TEENAGE activist and Newcastle Young Citizen of the Year, Alexa Stuart, says the award on Sunday recognises the Hunter and national Student Strike 4 Climate action campaign.
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"I think it's really great that all of our hard work has been recognised," said the Lambton High student who was "stoked" when Newcastle Mayor Nuatali Nelmes announced her win at an Australia Day event in the Civic Theatre.
Ms Stuart is "an inspiring young person" who has maintained excellent academic grades "while leading her peers amid the climate emergency that the recent bushfires has brought to national and world prominence," Cr Nelmes said.
"At such a young age she has represented the SS4C at meetings with local members of parliament, unions, university staff, local businesses, and spoke about climate change at her high school and local church.
"At last September's GlobalStrike she gave an inspiring speech in front of 10,000 people and has played a major role in writing the national SS4C constitution."
Ms Stuart, who is about to start year 11, attended her first rally in 2018 and took a leader's role at subsequent strikes and rallies by delivering speeches, speaking with the media, liaising with police, creating banners and promoting the Student Strike 4 Climate movement.
Ms Stuart said this season's bushfires are tragic and show why students have taken to the streets to push political leaders for urgent action to reduce carbon emissions and step up as a global climate change action leader.
Ms Stuart said the bushfires are "a pretty big wake-up call for Australians that this is what climate change looks like".
"This is going to be what our future will look like, and it will affect everything and everybody. The bushfires, the smoke, the fact that Newcastle has just gone to level two water restrictions because of the drought, shows the impact of a warming planet, and it doesn't discriminate," Ms Stuart said.
The global focus on Australia's drought and bushfires in the context of a warming planet meant while there was "quite a bit of fear and anxiety" about the future, there was also hope for climate action, she said.
The award was announced in a week when Ms Stuart was one of five Newcastle students to attend a Student Strike 4 Climate summit in Sydney attended by 100 student activists from around the country, with 60 per cent from regional and rural Australia.
"That gave me a lot of hope. We were able to meet and discuss our plans for this year," she said.
"The message from students is that we're in it for the long haul."
At the Australia Day awards Ms Nelmes announced Newcastle Pride as Community Group of the Year for organising the highly successful Newcastle Pride Festival.
The City of Newcastle-sponsored event marked a second successful festival with plans to develop a Youth Pride Tribe for LGBTIQ youth events, with the possibility of a 2020 Queer Youth prom, Cr Nelmes said.
"I'd like to congratulate Newcastle Pride on their fantastic festival and for providing an inclusive, vibrant and fun environment for all LGBTIQ residents to build social connections and experience a community free of discrimination," Cr Nelmes said.
"The festival fosters a sense of community inclusion and participation, as well as benefits to the broader economy of Newcastle through tourism and event attendance, and its success owes to the hard work of the committee members."
Hunter Homeless Connect Day organiser Michelle Faithfull was announced as Newcastle Citizen of the Year for her tireless work for the community, including the highly successful day which links people experiencing homelessness, and those at risk of homelessness, with essential services, helpful advice and other assistance.
