We celebrate what's great!
Australia Day Citizen of the Year Ashley De Sair and Young Citizen of the Year Corben Nabanardi cut the cake at the Tuesday 26 January Aussie Family Fun Day at Alberto Luglietti Memorial Pool, Jabiru. (Scroll down page for full details on the 2016 winners of the Australia Day Local Government Awards)
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ON Tuesday 26 January, Australians across West Arnhem came together to celebrate this great country of ours.
We also took time out to reflect on our identity – who we are, what it means to be Australian, and where we are headed, together, as a nation.
In Jabiru, we celebrated with an ‘Aussie Family Fun Day’ at the pool.
With her radio mic headset and boundless energy, West Arnhem Regional Council’s new pool manager, Barbara Murray, helped ensure kids (and adults!) enjoyed inflatable pool toy races, a Thong Throwing comp, egg-and-spoon race as well as games for toddlers in the paddling pool.
As the temperature climbed to 36 degrees, the Jabiru firies abandoned coconut bowls and volleyball in favour of a kind of tug-of-war using fire hoses and an inflatable ball, much to the delight of the sun-soaked kids.
Council hosted a free community lunch, with support from Jabiru volunteers.
Jabiru locals Peter Keepence and Sioux Jenkins barbecued sausages, chicken, steak and lamb chops from Mercure Kakadu Crocodile Hotel, which families enjoyed with fruit, salads, cold drinks, and lamingtons from Jabiru Foodland and an Australia Day cake from Kakadu Bakery.
View more photos from Jabiru's pool party on our facebook page here.
AUSTRALIA DAY AMBROSE
From 10am, Jabiru Golf Club held its traditional Australia Day Ambrose, and the clubhouse hosted a great parade of costumed characters in a laid-back atmosphere.
Jabiru Golf Club Australia Day Ambrose winners Anthony Shearn, Kay Shearn and Shannon Summerton.
Jarret and Ashar loving Australia Day at the Jabiru Golf Club.
Manager Tania Maree thanked the club’s volunteers, team and sfaff, as well as Kakadu Bakery and the “great local butcher” at Jabiru Foodland.
“It’s great to see the community come together to make Australia Day at Jabiru Golf Club awesome,” she said.
“Thanks to those who worked so hard to fix the air conditioning and to Stu for tunes we kick back to every week.”
AUSTRALIA DAY IN MINJILANG
In Minjilang, Council Services Manager Trent Marshall described the ‘Australia day Barbie’ as a great success.
“I had numerous comments on my poor cooking ability and I cooked for the whole town for about two hours until we ran out of food, with no reported cases of food poisoning,” Trent reports.
“We sent out a car with a loudspeaker which had the entire community present for sausages, chops, drinks and a good time, with basketball too.”
He said Council Sport and Recreation officers Matthew Ngarlbin and Justin Cooper were kept busy “laughing at me trying to cook for a couple of hundred people in one hit”.
CONCERNS ABOUT DATE
As in previous years in West Arnhem, the question about the date on which we celebrate reared its head.
Local organisation Children’s Ground offered its staff a choice to work on the day.
“After discussing this option, the majority of both Bininj (Indigenous people) and Balanda (non-Indigenous people) have decided to take up this offer and work on January 26, 2016,” the group announced on its facebook page on 22 January.
Children’s Ground staff say they took the action because “We believe there should be a new day of celebration for Australia that is respectful to all Australians”.
“Giving our staff choice to work on this day, and take a day off in future, is a way of demonstrating this.”
You can read Children’s Ground Chief Executive Jane Vadiveloo’s statement here.
Artist and elder Abel Naborlhborlh paints figures of a Bininj (man) and Daluk (woman) on an Aboriginal flag. The flag, painted on six bamboo blinds, was rolled out onto the roof of the Wurdurd Garri-yigarrmerren centre in Jabiru to mark Australia Day 2016. PHOTO: DOMINIC O’BRIEN
LOCAL GOVERNMENT AWARDS 2016
West Arnhem Regional Council respectfully acknowledges the Mirrar Gundjeihmi people, and other past and present Bininj traditional owners of Kakadu, and we pay our respects to the leaders of the traditional custodians of this land.
