General News
9 June, 2025
Ronald Goudie receives OAM for service to the Horsham community
You can take the boy out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the boy.
You can take the boy out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the boy.
No truer words could describe the once-short-term city boy who returned to the country and dedicated his heart to the community as a volunteer.
Horsham's Kings Birthday honours recipient for 2025, Ronald Goudie, said he was honoured to receive the prestigious Medal of the Order of Australia for service to the community.
"I suppose once you become known as a willing participant in the community, it is easy for it to continue," he said.
He was born in Beulah, became a champion sportsman, and possessed a natural ability with figures, which set him on a career path as an accountant and often led him to volunteer as a bookkeeper or auditor for community organisations.
After working at a flour mill in Newport, Melbourne, the country called, he took a position at the Murtoa flour mill.
His love of sports led him to a badminton match where he met a lovely Horsham girl who he married, and they had three children while living at Drung.
His natural ability in accounting has been passed on to the next generation through his three adult children, who are also in the industry.
However, his life outside career and family has been a busy one, one which he said could not have been possible without the support and encouragement of Sue, his wife of 56 years.
"To be involved in the community consistently takes the support of your family because there are meetings and nights out if you intend to be committed," he said.
But for all the work and the meetings, he wouldn't have it any other way.
"Volunteering and being a part of a community is rewarding," he said.
"I would encourage anyone to get involved.
"Apart from making your town a better place to live in, you meet and spend time with like-minded people and enjoy a wonderful camaraderie."
His latest passion, spanning about 40 years, has been the Wimmera River Improvement Committee, of which he is currently the president.
"It was unkempt and overgrown for a long time, but the work our small group has put in has made a huge difference," he said.
"We are the true 'Dad's Army.'
"I take a thermos of coffee, and someone else brings the Tim Tams, and we swap and enjoy a morning break."
He said one of the joys of living close to the river is watching people use it.
"Every day, people walk or jog, families ride their bikes, and others walk their dogs, and it is wonderful to see."
He also praised the work Horsham Rural City Council has done to upgrade the riverside.
Ronald and Sue can recall a year when the Wimmera was dry, and they had to walk from one side to the other across the dry riverbed.
"It was amazing. Thankfully, we haven't seen that again, and probably that is also due in part to better management of the water flow," he said.
Constructing the shelters and installing the electric barbeques near the Weir means the river can be used in all weather. These initiatives were initiated by the Wimmera Improvement Committee and funded through grants from the Horsham Rural City Council.
"Our group promoted the Anzac and Hamilton Street bridges, which has created a link between each side of the river and created a loop for walkers," he said.
"With the drought this year, we've had to water the plants we've put in along the river, but HRCC has helped there.
"They loan us the council's water tanker every Wednesday to water our plants, and they use it the rest of the week.
"We have a lot of expertise in native plants in our group, and that has been an advantage in the work we do."
Memories are probably too many to recall, but one that is foremost in his mind is the year Green Lake dried out.
"A fella got some fairy grass tangled around his muffler, and it caught alight," he said.
"The fairy grass blew across the road and set the grass around Dock Lake Reserve alight and burnt the tennis clubrooms down.
"People were playing tennis on the day.
"We applied for government grants, and with that, volunteers and council help, we re-built.
"That kind of volunteering is from the heart; it's doing it because you want to."
Policeman's Paddock is also among the many areas of Horsham and the district that have been Mr Goudie's focus.
The Bio-Link, which joins the Grampians with the Little Desert National Park, was at least a decade in the planning and installation, but it had many committee members with a good understanding of native plants, and it beautified many of the barren areas.
"I love the Grampians and how the native plants come back after the rain," he said.
A recent highlight for Ronald and Sue was gathering with their three children and eight grandchildren to participate in the Run the Gap weekend at Halls Gap.
Among Mr Goudie's official community roles over the years are auditor, president, and vice president of the Wimmera Growers of Australian Plants; treasurer of the Wimmera Improvement Committee; the Grampians to Little Desert Biolink Project chair; Dock Lake Reserve secretary and treasurer; Drung Riverside Landcare committee member; and Horsham Landcare member.
In sports, he has held titles including treasurer of Horsham City Bowling Club, president of Horsham Badminton Association, president of Horsham United Football Club, and secretary of Green Lake, Taylor's Lake Football Club.
Mr Goudie was awarded the HRCC's Australian Day Citizen of the Year in 2015 and the Dame Phyllis Frost Award for Keep Victoria Beautiful in 2018.
The 2025 Horsham OAM recipient and the girl he taught to play badminton more than five decades ago will travel to Government House in September to receive his award from the Governor.
