Former Flinders Island mayor Lynn Mason has been honoured with an AM in the Australia Day honours list for services to local government and the community.
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Ms Mason AM, who was on the Flinders Island council from 1983 until 2006 said one of the greatest achievements she was involved with was bringing together Indigenous and non-Indigeous Australians on the island.
"One of the best things was trying to work through that and I worked with the rest of council and parts of the community and the Indigenous community on doing something about reconciliation in that area," she said.
"That was probably one of the best things. We made great strides and that was just great."
Ms Mason AM was president of the Local Government Association of Tasmania from 200 to 2006, Metro Tasmania chair from 2013 to 2016, and had been involved in the Tasmanian community through various organisations and clubs for many years.
"I grew up in Brisbane and went to a Brisbane school, I went to the University of Queensland, I had a degree and then went and taught in New Zealand," she said.
"I then went overseas and met my husband in Greece and he in fact came from Flinders Island.
"That's how I got to Flinders Island. For me I went from having lived in various places around the world and then married into a palace that had a population of 900 people. It was different.
"Islands attract characters. I think Tasmania attracts characters but the smaller the island the more characters it attracts. Flinders Island is no exception to that.
"You just get on with it. Of course Flinders Island has the added benefit of being extremely beautiful."
These days Ms Mason AM said she was still passionate about local government and the community.
"It's about trying to make communities and local government as effective as they possibly can be because there is such a wealth of determination and will and effort that goes into making small communitie, and for me everything starts at the bottom," she said.
"If small communities aren't working then the nation is not working and the universe is not working, so that's where it starts and that's why for me that work has always been important. For the most part too, immensely enjoyable.
"It's been a huge privilege I think. I still get concerned about bigger issues, and if you have issues at a local level then you have them everywhere."
"Just don't walk past stuff that you shouldn't."
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