Liz Campbell has been included on the first King's Birthday Honours list for her service to local government and to Kempsey.
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"To be acknowledged for service to my community is a huge honour," she said of being awarded an Order of Australia (OAM).
Countless achievements during her 14 years as a shire councillor; her two years as deputy mayor and her 10 years as Kempsey mayor are cause enough for recognition, as are her many other contributions to the Kempsey community.
Ms Campbell represented the shire during major events such as construction of the Kempsey bypass; the restructure of council and its cultural review; the 2019 - 2020 bushfires; COVID-19; and during numerous floods.
"Leading the community through disaster is hard, because you take on a little bit of everybody's story," she said.
Ms Campbell spearheaded numerous projects, which are still in progress, such as Kempsey Shire Council's replacement of 56 timber bridges with concrete bridges as part of the NSW Government's Fixing Country Bridges program.
In 2017, she was elected to the Country Mayors' Executive and, up until 18 months ago, she was an Executive Member of Macleay Valley Business Chamber (Chamber of Commerce).
Service above self
Rotary has been a key part of Ms Campbell's life. She lives by the motto "service above self".
"I grew up in Rotary. My father was a Rotarian, my brother and husband were Rotarians, my friends are Rotarians."
A wearer of many hats, Ms Campbell is a founding member and Chair of the Country Universities Centre (CUC) Macleay Valley.
"[CUC] fits perfectly for our community".
Born and bred
Ms Campbell is proud to be born and bred in Kempsey Shire.
"I'm a Macleay Valley girl... it's part of who I am. It's a beautiful place and it's got beautiful people."
Her contributions and commitment to her hometown are behind her nomination and subsequent award, although she says she has no idea who nominated her.
"To be recognised by other people is very humbling," she said.
"Nobody ever sets out to do anything for awards and an award like this doesn't happen just because of me.
"I've had so much support, an enormous amount of people have been a part of the things I've done.
"My whole life has never been in isolation. so many people have been involved in everything, they're the ones who should get the award."
The Governor-General, who has announced Honours and Awards for 1191 "outstanding Australians", says the wide-ranging service of recipients is "uplifting".
"Collectively they speak to who we are now and who we can be in the future," he said.
For the first time since the Order of Australia was established in 1975, the majority of recipients in the General Division are women, with Liz Campbell being one of them.
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