Friday, 21 March 2025
Eugowra Multi-Purpose Centre
Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC KC

Thank you, Christopher^[1]

I acknowledge the Wiradjuri, “people of the three rivers”^[2] and Traditional owners of these lands and waterways. I pay my respects to their Elders, past, present and emerging, who have nurtured and sustained this land and their culture for millennia.

May I also begin by thanking you, Kevin^[3], for the opportunity to participate in the official opening of this new facility. The opening of a community hall—which, at its heart, is what this new Multi-Purpose Centre represents—always provides an occasion for the people of a town to come together. 

Rarely, however, does such an occasion provide the opportunity to honour those whose bravery saved that town. In so many ways, today’s ceremony is the acknowledgement, expression, and celebration of the spirit of Eugowra.

And we from Government House are particularly honoured to be here and part of today’s Bravery Awards Ceremony, the first time I have been part of an investiture ceremony other than at Government House. Indeed, it is the first time the Royal Humane Society has held a regional investiture since 2009^[4], following the 2007 Newcastle floods.

The origins of the Royal Humane Society of NSW Bravery Awards goes back to 1877, with the formation of the National Shipwreck Relief Society of New South Wales. Amongst its objectives, and I quote here, was “To grant the Society’s medal or rewards to any persons performing acts of bravery in the saving of human life.”^[5]

Nearly a century and a half later, the purpose the Shipwreck Relief Society—now the Royal Humane Society of NSW—remains as it was then: to recognise and honour those who come to the aid of someone in danger and invariably, in doing so, put themselves in a dangerous situation.

Some of the individuals have had training in Emergency Services. Others have responded instinctively. In either case, these individuals—and today it is the recipients of the bravery awards—display the essential human traits of courage and selflessness. 

What happened ‘on the hardest day’ in Eugowra is etched in the memories of everyone here. The citations which are about to be read out cannot possibly capture the starkness of those memories—but they do capture the courage and selflessness of which I have spoken. 

Those whom we honour are everyday people, of all ages, from different backgrounds. However, they have this in common. They responded to the desperate calls for help.

Those acts of bravery were the acts of bravery of a community, reflecting not only strength of character of the individuals involved, but also the strength of character and connectedness of this community.

That strength of character and connectedness is also reflected in the way you—as a town—have dealt with the aftermath of the flood. It hasn’t been easy, and its impact is still being felt… long, long, after the waters have receded. The words of the song performed by St Joey’s probably capture better than anything what you have been through—the detail is in the verses, the spirit of the town in the chorus.   

I thank everyone for what you did ‘on that hardest of days’, and what you continue to do for yourselves—which itself is so important—and for one another, because together you are ‘helping each other stay.’

For all of that, to the recipients of today’s awards, to all the people of Eugowra, I offer the deepest and most heartful of thanks.

[1] Mr Christopher Sullivan PSM, Deputy Official Secretary to the Governor.

[2] Rebecca Fisher, ‘Wiradjuri Cultural Objects from Peak Hill, NSW’, Australian Museum website, available here

[3] Councillor Kevin Beatty, Mayor, Cabonne Shire Council

[4] Information provided by David Turner, Chair, Royal Humane Society; 58 people were honoured in a ceremony in Newcastle Town Hall on 23 June 2009: Melissa Lyons, ‘Sister Rewarded for Singleton Storm Bravery’, Newcastle Herald, 24 June 2009, available here

[5] ‘National Shipwreck Relief Society of New South Wales’, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser, 1 September 1877, p. 541; available here.