Australia Day Award Winners

In Community Connect we have been profiling our 2021 Ballina Shire Australia Day award winners to learn more about their outstanding contributions to our community. In this edition we meet Clare Southwell (Sports Award) and Maria Matthes (Environmental Award).

Clare Southwell

SPORTING ACHIEVEMENT

Clare Southwell’s story is proof that if you are determined enough and love something enough, there are no barriers to what you can achieve.

Just two short years ago the Lennox Head mum and business owner/ marketing strategist reignited her passion for sailing, and what she has accomplished since is nothing short of inspiring.

Highlights have included competing in her first Sydney to Hobart Race, and winning the 2020 Queensland State Title in the 18ft skiffs.

Clare learnt to sail in England, Northhamptonshire as a 10-year-old. She sailed competitively representing England for a number of years, travelling across Europe to attend various championships. But when her sailing partner was poached to join an Olympic team, Clare felt adrift.

“At the time I was going to uni, and I was pretty bruised,” she explains. “I kind of felt like it was a bit over for me. Which, in hindsight, was the wrong way to look at it.”

Clare didn’t sail for the next 20 years.

In 2019 she was in Tasmania celebrating a friend’s 40th birthday aboard a yacht when she asked to have a go at helming the boat. The crew explained that they would be doing the infamous Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race that year and told Clare that if she got back into sailing she would be welcome to join the crew.

The following week Clare took up a crewing position on a boat in Southport. A month or so later she bought herself a 15ft skiff, and she hasn’t missed a weekend of sailing since.

“For me the Sydney to Hobart was the biggest challenge I’ve ever done,” she says. “I was an inshore sailor, I hadn’t done much offshore at all, and I hadn’t done any overnight races, so for me it was a very daunting prospect. But I knew that opportunities like this don’t come along often, so I said yes.”

During the COVID lockdown Clare continued to hone her skills sailing her 15ft skiff single handedly along the Richmond River. After viewing a video of her on the water, she received an offer to sail an 18ft skiff in Brisbane.

Eighteen-footers are mostly sailed by men as they are very demanding boats that require a high level of strength. Clare is currently one of only two women in Australia, and only three in the world, who currently sail the 18ft skiff.

The Royal QLD Yacht Squadron, based in Brisbane, are loaning Clare an 18ft skiff for the 2021/22 season so she can practice sailing it in Ballina. She will team up with two other locals, Kynan Wall and Liam Channer, from the Richmond River Sailing and Rowing Club. Clare has also been asked to sail at the 2022 18ft World Titles.

Clare and her crew will be looking for a local sponsor to display their brand proudly on the 18ft skiff. This is a first for any regional area, and a significant part of female sailing history. Anyone who is interested in this opportunity can contact Clare via clare@thirdandpublic.com

Maria Matthes

ENVIRONMENTAL AWARD

From as early as she can remember Maria Matthes has loved and cared for the local environment.

She grew up in Broadwater where the local community was ‘koala centric’ and there were plenty of role models who planted trees, and rescued and cared for sick and injured koalas. “I was always interested in plants and animals and how everything interacted,” she says. “As a teenager I developed a real interest in threatened species and fire ecology.” Maria studied applied science at the Northern Rivers College of Advanced Education (now Southern Cross University), where she also participated in annual koala surveys. After completing her studies she landed a job with the National Parks and Wildlife Service as a fire and vegetation ecologist. “Fire ecology is about reading the bush, what is there, why it is there, and how the ecosystem interacts and responds to fire,” explains Maria. “This work was a natural transition from everything I observed as a kid.” All the while she was involved in many different activities to help koalas. In 2016 she was approached by Friends of the Koala to become a koala rescuer for Ballina Shire.

Too often rescuers and carers have to deal with the heartbreak of another loss, usually from vehicle strikes, dog attacks, and disease. Two years ago Maria joined Twitter to raise awareness about the significance of Ballina Shire’s koala population. Her passion for conservation has inspired a legion of nearly 5,000 loyal supporters. “I want residents and visitors to know that we have a nationally significant koala population in Ballina Shire. We have koalas from the southern-most area to the northern-most, to the hinterland in the east, and often in places you wouldn’t expect,” says Maria. “Locals and visitors can help by being koala aware. Report koala sightings, drive koala aware, know the signs of a koala in need of care, and get active in koala caring activities, whether it be tree planting, weed control, or domestic dog management.”

Ever since Maria has been on call, day and night, to conduct welfare checks and to capture sick or injured koalas to transport them to the Koala Hospital in Lismore. The happy endings, like little Bloom (pictured), are what keep Maria going. Bloom’s mum was hit by a car and Bloom was cared for at the Koala Hospital. She has since been released on private property in Rous Mill.

Want to help?

To build a better picture of koalas in the Northern Rivers Region of NSW, Friends of the Koala also like to know about healthy and deceased koalas.

For sick or injured koalas call the Friends of the Koala 24hour rescue hotline 02 6622 1233

To report a sighting visit: https://friendsofthekoala. org/report-a-koala-sighting/