Reach out. This was the recurring theme at the Nagambie Australia Day ceremony, from the citizens of the year, who pulled a young woman from a sinking car, to guest speaker Ian Coutts who promotes Indigenous reconciliation through sport.
Marc Erickson and Abbie Burling were walking their dog around Lake Nagambie before dinner when they noticed lights in the water.
A car had been driven down the boat ramp and was floating into the centre of the lake, rapidly filling with water.
Miss Burling realised the brake lights were on, making it highly likely someone was still inside the vehicle, just as it began to sink.
Mr Erickson swam out and dived down, opening the door and pulling out an unconscious young woman.
As their actions were played out blow by blow at the Australia Day ceremony, Miss Burling was brought to tears right before she accepted the award.
“I couldn’t stop crying,” she said.
“Just to hear the story again and relive it. It reminded me how brave Marc had been.”
Mr Erickson said when he looked back, the scariest moment was right after he pulled the car door open in the dark and cold August water.
“You reached in and you didn’t know what you were going to feel,” he said.
The unresponsive driver started coughing and showing signs of life as she was brought to shore.
The young couple admitted this was their first time attending an official Australia Day ceremony.
Also honoured was Nagambie Lions Club (which officially disbanded in November) as the Organisation of the Year, acknowledged for its invaluable work.
Community Event of the Year went to Nagambie Historical Society for its Halloween 2021 haunted house.
Young Citizen of the Year was Eddie Perry, a 17-year-old who has been volunteering with Nagambie CFA for two years.
The Nagambie Senior Citizen of the Year was also honoured as the Strathbogie-wide Senior Citizen of the Year.
Jill Branagan’s list of volunteering efforts painted her as one of the most active people in Victoria.
Alongside running sausage sizzles, cooking and delivering food in lockdowns, Mrs Branagan helps people fill out grant application paperwork and runs computer classes for those wishing to learn about technology.
Australia Day ambassador Ian Coutts praised Nagambie for being such a “progressive place that is really moving ahead”.
“What we do shapes this country, no doubt about it,” Mr Coutts said.
“Never take volunteering from granted, if it’s not there we notice it. It starts with your friends, just saying hello or making time. It makes a world of difference.”
While Mr Couttts said multiple times he “didn’t want to get political” he did touch on the idea of Indigenous reconciliation, reading out a quote from former Indigenous AFL player Shaun Burgoyne.
“’The way I see it, you can’t change history but you can learn from it’,” he said.
This resulted in a spontaneous round of applause.
“We need to acknowledge past wrongs and come together,” Mr Coutts said.
Coming from a background at Carlton Football Club, Mr Coutts was part of the small group who founded the Mullagh Wills Foundation.
Named after cricket star and Wotjobaluk man Johnny Mullagh and the coach of Australia’s first international sporting team, Tom Wills, the foundation promotes the achievements of the first cricket team to play England and the Indigenous culture of the 13 Wimmera-based players.
“Mullagh Wills is about reconciliation through sport,” Mr Coutts said.
“It helped me understand the oldest continual culture in the world, because I didn’t have the exposure before. We had no Indigenous community where I grew up in Kaniva.”
The foundation also created a message book, which travelled from the Wimmera to the MCG where it was present before the 2016 Boxing Day Test.
It contains messages in the Wotjobaluk traditional language, Wergaia, and messages of reconciliation from each person who writes in it.
After Melbourne it continued to Sydney before retracing the team’s journey to England and returning to its home in the Wimmera town of Harrow.