The separate Annual Australia Day events are set to become one as Council announces a combined Regional Australia Day Ceremony to be hosted at Proserpine Entertainment Centre in 2023.
The joint event will merge Bowen, Proserpine, and the Whitsundays’ Australia Day Awards Ceremonies – which are normally hosted in their individual township – to “bring the community together”.
Discussions surrounding the proposal, which was eventually approved at a Whitsunday Regional Council Meeting in November, were concerned with travel from the Whitsundays’ north – so much so that it required two meetings’ worth of discussion.
The pilot iteration of the event is also part of Council’s effort to heighten the prestige of the awards which, in recent years according to Council, have received fewer entrants than desired.
“In recent years, we have struggled to get nominations for the Australia Day awards when we have held separate ceremonies,” Mayor Julie Hall said.
“Which is why, in 2023, we will trial a united Whitsunday event with the venue to be rotated each year. Hosting one regional event allows us to duly honour high achievers and community members who are dedicated to making the Whitsundays a better place.”
Council did however note a special case: Collinsville’s Australia Day awards breakfast, which is separately organised by the Collinsville Community Association, will still go ahead unchanged in 2023. Those nominated in the separate Collinsville event will automatically be entered into the Whitsunday Australia Day Awards, however.
The change did have its detractors in Councillor Michelle Wright and Councillor Mike Brunker, both of whom believed there would be “pushback”.
“You’re not going to unite the region, you’re going to divide it,” Councillor Brunker said.
Despite concerns, the new event was approved by Council, and will act as a “trial” only, according to Mayor Hall, with the potential to return to its original form in 2024.
The inaugural Regional Whitsunday Australia Day Ceremony is set to take place at Proserpine Entertainment Centre on January 26, 2023.
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