And the Australia Day Award winners are…

Published on 27 January 2022

The winners of the 2022 Clarence Valley Australia Day Awards have been announced at a ceremony held at the Yamba Golf and Country Club.

The awards, which celebrate the enormous contributions all the nominees make to life in the Clarence Valley, took place yesterday with 2022 Australia Day advocate Cr Jeff Smith acting as Master of Ceremony.

Clarence Valley Council Mayor Dr Ian Tiley also took part in the awards and subsequent citizenship ceremony, which saw seven people from around the world adopt Australia as their homeland. 

The 2022 Australia Day Award winners, as chosen by the selection committee, are: 

Citizen of the Year – Barbara Linley

Barbara has worked tirelessly towards the protection of endangered coastal emus.

As an active member of the Lions Club of Clarence Environmental Group, Barbara has played a significant role in raising funds towards emu protection including signage installed at the emu crossing on Brooms Head Road. Approval for this project has been endorsed by Council and a new speed limit has been put in place through the emu zone.

In her spare time, Barbara works to regenerate native bushland on her property after it was devastated by the 2019 bushfires. She has identified the emu foods that grow on her land and by encouraging them to flourish, she hopes that the emu population will grow, and continue to use her property as they move through the landscape.  

Young Citizen of the Year – Mae Carroll

Mae was selected from more than 600 applications to be a member of the Youth Advisory Council for NSW. The Youth Advisory Council is made up of twelve youths aged from 12 to 24. In the role, Mae spoke about mental health and youth suicide, acknowledging the great work happening in this space.

During the COVID-19 lockdown, Mae attended several online forums for young people - staying informed and advocating for youth in regional areas. Mae is a Junior Jacaranda Queen candidate this year, fundraising for one of our community’s biggest events. She volunteers in the Jacaranda HQ shop each Saturday morning, independent of her candidate duties. In addition to this, she has been an active fundraiser for charities such as Tour de Cure, Relay 4 Life and Ronald McDonald House Charities.

Local Hero – Myra James

Morning tea at Botero in Maclean provided the inspiration that would define Myra as a local hero.

Noticing a pile of hessian bags that the coffee beans arrive in, it gave Myra an instant idea. Being an expert patch worker, Myra thought her ‘stash’ of left-over materials from making beautiful quilts etc could be used for lining the bags and for making handles. The bags sold so fast that she soon ran out of materials, and many friends and strangers, who had heard about and bought her beautiful bags came to the fore by donating materials.

Her passion for making the bags started in 2017 and continues to date, with hundreds of bags being sold from Botero Cafe. So far, the sale of the bags has raised approximately $21,000, $20,000 of which has been donated back to the community. Myra also supports the local op shops by buying suitable materials from them.

Community Achievement (Group) – Braunstone Ladies Fundraising Group

This community group has endeavoured for many years to fundraise for multiple local charities, such as The Biggest Morning Tea and Relay for Life.

Braunstone Wigging Out has raised over $23,000 in 6 years supporting Grafton Oncology, the Grafton Wig Library with donated wigs/caps, and Grafton Knitted Knockers who knit prosthesis for breast cancer survivors from donated cotton.

Food hampers, activities for children, jumping castle, smiley squad entertainment, plaster painting, craft activities have been donated to Wooli Camp Quality and funds supplied for the purchase of defibrillators for the Braunstone Community Hall, the 5 Mile Hotel, South Grafton Bowling Club. As well as support for the Westpac Helicopter.

Young Citizen of the Year, Encouragement Award - Summah Chellew

Summah is 12 years old and School Captain of Tucabia Public School. Impressively, Summah independently raised enough funds to buy five defibrillators for the remote communities of Tucabia, Pillar Valley, Tyndale, Glenugie and Ulmarra throughout the COVID-19 lockdown.