Port Fairy in Victoria has won a major international award for being one of the most liveable communities of its size in the world, along with the City of Kogorah in NSW.
Apart from sharing the accolades bestowed by the prestigious international awards organisation LivCom, the towns have one other thing in common: Greek Australian mayors.
The LivCom awards The International Awards for Livable Communities recognise towns and cities across the globe which promote healthy lifestyles, exemplary environmental practices, community involvement, and model approaches to arts and culture.
With a population of less than 10,000, Port Fairy was the only Australian location to be included as a finalist in the ‘Population of up to 20,000’ category. The coastal town pipped the Irish towns Abbeyleix and Moynalty to first place.
Moyne Shire’s Greek Australian mayor Jim Doukas travelled to the Arab Emirates to accept the award.
First elected to the Council in 2002, Cr Doukas was elected mayor in 2010. A former dairy farmer at Mailors Flat, Cr Doukas set out to raise the profile of the Shire townships from a tourism and commercial perspective.
Kogarah City, 15 kms south of Sydney, which also boasts a Greek Australian mayor in Cr Nikos Varvaris, was the only other Australian town to be recognised by this year’s LivCom awards. Kogarah achieved second place in the ‘Population 20,001 to 75,000’ category.
Proclaimed a municipality in 1885, the City of Kogarah will celebrate its 127th birthday on December 23. The 2013 LivCom awards will be held in Xiamen, China.