Dave Dudley named Townsville’s Citizen of the Year for 2021

HE spends his days tidying up Townsville’s streets, but never once did Dave Dudley think he’d clean up at the Townsville Australia Day Awards.

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HE spends his days tidying up Townsville’s streets, but never once did Dave Dudley think he’d clean up at the Townsville Australia Day Awards.

The creator of Townsville Illegal Dumping Yobo’s Clean Ups, or TIDY for short, was named Townsville’s Citizen of the Year at yesterday’s Australia Day Awards.

Citizen of the Year, Dave Dudley. Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Queensland Governor Paul de Jersey visited Townsville for Australia Day celebrations. PICTURE: MATT TAYLOR.

He said he considered the top gong recognition of what the group was trying to do within the community.

“The TIDY group that I started back in 2019 goes around cleaning up illegal dump sites in Townsville and it’s pretty prolific,” Mr Dudley said. “We not only do that, but we draw attention to the fact that there is illegal dumping and associated issues.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Queensland Governor Paul de Jersey visited Townsville for Australia Day celebrations. PICTURE: MATT TAYLOR.

“Townsville’s expanding all the time, the urban population centres are pushing out further and further and we just can't rubbish the place like we do at the moment.

“It doesn’t affect us, it affects future generations, it affects native animals in the area so it’s a big job and it has to happen.”

Mr Dudley is active on social media advising the community when the next clean-up will be and imploring locals to get involved in bettering the city and its future.

Originally published as Dave Dudley named Townsville’s Citizen of the Year for 2021