Marilyn McQualter thinks she has been to every John Farnham concert ever held.
Not because she’s a huge Farnham fan, but because the employees of a sheltered workshop she volunteers for are obsessed with the Australian pop icon.
Ms McQualter spends many weekends and sometimes weeks at a time taking High City’s employees to concerts and on trips overseas and interstate.
She also organises fundraising events for Whittlesea Rotary, the Country Women’s Association, the Children First Foundation and St Damien’s Church.
It’s little wonder the 69-year-old Whittlesea resident was named her council’s 2015 citizen of the year at an Australia Day ceremony last Monday.
Another recipient, Epping resident Amanda Davies, 17, was named Whittlesea’s young citizen of the year for her advocacy work and for raising awareness of the plight of asylum seekers and refugees.
Kathy Lizio was named senior citizen of the year for her involvement with the University of the Third Age, teaching those unfamiliar with the digital world how to send emails and surf the web.
The council’s all-female line-up of Australia Day winners also included Flick Hardy, who was named the ‘access and inclusion citizen of the year’ for her dedication to making basketball accessible for people with a disability and organising the mid-season Whittlesea recreational disco.
