Western Australian of the Year: celebrating 50 years

To celebrate 50 years of recognising outstanding Western Australians, Celebrate WA hosted a dinner for past recipients of the Western Australian of the Year Awards. Held at Frasers Restaurant, overlooking Perth City and the world-famous Kings Park, the Governor was joined by the Honourable Mark McGowan MLA, Premier of Western Australia, the Chairman of Celebrate WA Mr Michael Anghie, Mr Brendan Thomas CEO of Celebrate WA and former recipients of the awards.

Celebrate WA is a not-for-profit organisation responsible for organising the annual WA Day celebrations. They also organise the West Australian of the Year Awards, the purpose of which is to promote and recognise exceptional Western Australians making extraordinary contributions in key areas such as arts and culture; the Aboriginal community; positive social, scientific and economic impact; sport and the whole community.

In his address, the Governor noted that;

“The breadth of experiences and achievements of the recipients of these awards is as diverse as our vast State, and it reflects our current community values. It reminds us of what is important to us today, and shows us how far we have come.

What unites their achievements with all those honoured by these awards is the quality possessed by individuals who have looked outside of themselves and their own lives, identified a gap, or seen something that needed doing or changing. Instead of reflecting, as we all often do, that “someone should…”, they said, “I will.”  And they put this commitment into action.”

View the Western Australian of the Year Awards Hall of Fame here.

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