Cassowary Coast Regional Council

Apathy is a problem – but who cares?

The winners of awards at the Cassowary Coast Regional Council Australia Day celebrations have made significant contributions to our community and are well deserved winners.

However it was very disappointing that for all the categories there were between nil and three nominations at the close on 9th January 2009. The advertising for nominations commenced, as usual, in November, 2008 and all the normal letters went out. For some reason Australia Day nominations were not forthcoming this year. Only two were from the southern part of our region.

The entry form is a single page plus a record of achievement and is not complicated. The need for a nominator to sign the form and provide the names of two referees to substantiate the achievements is normal practice.

The categories for 2009 were a combination of awards common to both the previous Cardwell and Johnstone Shires, which was the most convenient way to proceed in the time available this year, post amalgamation.

Next year I expect that a special purpose Australia Day Committee will review all categories and will also be charged with choosing the winners.

The categories of environmentalist and volunteer (previously used only in Johnstone Shire) were covered this year by more general achievement awards. In fact many of the award winners did come from these two previous categories, so these achievers were not excluded.

The official Australia Day ceremony can only be held in one place. The recommendation from staff, endorsed by council, was to hold the initial ceremony at Mission Beach, as it represents the interface of the two previous council areas.

Future official ceremonies will be held in Innisfail, Cardwell and Tully and will rotate.

I attended several functions on the day,starting with the CWA breakfast at Flying Fish Point,then the official function at Mission Beach, the the Tully Swimming Pool free entry day and film showing and the the Cowley Beach Fishing and Community Club event. I understand that the Community Association at Kurrimine Beach also held a function. Both the Flying Fish Point and Mission Beach celebrations each attracted approximately four hundred people and all events were well attended and very much enjoyed by all.

I commend the various communities for holding their respective Australia Day functions which they organised, promoted and funded. Service clubs and volunteer organisations were conspicuous throughout the day, demonstrating again their very important contributions to our community.

Australia Day is celebrated on the 26th January,being the day the First Fleet sailed into Sydney Harbour. It is the day that the use of our common English language, our political system, our predominant religious and cultural heritage and the rule of law as we know it began to be established in this land.

The 2009 Australian of the Year, Mick Dodson, has called for discussion of the date on which we celebrate Australia Day. In our democracy this freedom to discuss issues is appropriate and indeed a right. It should not be expected though that we will agree on a date which will satisfy everyone.

Australia Day is a time to reflect on the many wonderful attributes of our country, our ways of life and our position in the world.

As Australians we are privileged, but we should not let this lead to apathy. We need to value who and what we have here.