PENFOLD is awarded the Order of Australia medal by Gov. Margaret Beazley at Government House, Sydney.
The Order of Australia was instituted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1975 and is the main way Australians “recognize the achievements which benefit or bring honor to the Australian community,” according to the Order of Australia Handbook.
Penfold was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for his long career in journalism and, in particular, for his role as the United States correspondent for Australia’s main television outlet, the Nine Network.
During his time with the Nine Network, Penfold covered such events as the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Gulf War and Nelson Mandela being freed from prison.
He and his wife, Shar, traveled to Sydney and joined other recipients at Government House, where awardees were presented the prestigious award by the governor.
AT GOVERNMENT HOUSE in Sydney, Australia, are (left to right) Dennis Wilson (Gov. Beazley’s husband), Gov. Margaret Beazley, Robert and Shar Penfold.
The Penfolds moved from Australia to Los Angeles in 1985, when the reporter was appointed as the U.S. correspondent for the Nine Network. They lived on Lucerne Boulevard, where their first child was born. When Penfold was posted in Europe, the family left Los Angeles for several years. They returned in 1997 (as a family of five) when the journalist was appointed senior Nine Network U.S. correspondent and bureau chief.
Penfold retired from the Nine Network two years ago and currently serves as the Global Media Relations Manager for Meridian Rapid Defense Group. “He’s not a foreign correspondent anymore, so he’s here, which is nice,” said Shar Penfold.
Category: Real Estate