Rex Brown honoured for his service to Wye River community

A LONG-TERM advocate for Wye River has been recognised posthumously in this year’s Australia Day Honours List.

The late Rex Brown received a medal in the Order of Australia (OAM) for his services to tourism as well as to the Wye River community.

Mr Brown was chair of the Otway Hamlets Tourism (formerly Otway Coast Tourism Association) for eight years, a former president and committee member of the Wye River Separation Creek Community Association, and a former member of the destination action plan leadership group at Great Ocean Road Regional Tourism.

He was also noted for his conservation work, including his time as a former chair of the Wye River Separation Creek Waste Consultative Group, a founding member of both the Wye Weed Warriors and the Wye to Wongarra Landcare Group, and a former member of the Bushfire Vegetation Restoration Committee set up after the bushfire that devastated Wye River and Separation Creek.

Mr Brown was also a former volunteer firefighter with the Wye River CFA and a member on the Industry Relief and Recovery Committee for the Wye River/Jamieson Creek fire.

Instead of the usual January 26 gatherings in Torquay and Anglesea, the Surf Coast Shire instead held an online Australia Day event on Tuesday this week, featuring music from the Billy Tea Bush Band, speeches from Surf Coast Shire mayor Libby Stapleton, Australia Day ambassadors and Local Legends award recipients.