The Order of Australia Medal has been rightly awarded to Maria for her strong sense of empathy and unrelenting passion to fight for those in need or those without a voice.

Her work ranges from identifying and protecting lost World War I Aussie Diggers lying in foreign fields to researching and naming unmarked graves in her local Port Fairy cemetery.

One of Maria's many great accomplishments was her successful challenge in changing French President Emmanuel Macron's plans to build wind turbines on land near Bullecourt, France, over the remains of thousands of Aussie Diggers. Her victorious campaign has allowed the dignity and memory of Australian soldiers to live on.

Maria deserves our unstinting gratitude for her considerable efforts to preserve Australian history and restore dignity to our Aussie Diggers, formerly in unmarked graves.

Maria Cameron is a most deserving OAM recipient of this prestigious award and I extend my congratulations.

Bev McArthur MP, Geelong

The extended Wannon Water sewer plant has been hugely extended fair enough for Warrnambool's growing population demands.

But the huge sand dune the civil contractors have created on the north eastern side to contain and border the plant is ugly and stands out like a sore thumb.

It is also bare of any vegetation and needs to be covered ASAP, as all the sand blows over the South Warrnambool district on every south-west wind event - which in Warrnambool is very common.

Not happy hosing down house and sweeping sand off things.

Also trotting track and building needs to be demolished to get rid of kids and idiots driving around it like a rally race track.

Use the area for a 36 extended professional hole golf course and get Warrnambool on the best golf course list in Australia.

At least the area will be looking great and not a dump for which it still is at the moment.

Andrew King, Warrnambool

The World's Greatest Shave is arguably Australia's favourite fundraising campaign spanning 26 years - with more than two million Australians taking part by shaving, cutting, and colouring their hair, to raise vital funds for the Leukaemia Foundation and people living with blood cancer, in Australia.

The World's Greatest Shave, however, wasn't immune to the devastating impact of Covid, which created the most formidable challenge the campaign has faced in its 26-year history. With the World's Greatest Shave being the single biggest source of income for the Leukaemia Foundation, the organisation took a significant hit and saw fundraising figures drop dramatically.

The World's Greatest Shave had to pivot, and this year we farewell the beloved chins as we launch a new era of the campaign, with a vibrant, bold, contemporary, and more personal approach - to support the growing number of Australians impacted by blood cancer.

The new-look World's Greatest Shave celebrates the everyday heroes in our community doing 'bloody beautiful' acts of shaving, cutting, colouring, or donating. The new creative direction will feature real human participants and a catchy new slogan 'That's Bloody Beautiful', which will resonate more deeply with Australians.

There has never been a more important time for World's Greatest Shave to be back in force, with more Australians diagnosed with blood cancer now than ever before - underscoring the urgent need for increased support, additional resources, and more funds.

More than 140,000 Australians are currently living with blood cancer. Incidence of blood cancer has soared by 47 per cent in the past decade, making it a significant public health issue in Australia.

Funds raised through the World's Greatest Shave ensure that the Leukaemia Foundation can continue to provide vital support to blood cancer patients and their loved ones, and fund ground-breaking research, in the hopes of one day finding a cure.

We urge the Australian community to sign up to shave, cut, or colour their hair for World's Greatest Shave by visiting worldsgreatestshave.com

Chris Tanti, CEO, Leukaemia Foundation

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