Johnathan Thurston announced as Get Ready Queensland's new ambassador

Rugby league legend, Indigenous role model and former Queenslander of the Year Johnathan Thurston has been announced as the first ambassador for community disaster preparedness program Get Ready Queensland.

After becoming a Townsville local in 2005, he has experienced some of Queensland’s most extreme weather events including the North Queensland monsoonal flooding event in January 2019, Cyclone Yasi in 2011 and Cyclone Larry in 2006.

As a proud husband and father-of-four, Johnathan is well aware of the importance of being prepared for Queensland’s weather.

“The Townsville flooding event in January 2019 was a jolting reminder of how extreme Queensland’s weather can be and it’s vitally important all Queenslanders get ready to take the steps to protect what’s most important to them,” Johnathan said.

As one of Queensland’s most influential people with great connections to Queensland’s regional, remote and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, Johnathan will help raise awareness of the Get Ready Queensland program.

The 2019/20 Get Ready Queensland program is administered by the Queensland Reconstruction Authority.

The program is a year-round, all-hazards, resilience building initiative that provides the state’s 77 councils and one town authority a share of $2 million to help communities be better prepared for natural disasters.

Johnathan was appointed Get Ready Queensland Ambassador in July 2019.