Garry Buckley speaking earlier this year at the Emergency Services Open Day. Photo: Christopher Tan.

Less than a year on since being appointed Harden SES Commander, Garry Buckley is now stepping up as the newest Local Commander of the Hilltops SES cluster.

The process began when outgoing Local Commander Kurt Bailey was away on leave for a number of occasions, and he encouraged Mr Buckley to step-in as Local Commander.

Then when it was time for the NSW 2018 Adult Volunteer of the Year Kurt Bailey’s moment to step down from his role, an Expression of Interest was sent out and in result Garry was announced as the successful applicant, official as of last Tuesday for a two-year contract.

As the Local Commander for the Hilltops cluster, Garry will be overseeing around 60 volunteer members from a range of ages, to which he already has an existing strong working relationship with.

The role will include more responsibilities, ensuring the utmost wellbeing and safety of all members, overseeing each unit’s commander, as well as the respective training plans in place.

Following the news last week, NSW SES Deputy Commissioner Daniel Austin welcomed Mr Buckley into his new role as Local Commander.

“NSW SES volunteers in the Hilltops Cluster are incredibly committed and hard-working,” Mr Austin said.

“I would like to thank Garry for stepping up into his new role. He has enormous energy and has done a great job developing the people around him.”

Mr Austin who was present at Harden’s first ever Emergency Services Open Day earlier this year, added that Garry is a true leader and that him taking on the new role will be great for the community.

“NSW SES is lucky to have such dedicated members who are willing to sacrifice their time to put the needs of their community ahead of their own,” Mr Austin said.

With Garry stepping into the Local Commander role leaves his previous role as Harden SES Commander vacant, so an Expression of Interest for that role is now out.

There will be a two-week window for applications to be reviewed before a new Harden Commander is announced.

Aside from the Emergency Services Open Day in April, Mr Buckley recalled the Boorowa floods last year in August as being another one of his highlights during his service as he enjoyed having the opportunity to work with the other neighbouring units.

Garry said training Harden SES Deputy Commander Centaine Walters up since she stepped in as the town’s first ever female to be appointed in that role, was another highlight during his over three years of service with SES.

It will be a testament for Centaine who is in the running, if she is promoted to the Commander role having only joined since August 31 last year.

Since she joined she has been involved in a number of flood work, training, as well as planning for the major successful Open Day which pooled local rescue units, 31 shop stalls, a number of trucks and cars on display, as well as the formal introduction of the SES first ever animal mascot – Sessy.

Insp Jacob Reeves, SES Deputy Commander Daniel Austin, Centaine Walters and Garry Buckley, Photo: Christopher Tan.

Late last week Centaine joined NSW SES Deputy Commissioner Daniel Austin in congratulating Mr Buckley on his new role.

“Garry has worked extremely hard and shown so much dedication not only to our unit, but our neighbouring units,” Centaine said.

“He was an amazing Commander who always showed the utmost respect for his team and unit, and is always so passionate about helping out our communities.”

Garry has been in the Harden SES Commander role for the past 12 months and was the Deputy Commander prior to that, for around seven months.

During the day he works for ACT Health and said the organisation is very supportive of his work with SES.

Meanwhile, while being in-charge of a larger geographical area today, Garry has made a decision that he will continue to be based in Harden.

The Hilltops SES cluster consists of the Harden, Yass and Young units, with Boorowa part of the Harden unit’s area. Harden SES training takes place every Tuesday night and interested individuals wanting to be part of the uni can join through the SES website or give Garry a call on 0428 386 774.

Christopher Tan