The Australia Day Local Government Awards were presented by Kakadu Ward Councillor Anna Egerton.
ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: MELISSA LOOKER
Melissa Looker, manager of Jabiru Sports & Social Club, receives her Australia Day Achievement Award for outstanding work organising Territory Day celebrations from West Arnhem Councillor Anna Egerton.
The 2016 Australia Day Achievement Award went was presented to Melissa Looker, manager of the Jabiru Sports and Social Club.
Melissa, the driving force behind Territory Day celebrations in Jabiru, deserves recognition for the hard work she puts in on behalf of the JSSC for the benefit of our whole community.
The free event is always well-organised, and includes a barbecue, fireworks, and entertainment, gets the whole town involved.
The 1st July celebrations bring recognition and pride not only to Jabiru, but to the Territory as a whole.
YOUNG CITIZEN OF THE YEAR: CORBEN NABANARDI
Young Citizen of the Year Corben Nabanardi and proud sister Anna Nabanardi and mother Debbie Jentian, with his Australia Day Award.
Corben Nabanardi, 2016 Young Citizen of the Year , is an active, concerned and committed member of our community, who strives daily to make it a better place for everyone.
His recent involvement in local civic events includes being part of the flag-raising ceremony at last year’s Anzac Day Centenary service in Jabiru, participating in the White Ribbon Day march, and delivering the Welcome to Country address on special occasions including the Clontarf Awards, Jabiru Careers Expo, and the Mahbilil Festival.
Corben has also attended West Arnhem Regional Council meetings, and met with NT Chief Minister Adam Giles, Local Member for Arafura Francis Xavier Kurrupuwu, and WARC Mayor Lothar Siebert,
This year’s recipient is a pro-active community member who deserves recognition for his efforts.
CITIZEN OF THE YEAR: ASHLEY DE SAIR
Citizen of the Year Ashley De Sair receives her Australia Day Award.
Citizen of the Year Ashley De Sair has contributed greatly to the Jabiru community over the past five years.
She is an important member of the JUICE committee and sits on the West Arnhem College school council.
She strives and achieves to deliver community events that benefit the residents of Jabiru, such as the Jabiru Children’s Community Christmas Party.
Money raised from the JUICE events goes back into the community.
In 2015, her efforts helped raise funds for an Exmouth Dual Racer pool inflatable for the Alberto Luglietti Memorial Pool in Jabiru.
Without her contributions, Jabiru would be a less lively and pleasurable place to live.
COMMUNITY EVENT OF THE YEAR: ANZAC DAY CENTENARY MARCH
The Anzac Day Centenary March won Community Event of the Year. Firefighter Mike Martin accepted the award on behalf of the organising committee.
2015 was a special year for Anzac Day celebrations in Jabiru.
To mark the centenary of the Gallipoli landings we had a flypast of three RAAF Hornets, which also flew over Anzac Day services in Gunbalanya, Minjilang and Warruwi.
The Jabiru community also held an Anzac Day march, from Town Plaza to Lake Jabiru Park for breakfast and the flypast.
Led by 8/12 Regiment and ex-serviceman Reverend Lindsay Parkhill from Jabiru’s Uniting Church, and organised by WARC media coordinator Mark Coddington, the march was a first for Jabiru and a sight to behold, with around 330 people participating.
The centenary march was an event that truly brought the community of Jabiru together, with Cr Ralph Blyth presiding over the services, Christian Diddams delivering the Centenary address, Spotless providing breakfast at the park, and Buslink providing a courtesy return bus after the flypast.
West Arnhem Regional Council thanks our Australia Day event major sponsors: Mercure Kakadu Crocodile Hotel, Kakadu Bakery, Jabiru Foodland, Kakadu Tourism, and the Australia Day Council of the Northern Territory.