An Australia Day ambassador since 1996, Mr Elder said he loved the way Australia Day recognised and acknowledged the people “who provide the sort of glue for the community”.

He said people like the woman who had volunteered in the school tuck shop for 20 years or the man who had worked with the Red Cross for 30 years were not the types to receive national honours, but they were frequently recognised by their communities on Australia Day.

And he was dismayed to hear the usual community awards handed out at the local Australia Day celebrations were not happening this year, under a change requested by Shoalhaven Mayor Joanna Gash.

“That is absolutely insane,” Mr Elder said,

“It’s a local community thing - that is the whole point of the exercise.”

A frequent visitor to the Shoalhaven, Mr Elder dismissed council’s idea of combining awards from throughout the Shoalhaven so, as Cr Gash said, the whole Shoalhaven city could celebrate together the region’s high achievers and outstanding citizens.

“Milton Ulladulla has a very, very different identity to Nowra, and should be free to recognise its own outstanding citizens,” Mr Elder said.

He said it was something he would raise during his Australia Day address as he would “craft my short speech accordingly”.

“I will make the point that this is a day for the people,” he said.

“The day is all about ordinary people doing extraordinary things for the local community, and the local community is Milton-Ulladulla, it’s not the Shoalhaven.

“I really think that is what the day is about, or what it should be about,” Mr Elder said.

The Australia Day address will also focus heavily on Australia’s “unique society” that is “fundamentally an egalitarian society’.

“We do not partake in the idea that there is a hierarchy in society,” Mr Elder said.

“We don’t look upon people who have awards and status as being any better than the rest of us.”

He said even from his home overlooking the sea at Kiama there was a rich mix of people coming from diverse backgrounds just among his neighbours, yet everyone coexisted happily “without a hint of class distinction,” according to Mr Elder.

That was indicative of his experiences around NSW during his many years as an Australia Day ambassador, during which “I’ve had some hilarious situations.”

However, “I guess my favourite places are the ones that leave really strong memories,” Mr Elder said.

They include Wombat, a “one-pub town” where it seemed the entire population was involved in the Australia Day parade that did two laps of the tiny village.