In a city as diverse as Logan, Australia Day is less about where you come from and more about how you show up for the people around you.
That idea sits at the heart of Logan’s annual Australia Day celebrations, which will once again recognise residents who go above and beyond for their community through the Citizen of the Year awards.
For 2025 Logan Citizen of the Year Abdul Khan, being Australian has nothing to do with ethnicity or appearance — and everything to do with values.
“Australia is so much more than — it’s not an ethnicity, it’s not what someone looks like,” Mr Khan said.
“It’s the values that make up an Australian.”
Those values, he said, are simple.
“Whoever you are, you must do the right thing,” he said.
“Be good to people, be nice to people, do the right thing, support each other, help each other.”
Mr Khan, who works closely with young people through sport and community leadership, said Logan’s strength lay in its diversity — but that diversity also brought challenges.
“We live in an area with a lot of migrants,” he said.
“At the soccer club I look after, there are over 35 different nationalities. Many are migrants, refugees — they come from war-torn countries, with trauma, having lost loved ones.”
He said supporting young people was critical to ensuring Logan’s future remained positive.
“If we take them in the right direction, I’m confident they will be successful,” he said.
“Everybody wants to do good. Everybody wants to be successful.”
But that support, he said, must come from all levels of the community.
“It is the responsibility of every parent, and leaders, and councils, to help the people who are working on the ground,” Mr Khan said.
“Anyone who is doing great work — whether they’re picking up rubbish or working with kids — help these people, support them, encourage them.”
It’s a sentiment that echoes through Logan’s Citizen of the Year history, which has celebrated volunteers, advocates and quiet achievers who give their time to sport, culture, charity and community wellbeing.
Past recipients have included long-serving volunteers, grassroots organisers and community champions who continue to give back long after their recognition, reinforcing the idea that citizenship is an ongoing commitment rather than a title.
As Australia Day approaches, the awards serve as a reminder that in Logan, being Australian is defined not by background, but by contribution.
“We need to help the community, help your local citizens so that we can progress,” Mr Khan said.
“And I would love to see our youths — our future generations — to be protected, to be looked after.”
This year’s local Australian of the year will be named at an Australia Day Awards ceremony on Monday 26 January.
