Cassowary Coast Regional Council

Preparations are already underway for the new Cassowary Coast region’s first official Australia Day celebrations on Monday, 26 January 2009.

The new Cassowary Coast Regional Council will honour the occasion with a major ceremony at MARCS Park – a proper Aussie celebration, brimming with food, laughter and entertainment, as well as words of national pride and praise for Australia Day award recipients, and a warm welcome to those embracing Australian citizenship on the day.

Cassowary Coast Mayor, Bill Shannon, said the newly amalgamated council had decided to celebrate Australia Day on a rotational basis, at one of four different locations each year: Mission Beach, Innisfail, Tully and Cardwell.

“Mission Beach will have to set the benchmark, as the first location to host the region’s Australia Day celebrations,” Cr. Shannon said.

The MARCS Park Management Committee has been invited to be the host organisation to facilitate the 2009 Australia Day event. The committee is an umbrella for Mission Beach Rotary, Mission Beach Cricket Associations, Mission Beach Tennis Association, Mission Beach Girl Guides and Mission Beach Soccer Association.

“With the calibre of support these organisations can provide, I think we can expect a fantastic day at MARCS Park on 26 January next year,” Cr. Shannon predicted confidently.

The current schedule for the Australia Day event is as follows:

The Australia Day event will also feature live entertainment highlighting the multi-cultural talents that flourishes in the Cassowary Coast region, according to Cr. Shannon.

“We are so lucky to live in such a fantastic part of the world,” he said. “Australia Day is our chance to celebrate that!”