Australia Day 2022 Awards Announced

At today’s Australia Day Awards held in Gympie’s Memorial Park, Mr Tony Goodman and Mrs Suzanne Lohse were presented with Citizen of the Year awards by Gympie Regional Council Mayor Glen Hartwig, in recognition of their hard work and commitment to helping others in the Gympie region.

“On behalf of Gympie Regional Council, I would like to take this opportunity to thank and congratulate Tony and Suzanne for their years of service to our community,” Mayor Hartwig said.

“It takes a special person to give so much of their time to help others.

“The committee believed that both Tony and Suzanne were very deserving winners, which is why they shared this year’s award,” he said.

Five other award recipients were announced today as part of Australia Day celebrations.

Miss Hannah Johnston was awarded the Young Citizen of the Year for her continued work in the community which includes representing our region at the Australian Honours Ensemble Program and volunteering her time to performing free concerts as part of local string quartet 'Serenata Strings'.

Competitive swimmer, Mr Justin Giles received the Sports award for his commitment to swimming both in and out of the pool. Representative for our region, Justin swims all over Queensland and Australia for the Gympie Gold Fins Swimming Club.

Miss Florence Penny received the Creative award for her passion and dedication for all things acting, singing and dancing.

The Rotary Quilt and Craft Spectacular received the Community Event award for their devotion to raising valuable funds for local charitable organisations through the Quilt & Craft Spectacular, an increasingly significant and impactful regional event.

Volunteer organisation Gympie Medical Transport received the Community Group award for their hard work in providing medical transport services to Gympie residents.

“The Australia Day Awards is one of my favourite days every year because I get to share the stage with some of our region’s most talented and hardest working residents,” Mayor Hartwig said.

“I would also like to take this opportunity to welcome the 41 new Australian citizens to our region.

“On behalf of Gympie Regional Council, congratulations to all the Australia day award recipients and our newest citizens.”