Goondiwindi Region to celebrate Australia Day privately in 2022

With Australia Day just around the corner, the Goondiwindi Region will be celebrating its Australia Day Awards in a slightly different format for 2022.

Due to current health advice around the predicted Queensland COVID-19 peak in the coming weeks, the Goondiwindi Region Australia Day Awards ceremony will not be held in-person on Australia Day, like in previous years.

Instead, Council will host a smaller, private ceremony, which will be recorded and shared online on 26 January.

Residents will be able to join in the celebrations and watch the pre-recorded ceremony via Goondiwindi Regional Council’s website and Facebook page on Australia Day.

A full list of all the nominees from across the region will also be featured in the next edition of Council’s Belong magazine, along with the stories behind their nomination.

Mayor of the Goondiwindi Region the Honourable Cr Lawrence Springborg AM said “every year, we publicly acknowledge and celebrate those citizens who do so much for our region and community,” the Mayor said. “This year, the awards ceremony will be limited and private, but this does not take away from the extraordinary contributions that our citizens have made to our community.

“It’s been a challenging two years, but we only need to look at the nominations to see we have some extraordinary residents in our region: from commitment and dedication of volunteers who put in the hours week after week, to the up-and-coming sporting stars representing our community.”

Each year, awards are presented to citizens across the region for Citizen of the Year, Young Citizen of the Year, Community Project / Community / Cultural Event of the Year, Junior Sports and Senior Sports / Administration.

“Council must honour its responsibility to keeping the community safe, which is why we made the decision to host a closed awards ceremony this year,” Cr Springborg said. “However, I would encourage people, as they would do normally, to celebrate the significance of Australia Day with their families and friends – and I remain hopeful that this will be the final time we will have to disrupt our celebrations due to the pandemic.”

Follow Council’s Facebook page to be updated when the ceremony video goes live: https://www.facebook.com/grcqld

The ceremony video will also be available to download from Council’s website: Australia Day – Goondiwindi Regional Council (grc.qld.gov.au)