Mayor's Message - Thursday 16 June

19 – 25 June is Refugee Week and a time where we welcome new citizens to our growing community throughout Australia. As we see today there are many whose lives have been turned upside down by war and displacement, since the end of the Second World War Australia has accepted more than 930,000 refugees and humanitarian entrants and continues to maintain one of the world’s most generous humanitarian programs.  

It is a timely reminder that as Australian Citizens, whether by birth or choice, our Australian Citizenship is the common bond we all share.  

Ballarat is proud to be Australia’s first ‘Intercultural City’ and a place where diversity is deemed to be the norm and where there is communication, interaction and exchange between diverse cultural groups and our broader Ballarat community.  

This week also sees the City of Ballarat Youth Awards open for nominations across a host of categories. Since 2005 these awards have repeatedly shone a light on the leadership, innovation, kindness and exemplary commitment to our community that young people have demonstrated. It is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate their achievements and I would encourage people to find out more about the awards on our City of Ballarat website. 

Last week the three ‘Ballarat’s Best Ideas 2022’ winners were announced and amidst an outstanding line-up of creative and innovative ideas it was great to see Loreto College’s care pack distribution idea through Ballarat’s Soup Bus, Sports Central’s idea to hold an event that invites all people with disability to participate, and Cobb’s Coffee’s non-disposable coffee cup exchange all be voted worthy winners.  

Finally, this week, the City of Ballarat has welcomed the announcement of $2.25 million in Victorian Government funding to help meet the cost of a new community and early years hub at Alfredton (Ballymanus). This is a terrific step forward and keeps us on track for having a hub ready for residents to use in 2024.