QUIET achievers, by their nature, are easy to forget about. They don’t look for praise for their work, preferring to go about their business without making a fuss.
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But that’s not to say they are dispensable or their work is unimportant. In the majority of cases, the opposite is true.
One of Bathurst’s many quiet achievers is Graeme Burke.
He would be known to most people in the city for running a transport company based on the Vale Road.
What many residents wouldn’t know, however, is how active Mr Burke is in helping others,
channelling his passion for aviation (he owns a number of small aircraft based at the Bathurst Airport) into helping the Angel Flight organisation.
Angel Flight fulfils a need in regional and rural Australia, providing free non-emergency flights so people facing bad health, poor finances and long distances can receive treatment.
Mr Burke has volunteered his time, his plane and his fuel to this charity for 15 years.
Now he fears the charity will be devastated if new safety standards are imposed on the Angel Flight volunteers by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.
While no one would argue against the need for stringent safety in the air, Mr Burke, as a long-time volunteer for the organisation, has earned the right to be heard.
If he’s worried, those who have an interest in seeing the Angel Flight charity continue its work should also be worried.
Red tape, that regularly used phrase, is a funny thing.
No one is for it, but we all want rules and regulations to ensure we are safe and protected.
The trick is finding the right balance.
Let’s hope that balance is found for Angel Flight, so a quiet achiever can continue achieving.
