Henry Pike (Bowman, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Each year Redland City Council recognises outstanding residents and community organisations within the Redlands through the annual Australia Day awards. It is a terrific night to acknowledge the members of our community who make an outstanding contribution and give freely of their time, knowledge and expertise to promote the welfare and wellbeing of the Redlands community. There is no more fitting time than Australia Day to celebrate all that brings us together as a community.

This year our Redland Citizen of the Year was global star soprano Mirusia Louwerse. Our Senior Citizen of the Year was the Cage Youth Foundation's Linda Grieve, although I've told her she's way too young to be considered a senior citizen. Also highly commended as a senior citizen was Marie Dalton. The Young Citizen of the Year was youth mental health advocate Cody Schaeffer. The Local Hero Award went to Gavin Kugler of the Point Lookout Surf Life Saving Club. The Local Hero Award Highly Commended category went to Paul Suess and Julie Bennell, who've been highly involved in our local Scouting movement. The Community Organisation Award went to STAR Community Services. The Cultural Award winner was Jonathon Welch AM, and the Sports Award was taken out by adaptive water skier Scott Wintle. The environment and sustainability category was taken out by Kevin Hughes, and the Reconciliation Award went to Michael Hume, who's led a mountain of work in Indigenous engagement in local schools. I want to congratulate all the remarkable groups and individuals who've left an indelible mark on the Redlands community.