A locally-written book capturing Rotary’s century of work in Australia has been presented to the Australian Parliament by Federal Member for Macquarie Susan Templeman.

Humanity in Action was put together by Lower Blue Mountains Rotary member Bob Aitken, alongside the late Paul Henningham and many other contributors, and is a comprehensive history of the charitable organisation’s work in Australia.

“Humanity In Action celebrates the work of Rotary clubs in Australia and our near neighbours, and was produced to mark 100 years of Rotary in this country in 2021,” Ms Templeman said.

“It was launched by the Governor General, His Excellency General the Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Retd) last year.

“It’s important that this kind of local history, which so often lives almost exclusively in the memory of those involved, is committed to paper so others can share the knowledge of our nation’s past.

“I was very pleased to present a copy of Humanity In Action to Parliamentary Librarian, Dr Dianne Heriot, on Thursday, September 8 for the library’s collection.

“It will now be available to Members and Senators across the political spectrum who might be looking for information on Rotary for briefings, speeches and research.

“Anyone who has been a Rotarian or even a Rotary Exchange student will want to pick it up and look at the details on the District - exactly what we saw with one of the Parliamentary staff who had been on exchange herself.

“I’m delighted such a comprehensive history that was created by, and had significant input from, members of our local community will now be preserved for the future in the nation’s capital.

"I congratulate all those who contributed to the book for their dedicated effort, and I know Paul would
have been very proud of the final result."