Albany Australia Day 2023: Priya Cooper encourages community to decide to make a difference every day

The weather could hardly have been any more perfect as the crowds flocked to Binalup/Middleton Beach on Thursday to celebrate Australia Day. The City of Albany’s Binalup Festival drew thousands to the beach and its foreshore for a day full of a variety of activities. It kicked off with official proceedings to celebrate the outstanding contributions of community members as part of the City’s Australian Citizenship Ceremony and Community Citizen of the Year Awards. Visiting Australia Day ambassador Priya Cooper, who has cerebral palsy, read a Rupert McCall poem, which helped described her journey of dedication to become a Paralympic and world champion swimmer. She told the crowd how she had wanted to live an extraordinary life but when she was growing up, there was more of a focus on what people growing up with a disability could not do instead of what they could. “But luckily I was surrounded by people that encouraged me to focus on the things I could do,” she said. “I was lucky to discover swimming was something I could do and 30-something years later, I’m still able to give back to the community. “What Australia means to me, is that we are inclusive. “We are inclusive of people no matter where they come from, no matter your background and no matter what ability you have.” Ms Cooper’s impressive list of achievements and accolades includes several gold medals and being the Australia flag-bearer at the 1992 and 1996 Paralympic closing ceremonies. She said she wanted to welcome every one of the new citizens to Australia and invited everyone to leave with one thought in mind. “Make a decision that every single day, each and every one of us can actually make a difference,” she said. “It doesn’t have to be a massive difference, it doesn’t have to be a gold medal, it can just be; smiling at someone, making someone feel welcome, giving someone a compliment. “All of those things make our community inclusive.” Before the 24 new Australians took the citizenship pledge, everyone was welcomed to Binalup as the “place of first light” by Menang Noongar elder Lester Coyne. “The sun comes over from the east, so the Aboriginal people were smart enough — always have been, and always will be — to know this is a very special place,” he said. Mayor Dennis Wellington told the crowd that it was the first time he had come to the festival and cursed the fact there was no breeze. “We’re in a situation now where we have a lot of people wanting to ship to Albany at the moment, but we’ve got a shortage of housing,” he said. “I think we can understand the reason why because it’s a fantastic place to live. “There are people fanning themselves at the front here because its a bit hot at 23 or 24 degrees; it’s 38 or 39 in Perth and we’d be flat on our backs at that point.” The 18 nominations across the City’s four citizen of the year categories were presented with certificates acknowledging their dedication to bettering the community. Geoff Bastyan, Bob Rees and Angus Bowles were announced as the winners of the overall, senior and young citizen categories respectively. There was no winner declared for the active citizenship community group or event category as the City’s judging panel decided “it was unfair to pick a winner” because the two nominations “displayed such similar attributes.” Mr Wellington led Albany’s newest citizen in the citizenship pledge in between Juni performing I am Australian and the Australian National Anthem. After the official proceedings of the day, there was plenty of time for the proud new Aussies and award winners to pose for photo opportunities. It was then time to head to the beach to enjoy a variety of free activities including sand sculpting, kite flying and beach games. There was also plenty of opportunities to take in the the onstage entertainment and enjoy a bite to eat from the many food vendors on hand during the afternoon before the festivities wound up about 4pm.