Oz Day Award Nominees Share Thoughts On Nominations

Australia Day Award nominees will be celebrated in Ayr and Home Hill on Sunday 26 January, marking another year that brings the community together, recognising those who have made a lasting impact in the Burdekin.

“It’s great to be nominated for our 2024 Canefield Ashes. It was actually the 20th anniversary of the Canefield Ashes, so it feels really good to be nominated for a milestone event in our cricket club's history, Tiffany Olditch states, nominated for The Community Event of the Year.

Jennifer Fotinos, who is nominated for Junior Sports Person of the Year in three disciplines including futsal, soccer and boxing, and has competed for state, Australia, or both, appreciates the recognition, noting that she doesn't often receive such appreciation for her efforts.

“It’s not often I get appreciated or honoured for my efforts, so I'm pretty grateful to be nominated, to be honest. I feel so incredibly humbled. If I won it would mean a lot as this nomination really means a lot to me,” Jennifer says.

Scott McLean, a school chaplain and volunteer boxing trainer for 15 years, including for Jennifer above, is humbled by the nomination. He enjoys seeing people thrive in sports, including taking a few people to national titles and even winning a few over the years.

“I've been a volunteer boxing trainer for about 15 years, and enjoy what I do. It's pretty humbling to be nominated, but I really enjoy what I do and seeing people thrive in their sports. So yeah, from a little town like this with such a great community, it feels pretty good. While it's great to be acknowledged, I do it because I love seeing the changes in people,” Scott declares.

Gwen Marshall, nominated for the Citizen of the Year Award, finds it humbling to be nominated, expressing surprise and gratitude.

“If I won, I would be blown away because this community is full of so many wonderful contributors and volunteers. Like everyone here, I would be humbled if I were to be honoured in that way,” Gwen says with a smile.

Inez Larsen, a member of Zonta, is overwhelmed by the nomination, having been involved in various voluntary work for a number of years.

“I was pretty overwhelmed to be nominated. I've done voluntary work with Zonta for 11 years and I really love it. I have been doing volunteer tutoring for English as a second language, and I'm also starting up a conversational English group at the library just to bring people in our community together from other countries,” Inez says.

Joan Andersen, a volunteer with the Tourism Association for over 30 years, feels that there are many deserving people and would be lovely to win, especially for her children and grandchildren.

“Oh it'd be lovely if I won, but there are so many more deserving people. If I did win, my daughter and grandkids would think it was wonderful,” Joan says shyly.

“My husband nominated me,” smiles Betty Durrant. “I didn't even know he was doing it. I got two letters from the council, and I just thought that they were sending out double rate notices until I opened them,” laughs Betty.

If Betty won, it would be extra meaningful to her because not only has she been volunteering with Meals on Wheels for over 30 years, but her husband had a fall before Christmas and has been in hospital since.

Kelsey Shand, who helps organise the End of Harvest Golf Classic, highlights the event's success after also being nominated.

“We ended up raising over $32,000, which was our largest fundraising effort for suicide prevention and really humbling. We didn't know that we were going to be nominated for a community event. Unfortunately, I won’t be here if we win but it'd be very nice to get the phone call to say that we've been selected as the winner,” Kelsey expresses.

With many other nominees, some who couldn’t make it on the day, the 2025 Burdekin Shire Council Australia Day Awards are shaping up to be the best yet.

The Australia Day Awards honour the remarkable contributions and achievements of local residents while welcoming Burdekin’s newest Australian citizens with a special Citizenship Ceremony.

Tickets to the event starting at 9:30am are free, but bookings are essential. Simply visit The Burdekin Theatre website for more information.

‍

Some of the happy and surprised Australia Day Award nominees ahead of this Sunday’s 26 January Ceremony.  Photo credit: Mark T. Rassmussen

‍