He secured a job at a meatworks and moved with his family to Mackay in 2008, settling in to the quiet, peaceful life and working for a brighter future. A future centred on his children. Marlon said the great thing about becoming an Australian citizen was the opportunities it afforded him. The Milton State High School graduate is working as a diesel fitter in town and hopes to continue that in the future. His brother Kaiky likewise appreciates the opportunities he has in Mackay, and is in Year 12 at Milton State High. I m currently doing engineering courses, he said. I want to go to uni and become an engineer.
Janessa Ekert Journalist I didnât always want to be a journalist. In fact, when I was younger my dream was to be an archaeologist â who wouldnât want to be like Indiana Jones? However, now that I am a journalist, I couldnât imagine doing anything else with my life.
I love listening to peopleâs stories and sharing them with others.
Iâm a Queenslander through and though. Mackay is the furthest south I have ever lived. Iâm an only child and I was raised in Airlie Beach.
My parents are former boaties; we lived on a 42 foot.
Russell McLennan has spent the past 44 years volunteering his time for something he loves with men and women he respects and admires.
So it doesnât feel like a job and when he accepted the Lori Burgess Community Volunteer award, it was on behalf of the team.
Itâs a credit to him personally, though, that the longstanding VMR Mackay volunteer was called to the MECC stage on Monday night at the Mackay 2021 Australia Day awards.
âIâm not in it for the awards, Iâm in it because I enjoy doing it,â Mr McLennan said.
âThis is not just for me; this is for the whole team of VMR Mackay.
Because Mabel Quakawoot doesnât do things for âshowâ.
She does them because theyâre right, and plans to fight on for her next passion â getting Mackay a soup kitchen.
âI like to do things quietly and make sure those people feel comfortable,â she says.
âWhen you help people, they donât want other people to know that youâre helping them, so I go about that quietly and thatâs how I work.
âI donât tell people that I do this or do that but Greg (Williamson) knew that I was in the Womenâs Royal Australian Air Force.â