General News
22 January, 2025
Meet our 2025 Australia Day Ambassador, Dr Clio Cresswell
Born in England and schooled in France, Dr Cresswell found Mathematics and Australia at the age of 18.
Each year Australia Day Ambassadors head to all corners of NSW to participate in the Australia Day of local communities, sharing insights from their lives and stories of what it means to be Australian.
Gilgandra’s 2025 Australia Day Ambassador is mathematician, writer, and public speaker, doctor Clio Cresswell.
Born in England and schooled in France, Dr Cresswell found Mathematics and Australia at the age of 18.
Now, she is a senior lecturer in the School of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Sydney, and a proud Australia Day Ambassador.
“I grew up in the south of France,” said Dr Cresswell.
“My parents were wild hippies; I’m the conservative offspring of these travellers.
“My mother hated France. She worked on the [film festival] and met a lot of Aussies.
“She moved, I followed and felt immediately at home.”
Dr Cresswell said that Australia suited her much better than France.
Compared to the culture of Europe, she found Australia to be personally freeing.
“There’s something about Australia… ultimately you can be you in this country. In France, [it was] very uptight. This culture suited me, so I started to relax. There also [isn’t] the judgement, and I felt I could start exploring,” she said.
Dr Cresswell has spent ten years as an Australia Day Ambassador. Through that time, she has loved visiting rural towns and experiencing local communities.
More than anything, Dr Cresswell is looking forward to meeting new people in Gilgandra: an area she has never visited before.
“I’m looking forward to meeting people who are more interested in their neighbours than they are their cars,” Dr Cresswell said.
“I’ve extended my stay [in the area] to do some bushwalks and [sightseeing]. I’ll have at least one beer in each pub… I’m open to ideas from locals.
“I’m also looking forward to sharing a bit of maths without a blackboard and reminding people what value Australia added to me.
“Australia Day is about our identity [as Aussies] and how we want to shift that for the future,” Dr Cresswell said.
Look forward to Gilgandra’s Australia Day celebrations next week at the Sporties Club and Hunter Park.
