Australia's First Tidy Town Winner

Bunbury was judged as Western Australia's tidiest town in the 1968/1969 Tidy Towns competition sponsored by the Tourist Development Authority (reference). According to The Beverley Times, this was the first Tidy Towns competition attempted in Australia (reference). For being declared Western Australia's tidiest town, Bunbury was awarded a plaque for permanent display to commemorate the award and a $1500 cash prize (reference). 

The competition included fifty-nine towns throughout Western Australia (reference). The competition results were announced on Monday 17 March 1969 at a Perth luncheon by the Honourable David Brand, the Premier and Minister of Tourism (reference). David Brand expressed that the competition was worthwhile and hoped that it would be repeated (reference). He said, "I am hoping this will be a continuing process so that more people will become 'litter conscious' and will play their part in keeping their towns clean and tidy. This is why I personally regard the Tidy Towns competition so highly (reference).' Regarding Bunbury, the Premier said that in the case of Bunbury, the people had demonstrated that they had real pride in their town. They were aware that untidiness and litter could distract from their tourist image, and they deserved congratulations for the way they went about improving that image (reference).

Following the success of the first competition, Western Australian towns were once again competing for the tidiest town in 1969/1970 (reference). The competition grew from fifty-nine to seventy-one competing towns (reference). While the competition had grown, Bunbury managed to maintain its hold the title of Western Australia's tidiest town for the second year running (reference).