It's hard to believe this initiative began as the inspiration of one man, Ian Kiernan. An avid sailor, Ian was shocked and disgusted by the pollution and rubbish that he continually encountered in the oceans of the world. Taking matters into his own hands he organised a community event to clean up his local area.
This simple idea ignited an enthusiasm and desire among the local community to get involved and make a difference. And surely if a capital city could be mobilised into action, then so could the whole nation! And so it was that Clean Up Australia Day was born in 1990.
Clean Up Australia inspires and empowers communities to clean up, fix up and conserve our environment.
We love being out amongst the water, so this year, Burke set aside a day to get amongst our community and help keep our beaches and our waters clean. We spent over an hour helping to clean up Forty Baskets Beach on the shores of Sydney Harbour, collecting a staggering amount of rubbish including plastic bottles, food wrappers, fishing equipment and even electrical wiring.
