General News
5 February, 2023
Aus Day: For every one
The people of Dimboola came together under brilliant blue skies to celebrate Australia Day this year, and the feeling and theme of the celebration was one of warm, open-handed inclusion. The sentiment was best summed up by the words of guest...
The people of Dimboola came together under brilliant blue skies to celebrate Australia Day this year, and the feeling and theme of the celebration was one of warm, open-handed inclusion.
The sentiment was best summed up by the words of guest speaker, Ian Lehmann.
“We need an Australia Day for all Australians,” he said. “Every one of them.”
Hindmarsh Shire mayor Brett Ireland agreed and said a totally inclusive Australia Day needed to be developed - one which all Australians felt welcome at.
“For citizens who have walked this land for thousands of years to new immigrants, we need to respect and celebrate the democratic beliefs we share,” he said.
Judging by the length of the applause, the crowd agreed.
The event was held at the rear of the Dimboola Library, and was opened by Dimboola’s Country Women’s Association president Mandy Myers, who introduced CWA member Nancy Harrison’s traditional Welcome to Country speech, on behalf of the Wotjobaluk people.
Cr Brett Ireland presented the award for 2023 Best Community Event of the Year to the Peter Taylor Memorial Barefoot Waterski Tournament and Night Jump, which was accepted by Darren Bone.
The Barefoot event, which was attended by over 2500 people, raised approximately $5000 in donations for Wimmera Against Cancer in Kids (WACK) and Wimmera Mental Health.
“The Dimboola stretch of river is rated one of the best natural barefoot skiing sites in the world.” Mr Bone said.
“There is interest from all over Australia and overseas competitors are coming in from all over for the 2024 event.”
The 2023 Hindmarsh Young Citizen Award was awarded to Ayla Roberts in Rainbow, while the Citizen of the Year Award went to Nhill’s Christine Dufty.
The day was rounded off by more lively tunes from the Nhill-Dimboola Brass Band.
Ms Myers said the Dimboola CWA had a long history of hosting Dimboola’s Australia Day celebrations, and supplying food and drinks to the crowd.
“The CWA has been hosting the Australia Day celebrations for 30 years,” Ms Myers said.
“Every year we start planning at the start of January and we each contribute two plates of our favorite foods.
It gets a bit tough now that we’re all getting older - it is hard work setting up.”
Margaret Menzel thought the CWA’s history with the event dated back even earlier than that.
“As a child, I remember my mother Olga, also a CWA member, distributing fresh flowers from her basket to the Dimboola townsfolk for the event,” she said.