An Olympic star and the driving force behind a charity turning around the lives of at-risk young men are among several Gold Coasters nominated for Queensland Australian of the Year Awards.
Men of Business founder Marco Renai is now in line for the Queensland gong after being recognised as the 2023 Gold Coast Australian of the Year.
The 48-year-old has worked with thousands of young men over the last ten years with the establishment of the Men of Business Academy.
The MOB Academy has been empowering young men with the skills, knowledge and confidence to be happy, healthy and successful in life.
Men of Business founder Marco Renai. PHOTO: Supplied
Olympic champion Emma McKeon has been nominated for the Queensland Young Australian of the Year after also taking out the Gold Coast award earlier this year.
The 29-year-old is the most decorated Australian Olympian, with 11 Olympic Medals and 20 Commonwealth Games Medals to her name.
She also broke the record for the most Commonwealth Games medals ever in 2022, with six gold, one silver, and one bronze medals, bringing her total medal count to 20.
PHOTO: Getty Images
The founders of not-for-profit organisation Havafeed Relief have been nominated for Queensland Senior Australian of the Year.
Reverend Robyn and Reverend Dr Lindsay Burch started Havafeed in 1994 with just a van and some donated loaves of bread after recognising the need to help those who were disadvantaged in the Gold Coast community.
Their charity is now a regular fixture in Mermaid Beach providing more than 300 meals a week but their organisation receives no funding and relies solely on donations from the community.
They have gone on to feed more than one million people and raise more than $2 million in donations.
Havafeed Relief Founders Robyn & Dr Lindsay Burch | PHOTO: Supplied
The Queensland Australians of the Year will be announced at a ceremony in Brisbane on November 8.
The Australians of the Year Awards will be revealed on January 25 in Canberra.
2024 Australian of the Year for Queensland
Benjamin Bjarnesen BM – Speaker, educator and advocate against domestic violence
Geraldine Blackwell – Founder, Youth Development Foundation
Marco Renai – Founder, Men of Business
Adjunct Professor Adam Scott – Innovator in medicine and founder, White Cloud Foundation
2024 Senior Australian of the Year for Queensland
Reverend Robyn and Reverend Dr Lindsay Burch – Founders, Havafeed Relief
Martin Corkery – Rotarian and philanthropist
Ted Kearney – Soccer referee coach (retired)
Ronald West – Organist and former theatre owner
2024 Young Australian of the Year for Queensland
Toby Hendy – Science communicator, Youtuber and filmmaker
Emma McKeon AM – Olympian
Curtis Rayment – Founder, It’s a Man’s Issue
Grace Sholl – Mental health advocate and aspiring psychologist
2024 Local Hero for Queensland
Laurie Bateman – Constable, Queensland Police Service and world-record-breaking sheep shearer
Bradley Crosbie – Founder, WYLD Projects Indigenous Corporation
David Elliott OAM – Co-founder, Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum of Natural History
Vanessa Fowler OAM – Founder, Allison Baden-Clay Foundation
