Community champions at the heart of an unusual awards night mishap have been jointly honored as South Australia’s Senior Australians of the Year.
During last Friday’s ceremony, meteorologist Malcolm Benoy was initially announced as the sole winner. However, the title was quickly retracted and attributed to James Currie, before ultimately confirming Benoy once again.
Officials attributed the confusion to human error involving two separate IT systems.
In an unprecedented move, both Benoy and Currie have now been officially recognized as the state’s first-ever joint recipients of this prestigious award.
“The decision to have co-winners reflects the remarkable caliber of nominees from South Australia,” remarked state Governor Frances Adamson.
Benoy expressed concern for Currie amidst the chaos of Friday’s announcement mix-up.
“I came away from the podium and once I had my thoughts gathered the person I was really concerned about was James because he was the one who was called up and sat down,” he said.
“It was just unfortunate it happened in public.”
Currie, though, wasn’t fussed by the mix-up.
“Didn’t bother me at all,” he said.
“I come from the film industry, they even get the Academy Awards wrong!”
Benoy and Currie will now represent South Australia as finalists for the national award in Canberra.Â
“I just hope that the other states don’t think it’s South Australia ganging up on them by sending two instead of one,” Currie said.
The Australia Day Council has initiated a review to prevent similar errors in future events.Â
The council said its judging panel did select both men as the joint winners.
