Annette Jarrett, Kaylea Canton named Cairns 2025 Citizen of the Year Award winners
From dedicated volunteers to innovative sporting achievements, meet this year’s Cairns Regional Council Citizen of the Year Award winners.
Cairns
Don't miss out on the headlines from Cairns. Followed categories will be added to My News.
From dedicated volunteers to innovative sporting achievements, this year’s Citizen of the Year Award winners have one thing in common: a passion for people.
Dedicated mother-of-two and Northern Pride volunteer Annette Jarrett was awarded Cairns’ Citizen of the Year at Cairns Regional Council’s Australia Day Awards ceremony at Munro Martin Parklands on January 26.
Ms Jarrett, who volunteers for a number of local organisations, said she was overwhelmed when her name was called.
“(It) was wonderful to be here among some amazing people, but really didn’t think that I was gonna come away with the actual award,” Ms Jarrett said.
“I am just so grateful and humble and I will continue to do what I do – it will not change me one bit.”
Ms Jarrett also served with the Leukaemia Foundation and the Far North Queensland Hospital Foundation.
“(The Leukaemia Foundation) was a really big community inclusion with that organisation, supporting those that have been (given) a diagnosis but also raising money to make sure that they got that personal help as well,” she said.
A passionate supporter of local rugby league, she has been a dedicated volunteer for the Northern Pride Rugby League Club since 2019.
“I do it for the sake of the kids that want to play rugby league which we all know is the greatest sport of them all,” she said.
“I just want to show the kids that they’ve got that club that can help them and get them where they want to be.”
Cairns’ Young Citizen of the Year Award winner Kaylea Canton, who also shares a passion for rugby league, was recognised for her efforts in sports inclusivity.
The 18-year-old Gordonvale State High School graduate developed and delivered a program to support and encourage students with a disability to engage in sport.
“I was part of a student advisory committee for Queensland Sport and we were all in a meeting and asked what we want to change and I really put my foot down and was like, you know what, the barrier between abled and unabled bodied students,” Ms Canton said.
The result was the Multi-Class Touch Football Project, which provided Ms Canton a pathway to plan and deliver sessions to suit and support all students, catering to a range of disabilities, and ensure active participation.
The program has thus far been delivered to more than 200 students across 20 sessions.
“You go to all these footy games, all these touch games and it’s all abled students, and to see everyone that actually misses out even though they are really good people, they just physically have a disability, that is really sad for me to see the students that have to miss out for that,” she said.
The Volunteer of the Year Award was presented to Claudio Di Bartolomeo for his contributions to the community through his volunteer work with numerous cultural, environmental, and community organisations, including the Cairns Italian Festival.
As a founding member of the Cairns Italian Festival, Mr Di Bartolomeo has been instrumental in uniting the Italian community and preserving cultural traditions.
Over the years, Mr Di Bartolomeo has also assisted young migrants by helping them find accommodation and employment, and sponsorship opportunities though his business network and community ties.
The Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to the Piccone Family.
Notably known for their two IGA supermarkets in Edmonton and Manoora, brothers John and Peter Piccone sold the family business to retire, bringing an end to a 90-year family legacy, that started with Italian immigrants Luigi and Anna Piccone.
The couple moved to Innisfail and Babinda before settling in Edmonton where they acquired a share in a butcher shop in 1930.
Their son Louie, John and Peter’s father, took over management of the Piccone business in 1957, which had then expanded into a grocery store.
His passion for supporting the community was similarly embraced by his children, and the Piccone family has a legacy focused on giving back and assisting Far North Queensland.
In the decades since, millions of dollars has been donated to schools and local sporting, community and charity groups, much if it through the Community Benefits Program, which set aside up to $200,000 a year to help the community and improve the lives of residents.
Originally published as Annette Jarrett, Kaylea Canton named Cairns 2025 Citizen of the Year Award winners
Severe weather warning: Far North cops 200mm drenching
A severe weather warning is in effect for Far North Queensland as meteorologists closely monitor a developing low-pressure system off Cairns which has a one in four chance of intensifying into a tropical cyclone later this week. RAINFALL TOTALS
Why Qld roads carrying ‘billions’ in goods have lost important status
North Queensland roads carrying “billions of dollars” of goods are no longer deemed a federal priority, sparking calls for a rethink on how projects are weighted.