AT LEAST six northerners have been rewarded for their services to their communities in today’s Australia Day honours list.
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Their contributions may have gone unnoticed by those who live in other centres, but where they have their hearts and their homes, these are people who have made a discernible difference.
And their efforts have been and always are in so many different ways.
Today we honour the work, most of it voluntary and selfless, of people in a diverse range of community life and working careers, not just with the national honours but in the smallest of circles of our communities.
And across the region, residents of many towns and villages will come together to honour their own in their own way.
The hard work of a long list of local volunteers will be acknowledged in Australia Day awards ceremonies.
Adding to the festivities will be citizenship ceremonies as many centres welcome people from other countries who have elected to make Australia their home and, in the process, adopt its values.
For all the angst and suspicion which reflects about some of those who choose to make this their home, it is these citizens who represent the goodness and the greatness that is the multicultural mainstream.
Other of our major ceremonies in so many ways today reflect the strong community spirit which is so dominant in regional and rural communities.
They involve many ordinary people doing ordinary and extraordinary things.
They contribute hard work and dedicated service.
They make us better at who we are and how we are seen.
They inspire us too.
They are often men and women of an older age who have contributed for years in organisations and clubs that may not achieve greatness in high-profile works, but they are the glue that keeps the fabric of our society strong.
We have long noted that the great strength of country towns are the people who live there who know we must work together for all to benefit.
The level of contribution in country communities is legendary and has made all the difference – just look at the statistics of the annual volunteers’ Gift of Time awards in Tamworth.
The results of such service define the true character of us all.
Thank goodness we have so many who give so much.
Happy Australia Day and let’s celebrate the success of not only who we are and what we have achieved, but what more we can do.