What’s not up for argument is that we should have an Australia Day – and that it should happen at this time of year.

The opportunities to get together in the height of summer and have fun, and also to celebrate the best of us with the local, state and national Australia Day awards are always a joy to behold.

Camooweal captured that spirit of inclusiveness with its Lawnmower Racing day being a truly multi-racial affair that everyone enjoyed.

Before I went there, I attended events at Mount Isa where there was a hasty but necessary decision to move its celebrations indoors are some rain overnight (which sadly brought only 2.6mm to the rain gauge, for a stunningly small total of 7.8mm for the month to date).

And that worked well. There was a pleasant and intimate atmosphere inside the Civic Centre for those who came along for a free breakfast with activities for the kids and a chance to catch up for a chat and a bite to eat for the adults.

After the Air Force Cadets took part in the flag raising ceremony and the national anthem outside the Civic Centre after the rain had cleared, everyone moved downstairs to the main auditorium for the awards and the citizenship ceremony.

All the winners were deserving and a theme quickly emerged from the recipients as they spoke their award.

Almost to a woman and a man they all preferred to work behind the scenes and get on it, and all were modest about their award.

Almost all too, mentioned the importance of giving back to the community, a crucial point in a society that seems to be dominated by the me-first “selfie” culture.

According to Senior Citizen of the Year it was “what you scatter, not gather, that matters”.  Senior Sports Award winner Frank Lawler had a similar philosophy:”Don’t look what you can get from the county, look for what you can give to the country.” Citizen of the year Mary-Jane Caldwell was the same, preferring to work “under the radar”.

It was inspiring to listen to them, congratulations to all award winners – Derek Barry