11th February, 2026.
The Australia Day 2026 citizenship awards and ceremonies were brilliant in the Wollondilly and Wingecarribee shires. To see so many people gathering together was terrific. I attended the Wollondilly local government area ceremony where there were a huge number of new Australian citizens from so many diverse backgrounds. We welcomed them all with open arms. In times of uncertainty in the world, hope lives in the Wollondilly electorate. It lives in the belief that Wollondilly can be a place where everyone belongs, where children feel safe to dream, elders feel valued and no-one feels invisible. Our spirit is defined by how we care for one another: with simple kindness. We celebrated our hope that each of us can play a small but meaningful part in creating peace in our words, our actions and our everyday choices.
This year saw some amazing people nominated for Australia Day awards in both shires, and some very deserving winners. Volunteers keep our community moving. The time and dedication put in by all these nominees is worthy of recognition. Chloe Ward is Wingecarribee Shire's Australia Day Young Citizen of the Year. She is an outstanding young leader whose dedication to environmental sustainability, community service and youth advocacy has made a significant impact locally and internationally. As Bowral High School captain, she was part of a team in the New South Wales Department of Education's Game Changer Challenge, addressing PFAS contamination in the Wingecarribee River and developing a PFAS-tracking app to help consumers make informed choices.
Skye Leicester is the Wingecarribee Shire's 2026 Australia Day Citizen of the Year. She has been devoted for 16 years to improving the lives of local children and young people, driven by her personal experience with youth mental health challenges and a commitment to early intervention. As president of the Bowral District Children's Foundation, she has transformed the volunteer-run charity into a professionally managed organisation and has contributed to raising and distributing over $2 million to support children's health and wellbeing. Wollondilly Shire celebrated Australia Day 2026 by naming Troy Sitkowski as its Young Citizen of the Year. Troy has lived in Wollondilly his entire life, and this year he was selected to fill the single position for an Australian male double mini representative to compete at the World Games in China last August. In November he was part of the Australian team to compete at the Trampoline World Championships in Pamplona, Spain, where he led his double mini trampoline team to a silver medal victory. Troy willingly gives back to his sporting community as a volunteer judge at various State and national competitions throughout New South Wales when he is not competing himself.
Sue Peacock is the Wollondilly Shire's 2026 Australia Day Citizen of the Year. Sue has been an anchor of the Menangle community for close to 50 years, devoting herself to supporting, enriching and strengthening the village and its people. In the 1970s she initiated the Menangle Community News, now Wollondilly's longest continuously running village newsletter. In the 1980s, recognising the need for connection among young mothers, she established the Menangle Playgroup and helped organise countless community events. Sue is a founding member of the Menangle Community Association. Three community members also received a Medal of the Order of Australia. David Blakeley of Wilton was awarded the medal for his service to community health. John Bicknell, 87, from Bargo has transformed a challenging start in life into decades of service, receiving the medal for his contribution to community and rural advocacy. Peter Andrew Roach from Burradoo, whose tenures on boards of schools span over two decades and who serves on the board of the Southern Highlands Community Foundation, also received the award.
Wollondilly's strength is simply in its people. I congratulate all those nominated and all the winners. But I also give a shout‑out to all those who silently and without recognition go about helping others every day. They may not realise it, but their actions are seen and make an incredible difference to many people's lives. I also note—I almost forgot—one of the favourite events on Australia Day in Wollondilly. That is the Carp Fishing Competition at the Picton Botanic Gardens dam. It is for under-15s. I saw some of those carp. Those fish were very big. I am proud to represent an electorate with so many kind people and amazing young fishers.