The annual Australia Day awards hosted by the Eurobodalla Council came to an end in January 2018.
For decades, up until 2018, each year in conjunction with the Australia Day Council of New South Wales, Council sought nominations for Australia Day Local Citizen of the Year Awards in the categories of Citizen of the Year, Young Citizen of the Year, Community Event of the Year and Sports Achievement.
From 2016 onwards, the Senior Citizen of the Year Award also became part of the Australia Day Awards.
Nominations also called for the Jeff Britten Award for the Pursuit of Excellence, which was an award established by the family of former Shire President the late Jeff Britten. A selection panel consisting of the Mayor and two Councillors together with one representative each from the Batemans Bay, Moruya and Narooma Australia Day Committees, considered nominations for the Awards and determined the recipients for that year.
On the afternoon of January 26th of 2018 the community attended the last of Eurobodalla Shire Council's Australia Day Awards Presentation and Citizenship ceremony at the RSL Hall in Page Street Moruya.
At the ceremony, over 20 local residents became Australian citizens and the last Eurobodalla Australia Day awards were presented.
Typically there were several local more accessible, less formal events held across the region as well, hosted by various groups and clubs. In January of 2018, that last year, Batemans Bay the Quota, Lions and Rotary Clubs began their Australia Day festivities with a flag-raising ceremony and speeches, followed by a choir and a live band. Eurobodalla Mayor Liz Innes attended the Corrigans Beach Breakfast declared as "proudly supported by Eurobodalla Shire Council" who had made a contribution to sausages and bread. In 2018 the Moruya Australia Day Committee invited the community and visitors to join them for the Moruya Australia Day Ceremony. Their day consisted of a flag raising ceremony, speeches and the presentation to the Moruya District Citizen of the Year and Young Citizen of the Year. They too may have been given an allowance for tomato sauce and onions. In Narooma on January 2018 the Narooma Australia Day Committee invited community and visitors to come together with friends, family and neighbours to celebrate what it means to be Australian hosting a community BBQ at Surf Beach. Once again this was supported by Eurobodalla Shire Council though the contribution is unknown. The Narooma Australia Day Awards had been held at Club Narooma the night before on Thursday 25 January celebrating the achievements of the local community. But in 2019 there was no formal Eurobodalla Australia Day event. It was now left entirely up to local clubs to find their nominations and to make their awards. There was no longer a Eurobodalla Citizen of the Year to add to the historic shield, there was no Eurobodalla region Young Citizen of the Year, no Sports Achievement of the Year, no Community Event of the Year Award nor was there a recipient of the highly respected Jeff Britten Award for the Pursuit of Excellence.
Council has now left the Australia Day events and local awards up to the community to organise.
Looking back to 2018 the writing was on the wall that Eurobodalla intended to walk away from Australia Day awards. They had their sights on a new idea. The Local Hero award.
Nominations opened in April 2018 for the inaugural Local Hero Award 2018, which "recognises the contribution of volunteers to the community and/or outstanding achievements."
Eurobodalla Mayor Liz Innes said at the time that "the award would add to the Australia Day awards held in each of the shire’s towns each year. The Local Hero Award is another opportunity to celebrate the wonderful efforts and achievements of our community.”
She said at the time “Council is calling for nominations of local heroes or volunteers who may have gone above and beyond in any field - from sports and community service to health, education, arts or the environment - or they might simply be someone who has made an extraordinary act of compassion, generosity, bravery, ingenuity, or achieved a professional accomplishment.”
It was now clear that Council had decided to replace the traditional Citizen of the Year, Young Citizen of the Year, Sports Achievement of the Year, Community Event of the Year Award and the Jeff Britten Award for the Pursuit of Excellence with just one single award. The Local Hero.
Yet there was no discussion with the community. The newly created Local Hero was a "Captains Call".
And that single award was to be presented on an arbitrary day in May.
If you look at Council's website today (Jan 24th 2021) you will find nothing about Australia Day events in the region. One can only guess that their might be a Citizenship ceremony.
What's On:
In Narooma:
Australia Day Breakfast on the Beach
The annual BBQ breakfast put on by Narooma SLSC kindly assisted by the Narooma Lions Club is on again from 8am til 10am in the carpark below the clubhouse.
In Tuross Head
Marine Rescue NSW Tuross Unit invites the community to participate in a long-standing Tuross Head tradition: the Australia Day Breakfast BBQ on Tuesday January 26th, 8am – 12.30pm. Located at the iconic One Tree Point with wonderful views and local entertainment, come and get your morning starter from the local Marine Rescue team.
