Dalby And Jandowae Australia Day Ambassador

Ross McKinnon

Ross McKinnon AM is the retired Curator-in-Charge of the Brisbane Botanic Gardens at Mt Coot-tha. Internationally regarded as one of the world’s leading sub-tropical Botanic Gardens, they feature significant plant collections including the world’s largest representative collection of Australian native rainforest plants.

He is Patron, Life or Honorary Member of 32 horticultural organisations. In 1993, Ross was awarded the inaugural Brisbane City Council Employee of the Year Award. He is a retired State Chairman and National Board Member of Open Gardens Australia and the following year was nominated as a Fellow of the Linnean Society †London. He was appointed Chairman of the Council, Head of Australian Botanic Gardens in 1993, 1998 and 2003, and on Australia Day 1999 Ross was awarded the Order of Australia for Outstanding Services to Horticulture.

In 2005, Ross received an inaugural Vitae Lampada (The Burning Torch of Life) Medal for his “Consultant Role to the Queensland Poisons Information Centre; to Paediatricians within the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health based at the Royal Children’s Hospital and to Doctors in the broader worlds of medicine in Queensland”.

In 2014, Ross celebrated 42 years of service with the Brisbane Botanic Gardens, the last 32 years as Curator-in-Charge. In June 2014, Ross was awarded the Paul Harris Fellowship “in appreciation of tangible and significant assistance given for the furtherance of better understanding and friendly relations among peoples of the world” by the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International.

Dalby Australia Day Celebrations will be held in Thomas Jack Park with a Breakfast in the Park and Awards Ceremony between 7 and 10am on Tuesday, 26thJanuary, and the Jandowae event at Athlone Cottage featuring a free Australia Day Breakfast and Awards Ceremony from 7.30 to 8am.