By Jed Lanyon
Marysville resident Tony Thompson has been awarded an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for his service to the local community.
Mr Thompson survived Black Saturday and has since been there every step of the way as Marysville rebuilt.
Following the devastating fires in 2009, he became the chair of the Marysville and Triangle Community Recovery Committee, which was formed to continue the recovery process in the region.
The committee then formed into the Marysville and Triangle Community Foundation, of which he has been the chair since 2012.
Mr Thompson, who has lived in Marysville for 20 years, explained what the township means to him.
“It means everything. I’m sort of the person that is either all in or all out. I’m so proud of our community and what it’s been able to achieve over the last 10 years. I love working alongside people and I like helping people.”
He admits that his family had struggled to decide whether they should continue their lives in Marysville, which had mostly been destroyed.
“Straight after the fires, I think for that first six months or so Penny and I changed our minds twice a day on whether we would be staying or leaving. But in the end, we couldn’t think of anywhere else we would rather be. This was home. This is where we wanted to live.
“I take great pleasure in seeing the results of community groups and the works that’s been done around the area. Its’ come a long way very quickly with what resources we had
“It’s been a bloody big struggle for everyone including myself and my family. There have been many sleepless nights. There’s been a lot of hard work to make the town prosperous again and a place where you would want to live.”
Mr Thompson is currently a consultant for Emergency Management Victoria, passing on his knowledge and experience to mitigate the impact of future fire disasters.
He is currently advising EMV and plans to assist with the ongoing East Gippsland bushfire recovery efforts over the coming months.
“I do advising as to the lessons learnt. The small team that I work with have been very instrumental as to what you see going on in fire zones now and the response as well as the media and the advertising that you see coming into the fire season.
“It’s been very gratifying to see what you advise be put into practice. And it’s never going to be 100 per cent right, but it’s a lot better than what we went through.
“When we went through it, there wasn’t a rule book to say what we should do next. We just hadn’t faced a disaster of that size before.”
Mr Thompson said it was a great honour to receive the OAM and that it came as quite a shock.
“I thank my wife Penny and my family for putting up with me for not being there because I spent a lot of time looking after the community’s needs … To be recognised for the time and effort that’s been put in is a huge honour.”
