Contents Mayor's Message

We also had a remarkable turnout at this year’s Lunar New Year Festival, which marked its 20th anniversary in Hurstville.

The Lunar New Year Festival is one of Council’s largest community events and this year it attracted 50,000 people. By celebrating our diverse cultures and traditions, we continue creating a better place for people to live, work and play in Georges River.

Welcome to the first edition of Community for 2023, we’ve had a fantastic start to the year so far! It’s been wonderful to reconnect after the festive break and I’ve enjoyed seeing many of you.

At the annual Australia Day Awards ceremony, Council welcomed 130 new local citizens and revealed the award winners. These awards are Council’s way of celebrating these outstanding people and in recognising their efforts in enriching our community.

Congratulations to Ann Madden, Hussein Ali Elsayed, John Tyler and all our nominees, you have made the Georges River community very proud. Thank you to our 2023 Georges River Australia Day ambassador, Professor Veena Sahajwalla, who presented the awards and delivered the Australia Day address on the day.

For a taste of what’s to come over the next few months, The Wiggles and Don McLean will be appearing at Hurstville Entertainment Centre and there’s heaps of school holiday activities planned to keep the little ones busy during Easter. As always, bookings are essential so check out Council’s What’s On page for more information.

In addition to attending events, I encourage everyone to continue sharing their thoughts and ideas on Council’s Your Say page. We’re always interested in understanding what’s important to the community whether it’s a project or campaign like ‘Better Together’. This fouryear campaign aims to promote diversity, encourage social cohesion and call out discrimination in our community.

The Georges River area is a rich and culturally diverse community, where everyone deserves to feel safe and welcome, so share your experiences and ideas with us or stay up to date on Council’s Your Say Page.

That’s all for now, I hope you enjoy reading the autumn stories!

Nick Katris Mayor, Georges River Council

Georges River Council acknowledges the Bidjigal people of the Eora Nation, who are the Traditional Custodians of all lands, waters and sky in the Georges River area. Council recognises Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as an integral part of the Georges River community and values their social and cultural contributions. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who live work and meet on these lands.