Tag Archives: oceania

Wheelchairs for Kids founder named 2025 Senior Australian of the Year

2025-01-25 FreeNews

Charity co-founder Brother Thomas Oliver Pickett AM has been named 2025 Senior Australian of the Year.

Pickett, 84, co-founded Wheelchairs For Kids in 1996, which provides adjustable wheelchairs and occupational therapy expertise for children in developing countries.

His volunteer-run organisation has built and fitted more than 60,000 custom-made wheelchairs for children in 80 countries.

Wheelchairs For Kids is the largest volunteer-led charity in Western Australia with more than 250 retirees pitching in to help.

Pickett designed a low-cost wheelchair using the World Health Organisation's standards, with their adjustable design meaning kids can use the one wheelchair from age four to 16.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese presented the award to the charity founder at the event in Canberra.

In his speech, Pickett thanked his volunteers, donors and supporters for their work over the decades.

Australian of the Year awards

"Our wheelchairs cost $275 for our volunteers to make, and for the sum of money, a child with a disability receives a new life, by getting off the ground, having dignity as well as mobility," Pickett said.

"They can now go to the village school and have an education. They mix with their friends and they feel included.

"Any donations, no matter how big or how small, will enable us to make more wheelchairs."

Australian of the Year awards

Pickett shared one emotional tribute from a girl in Zambia who had received one of their wheelchairs.

"A little girl named Mercy, from Zambia. She says 'Dear friend, thank you for the wheelchair and the teddy bear and the beautiful rug that you gave me," he read.

"You have made my heart rejoice again. I can now go to school and be with my friends.'"

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Pioneering chemist Katrina Wruck named 2025 Young Australian of the Year

2025-01-25 FreeNews

Scientist and industrial chemist Doctor Katrina Wruck has been named the 2025 Young Australian of the Year.

Her career in chemistry has focused on giving back to remote communities by transforming mining by-products into usable non-toxic materials like laundry detergent.

Wruck is a proud Mabuigilaig and Goemulgal woman, who has advocated for First Nations knowledge and participated in community engagement programs.

The Queensland University of Technology lecturer is frequently told by students she speaks to, that she's the first Indigenous scientist they've met.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese presented the award to the 30-year-old at the Australian of the Year event in Canberra.

In her speech, Wruck said she hoped to set an example through her career as a neurodivergent Indigenous woman in science.

"Representation matters," Wruck said.

"When kids, especially Indigenous kids, see someone like me in this position, it tells them that they belong, that their dreams are valid and their voices are powerful."

Former AFL footballer and MND charity co-founder Neale Daniher AO was named Australian of the Year for 2025, while Brother Thomas Oliver Pickett AM took the title of 2025 Senior Australian of the Year.

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Lucky escape for diners after restaurant roof blown off in Brisbane

2025-01-25 FreeNews

A popular Brisbane restaurant felt the full wrath of mother nature after a storm swept through the city and took off the roof.

About 100 people ran from the popular bar and restaurant, The Officers Mess in New Farm, just before 8pm.

The collapse came as wild storms smashed the state over the past two days which bought on hail, heavy rain and damaging winds.

Officers Mess: More than a hundred diners have been forced to flee a restaurant after its roof was blown off in a Brisbane riverside suburb. 25.01.25

The roof was seemingly peeled off the venue and ended up in a nearby car park, landing on several vehicles.

Police confirmed there were no injuries reported from the incident.

The roof collapse appears to have left a trail of debris scattered across the venue, however, the full extent of the damage is still unclear.

One diner at the restaurant said the moment of the collapse was "terrifying".

"I thought we'd been fully struck by lightning," she said.

A Brisbane local who witnessed the storm told 9News, that the wind gusts felt similar to a cyclone.

Officers Mess: More than a hundred diners have been forced to flee a restaurant after its roof was blown off in a Brisbane riverside suburb. 25.01.25

"I'm from North Queensland, so it felt like a cyclone-type noise," she said.

"It was pretty loud, the gusts of wind."

The Bureau of Meteorology had warned communities including Gold Coast, Hervey Bay and Gladstone were in the firing line.

"A location just to the west of Hervey Bay recorded 54mm falling in just half an hour just after midnight," meteorologist Shane Kennedy told 9News.

Meanwhile a lightning strike sparked a fire on North Stradbroke Island and forced more than a dozen campers to be evacuated.

There was a welcome change in the weather this morning and a cooler forecast for the week ahead.

"Conditions should really settle down as a ridge starts to build over the south east for several days," Kennedy said.

Music fans attending a Luke Combs concert at Suncorp Stadium last night were advised to seek shelter as a storm rolled in, with 80,000 lightning strikes recorded during the event.

Queensland's first cyclone for the year could also be brewing as meteorologists watch a developing low in the far north.

If it develops, the cyclone would be named Taliah.

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Police officer undergoing surgery after horror crash on Queensland highway

2025-01-25 FreeNews

A police officer who was badly injured in a crash on the Cunningham Highway in Queensland yesterday remains in hospital fighting for life.

Senior Constable Chris Leonard was freed an hour after becoming trapped in the police vehicle following the truck rollover at about 1pm yesterday.

Leonard has been in surgery for several hours today at the Royal Brisbane and Womens' Hospital.

The officer was trying to pull over another vehicle when he crashed head-on with the truck.

9News has been told he has a serious head injury, both of his lungs are punctured, and he had serious fractures to his arms and legs.

Queensland Police Union President Shane Prior said that Leonard's family and colleagues are feeling "grateful" for the quick response of emergency services after the crash yesterday.

Senior Constable Chris Leonard.

A number of witnesses including an off-duty nurse and police officer also ran to Leonard's aide.

Queensland police union president Shane Prior said he felt "great, cautious relief" and mentioned that Leonard was showing some positive signs.

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Grace Tame wears anti-Murdoch t-shirt to Australian of the Year morning tea

2025-01-25 FreeNews

Former Australian of the Year Grace Tame has used a morning tea with the Prime Minister to criticise billionaire media mogul Rupert Murdoch.

The 2021 winner wore a t-shirt that read "F–-k Murdoch" as she greeted Anthony Albanese and his fiancé Jodie Haydon during the event for 2025 finalists at The Lodge in Canberra on Saturday.

Albanese and Haydon had no visible reaction to the statement on her shirt.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Jodie Haydon greet 2021 Australian of the Year Grace Tame during arrivals for a 2025 Australian of the Year Awards morning tea at the Lodge in Canberra on Saturday 25 January 2025. fedpol Photo: Alex Ellinghausen