DR CHRIS Peters has been named the 2012 Canberra Citizen of the Year.

Dr Peters has been chief executive of the ACT and Region Chamber of Commerce and Industry since 1997 and represents more than 20 ACT Government advisory boards, statutory authorities and committees.

He also founded associations including the Indigenous Business Chamber of Australia, and is a member of GreaterGood – Canberra’s charitable foundation for youth at risk.

“Dr Peters is admired as a person who is altruistic and is someone who has difficulty saying no to anyone who seeks his assistance or knowledge,” Chief Minister Katy Gallagher said.

[portfolio_slideshow]

The Chief Minister also announced 210 Canberrans and 10 groups who were recognised with a Chief Minister’s Canberra Gold Award for 50 years of contribution to the Canberra community.

Gold Award recipients included: Wilfred (Bill) Byrne who was Private Secretary to the Honourable Ben Chifley as Leader of the Opposition,  from 1950 to 1951 and later to Mr Chifley’s successor, the Hon H V Evatt; and John ‘Tav’ Taverner, manager of the historic Manuka Pool whose family has been in Canberra since 1928. His late father Owen managed the Manuka Pool until 1990 when he took over the reins.

Manuka Pool, which officially opened on Australia Day in 1931, was also honoured today with a Canberra Gold Award in the group Award category.

“A total of 2705 people and 56 groups have now received the Canberra Gold Chief Minister’s Award since its inception in 2005 and a further 8000 people are estimated to still be eligible for the Award,” she said.

[box] Canberra Gold Chief Minister’s Award for groups: Ainslie Church of Christ; Bink Cement Products; Daramalan College; Goodwin Aged Care Services Ltd; Harmonie German Club; Home Help Service ACT LTD; Manuka Pool; Radio Station 2CA; The Canberra Times; and The Salvation Army.

Canberra Gold Chief Minister’s Award: Fausto Aloisi; John Armitage; Catherine Armitage; Julie Armstrong; Hazel Arnold; Edward Ashworth; Richard Bale; Robert Balfour; Helen Balfour; Barry Baulman; Marilyn Baulman; Roberta Beale; Scott Beazley; Marina Belmonte; Allan Biggs; Janice Biggs; Jacob Bink; Jean Bink; Gail Bissell; Sheena Black; Patrick Blake; John Blake; Philip Blake; Moya Blake; Allan Blandon; James Blandon; Wendy Blandon; Beverley Blandon; John Blood; Elizabeth Brodie; Karl Bunk; Margarita Bunk; John Byrne; Wilfred Byrne; Margaret Byrne; John Campbell; Janet Campbell; Iris Carter; Linda Church; Lorraine Clarke; Eric Cole; Nicholas Cole; Betty Cole; Margaret Collins; Joan Collopy; Nancy Cooper; Graham Crooks; Rhoda Csucsy; Ludovina Maria J Pires Custodio; Frank Daly; Sheila Daly; Pat Daniels; Rita Daniels; Daphne Davis; Barbara Davis; Diane de Castellanos; Joan De Mamiel; John Dealy; Gloria Dowling; Virginia Dubickas; Yvonne Dunn; Vincent Dwyer; Christine Dwyer; Lennard Dyer; Elizabeth Dyer; Joseph Dzirba; Kenneth Edwards; Peter Edwards; Nancy Edwards; Sheelah St Clair Egan; John Elphick; Gail Elphick; Tess Falconer; Anne Fitzhardinge; Percy Fleming; Madeline Fleming; Elizabeth Florance; Louise Frodyma; Neville Funnell; Carmon Funnell; Ella Gallagher; Kerrie Ann Gibb; Yvonne Gilchrist; Elizabeth Ginns; Elaine Graham; Johannes Hahn; Judy Harders; Phil Harding; Dell Hartley; Leslie Haueliuk; Penelope Haynes; Raymond Herbert; Judy Howkins; Anthony Howkins; Janette Humpherston; John Hurley; Brian Hurley; Margaret Hurley; Kathleen Hurley; Garry James; Janette James; Dorothy Jeffery; Doreen Jones; Mary Karvelas; Jennifer Keen; Elizabeth Kell; James Kelly; Christine Kennedy; Caroline Kirkness; Phillip Kleine; Filomena Knerr; Milica Kocic; George Komorowski; Vivienne Komorowski; Elaine Kowalski; Susan Kowalski; Gregory Leach; Margaret Lees; Ronald Lewis; Dorothy Lewis; Vincent Lloyd; Brenda Lloyd; Alfred Lussick; Irmgard Lyons; Joan Maguire; Terence Maguire; Armando Martiniello; Bernard McCabe; Jeffrey McCaskill; Vivienne McCaskill; Thomas McCormick; Patricia McCormick; Andrea McDonald; Doreen McEncroe; Mary McPake; Marlene McWaters; Jean Metters; Anthony Millar Jennifer Miragaya; Ian Morris; Robert Morris; Jennifer Morris; Arnold Mueller; Wynette Neil; Sally Neujean; Ivan Neville; Evelyn Nicholas; Mervyn O’Brien; Brian Odell; Roslyn Odell; Gregory O’Rourke; Carol O’Rourke; Maria Pate; Antonio Pellegrino; Dawn Perrin; Ronald Plasto; Joy Plasto; Liz Posmyk; Henry Price; Elizabeth Price; Pam Pue; Roselyn Purdie; Roslyn Purtell; Stephen Read; Nelly Reid; Patricia Renner; Robyn Rennie; Michael Riddle; Dawn Riddle; Robert Riddle; Joseph Righini; June Righini; Peter Roach; Leslie Roach; David Ross; Lorna Rowland; Allan Ryan; Carolynne Ryan; Christine Sharry; Patricia Shearwood; Elizabeth Simmonds; Ian Simmonds; Kathleen Simpson; Brendan Smith; Elizabeth Smith; Carol Smith; Karen Smith; Colleen Smith; Roman Stefaniak; Maureen Stockman; Waine Summerfield; Pamela Swaffield; Patricia Tarlinton; John Taverner; Denis Taylor; Christine Tonge; Paul Tozer; June Trembearth; Alan Underwood; Betty Underwood; Yvonne Van der Lende; Rhona Van Ewyk; Julia Vickers; Janet Walker; Edward Watch; Noreen Watch; Judith Wenning; William Wheatley; and Mark White. [/box]