January 28, 2017
Here’s how the South Burnett celebrated Australia Day at Murgon, Nanango and Yarraman.
(for our coverage of Kingaroy, Proston and Boondooma’s Australia Day celebrations, click here)
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Murgon Dairy Museum
Guest speaker John Cochrane had his Australia Day audience spellbound as he talked about the current state of the dairy industry – an ideal topic for a talk at the Murgon Dairy Museum.
He had a simple message … if retail milk prices went up just 10 cents a litre, Queensland dairy farmers would have a sustainable industry.
This price rise would cost most consumers just $10 a year but would but would put $100,000 into the pockets of the average dairy farmer.
John is a fifth generation dairy farmer and currently chairman of the collective group, Premium Milk, which consists of farmers who supply to Parmalat.
“The balance of power is in the wrong hands; it has to go back to the farmers,” he said.
The Murgon Australia Day ceremony also included the presentation of the Murgon Business and Development Association’s local Australia Day awards by MBDA president Leo Geraghty, and a re-presentation of the South Burnett Lifetime Achievement award to Col Sippel by former Citizen of the Year Joan Adams.
MBDA 2017 Australia Day Awards
- Senior Murgon Ambassador – Col Sippel
- Junior Murgon Ambassador – Beka Kapernick
- Outstanding Contribution to Murgon By An Individual Or Group – Trevor Otto
- Sports Coach / Administrator – joint winners Col Pidgeon and Leanne Sippel
- Junior Sportsperson – Taylah Berlin
- Cultural Award – Rosa Leah
- Organisation Of The Year – Murgon Rotary
- Volunteer Of The Year – Bevan Routledge
- Event Of The Year – Gavin Cooper Dinner (Murgon JRL)
- Special Award (sponsored by Cr Kathy Duff) – Murgon’s “Focus On You” health expo
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Nanango Showgrounds
Nanango celebrated Australia Day at the Nanango Showgrounds with its customary enthusiasm on Thursday.
The community celebrations are jointly sponsored by the South Burnett Regional Council, the Nanango Historical Society and the Nanango Show Society, and they kicked off at 7:00am with a gold coin donation breakfast.
This was followed by a flag raising ceremony and a recognition of Nanango’s Australia Day award winners.
Australia Day Ambassador Annabel Pike paid a visit on the morning, accompanied by South Burnett Mayor Keith Campbell and his wife Marion.
However once the formalities had been attended to, the focus of the day quickly switched to fun.
As usual, the traditional dog high jumps commanded lots of attention, and so did the tug-o-war competitions.
But given the heat of the day, watermelons and cold drinks proved very popular with contestants and spectators, and so did the Showground’s sheltered areas.
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Errol Munt Oval, Yarraman
Yarraman’s Australia Day celebrations were more muted than many other towns, but also very civic-minded.
Between 7:00am and 11:00am, a small group of residents braved the blazing sun to trawl Errol Munt Park for rubbish.
The activity was billed as a Clean Up Australia Day event, and by the time it was finished the much-loved park – a showcase for the town – was clean enough to eat your lunch on.
And that’s what the volunteers did, chowing down on a BBQ lunch supplied courtesy of Toowoomba Regional Council and the Yarraman Progress Association.
Later in the day, children were able to enjoy a Pool Party at the nearby Yarraman Swimming Pool.
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