The whole world watched as Lismore went underwater this year, and it continued watching as this resilient and dedicated community banded together to support each other through the floods and the long and arduous clean up that followed. The whole Lismore Community has been formally recognised with the prestigious Golden Wattle Award.
The 2022 Golden Wattle Award honours the Lismore Community, who when faced with the most challenging and difficult circumstances, displayed the very best in Australian support for each other and solidarity. They are an inspiration to the rest of the Australian community. The Golden Wattle Award is recognition of their courage and resilience during the recent flood events and the recovery that is still ongoing.
The heroes are too many to be named individually, but standout groups include the ‘Tinny Brigade’ for their rescues and transport of essential goods, the ‘Mud Army’ for their on the ground assistance, the ABC North Coast for providing a communications network, the Lismore City Council staff and Councillors for providing emergency relief, the local businesses who ensured essential supplies, the many service and community groups, the unsung silent individuals who provided support, safety and services.
The Golden Wattle Award winner is announced by the Wattle Day Association each year in conjunction with National Wattle Day (1 September).
Golden Wattle (Acacia pycnantha) is Australia’s national floral emblem. The award is presented as part of the Week of the Wattle celebrations around National Wattle Day, celebrated nationally since 1992 on 1 September.
The Golden Wattle award is an honorary one. It endows the winner with honourable recognition of their work or actions as being noble and expressing the best of the Australian spirit. “I think we would all agree”, says Suzette Searle, President of the Wattle Day Association, “that Lismore Community is more than deserving of this recognition”.
More information
The Wattle Day Association Inc. is a volunteer not-for-profit community organisation. It was founded in 1998 in Canberra to promote awareness of National Wattle Day as a unifying day for all Australians on 1 September (since 1992) and that the Golden Wattle (Acacia pycnantha) is Australia’s national floral emblem (since 1988). The association’s website and Facebook page provide factual information about National Wattle Day and the Golden Wattle as well as news and details about upcoming wattle day events around Australia each year. For more about National Wattle Day, visit:
W: wattleday.asn.au
F: facebook.com/WattleDay
Instagram: instagram.com/wattledayassociation/?hl=en.
Source: https://acapmag.com.au/2022/09/lismore-wins-golden-wattle-award/.
