4 Nominate now for Gold Coast Australian of the Year Nominations are now open for the 2026 Gold Coast Australian of the Year Awards, celebrating outstanding citizens creating positive change in the community. Mayor Tom Tate said the annual awards recognise those helping to build a stronger and more connected Gold Coast. “We want to honour local unsung heroes and give them the credit they deserve,” he said. “They’re the Gold Coasters whose everyday actions - mentoring, volunteering, leading and caring for others - help our community thrive. “Show your appreciation by nominating a mate, colleague or family member who continues to make a real difference.” There are four categories including: 1. Gold Coast Australian of the Year • Honouring the achievements and contributions of eminent Gold Coasters who are role models for us all, contribute to making the Gold Coast great, and are positive ambassadors for the region 2. Gold Coast Senior Australian of the Year • Celebrating those Australians aged 65 and over who continue to achieve, inspire or make a difference within the wider community 3. Gold Coast Young Australian of the Year • Recognising inspirational 16 to 30-year-olds who have accomplished great things in a particular field of endeavour 4. Gold Coast Local Hero • Acknowledging people who make a difference and challenge us to think about our contribution to creating a better local community. Last year’s Gold Coast Local Hero, Ian Gay, has also recently been named 2026 Local Hero for Queensland for his work helping people with disabilities safely experience surfing. Nominations for the 2026 Gold Coast Australian of the Year Awards close Monday 23 March 2026. The award recipient within each of the four categories will be nominated by the City for the National Australia Day Council's Australian of the Year Awards. The Gold Coast Australian of the Year Awards are proudly supported by The Gold Coast Bulletin and Southern Cross Austereo. For more information and to nominate visit cityofgoldcoast. com.au/gcawards. Mayor Tom Tate with last year’s Gold Coast Local Hero, Ian Gay. Congrats December Winners! $50 GIFT CARD SUDOKU 201: S. Ross, Labrador CROSSWORD 201: S. Jones, Oremau THE WINNER BOOK COMPETITION S. Heyden, Ormeau Hills | V. Inglis, Maudsland D. Fleming, Ormeau | P. Peters, Jacobs Well M. Montgomery, Helensvale TINA TURNER STAR CASINO H. Alcock, Hollywell | J. Briscoe, Ormeau V. Jolliffe, Runaway Bay | G. Stephenson, Nerang K. McKellar, Surfers Paradise Congratulations to our winners! We receive hundreds of entries for our competitions each month so keep on entering, you might be the next lucky winner! BOOK GIVEAWAY TWO WAYS TO ENTER ... EITHER POST OR EMAIL... POST: Write your name, address & phone on the back of an envelope and post to: Winners book prize will be couriered so please provide a phone number. You may put phone number inside envelope if you are worried about scams... thankyou! Enter To Win THE GIRLS BEFORE By Kate Alice Marshall THE GIRLS BEFORE PO Box 3302, Burleigh Town 4220 OR EMAIL: info@localnewsletters.com with THE WINNER in the SUBJECT LINE. Please include your name, address and phone number in the email • Entries close 10.03.2026 From the bestselling author of What Lies in the Woods, No One Can Know, and A Killing Cold, a new novel about a search & rescue expert, a kidnapped woman, and the lost girls who haunt them both. There is a girl in a basement. The door has stopped opening. The light is gone. Stranger is trapped in the dark, with only her imagination and the scribbles on the wall left by long-dead girls to keep her company. Nearly out of food and water, she makes one last attempt to escape. But if the door opens at last, will it mean salvation, or only the beginning of her fight to survive? Audrey is a search and rescue expert who never stopped looking for her best friend, Janie, who disappeared when they were teenagers. Janie used to love the local legend of a forest witch who saves girls from bad men, but Audrey knows now that for every one saved, there’s always another one lost. When she stumbles upon evidence in the forest that a teenage runaway might have actually been kidnapped from land belonging to the town’s most prominent family, she must dig through decades of secrets to reveal the biggest one of all: what happened to the girls before? ISBN: 9781761778193 | Format: Trade Paperback | Pub Date: 24/02/2026 | Category: Thriller / Suspense, Modern & Contemporary Fiction (Post C 1945), FICTION / Thrillers / General, FICTION / General | Imprint: Macmillan Australia | Price: $34.99 | Pages: 320 |
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