From One Peace Pole to Nearly 1,000: Rotary’s Growing Peace Legacy in Australia.

Posted: July 22, 2026

In June 2026, members of the Rotary E-Club of Australia Nomads joined members of the Rotary Club of St George (District 9620) in St George’s Rotary Park for a re-affirmation ceremony at the Peace Pole that the two clubs co-sponsored three years previously in 2023. The ceremony was led by Vicki Dorgelo, 2025-26 President of the Rotary E-Club of Australia Nomads, and Win Salmon, 2025-26 President of the Rotary Club of St George, assisted by Rob Curtis, whose initial idea it was to install Peace Poles in St George.

To mark the Centenary of Rotary in Australia, the Rotary Club of Canberra Burley Griffin, ACT, set a goal to see 100 Peace Poles donated to 100 Schools to recognise 100 years of Rotary service in Australia in 2021. This goal has been achieved through collaboration with schools, organisations and Rotary clubs around Australia and today there are approaching approximately 1 000 Rotary Peace Poles in every state and territory of Australia. 22 of these have been sponsored or co-sponsored by the Rotary E-Club of Australia Nomads.

The Rotary E-Club of Australia Nomads’ involvement in the Peace Pole Project began in April 2021 when member, Camilla Barker, was instrumental in the placing of a Peace Pole in the grounds at St Thomas More College, Sunnybank. This was followed by the placement of 21 further poles in New South Wales, Northern Territory, Victoria and Queensland (see list on the map).

St George’s four Peace Poles were co-sponsored by the Rotary Club of St George and the Rotary E-Club of Australia Nomads. For the first time a sizeable number of Rotarians from both Clubs was present for the re-affirmation. Rotary Nomads were in St George to celebrate their week-long annual changeover. They were joined by the District Governor, Mark Williams, Area Governor, Bob Minchin and Rob Curtis, Rotarian Coordinator Queensland Rotary 100 Peace Pole Project, as well as by members of several other Rotary Clubs in District 9620 and a representative of the Balonne Shire Council.

The suggestion to install Peace Poles in St George was given to the RC of St George in 2021 by Rob Curtis. Members agreed that the Club would install four Peace poles in St George – one each at the three local schools and the fourth at Rotary Park on the bank of the Balonne River. The process involved liaising with each of the three schools, the Balonne Shire Council and the indigenous community through their Elders and Gordon Lister, the artist whose work appears on the poles.

This co-operation between the two Rotary clubs, the local schools, and the local community symbolises Rotary’s desire to promote peace and unity. The pole in St George’s Rotary Park (number 268) reminds all who pass by (whether members of the St George community or visitors to our town) that, “If there is to be peace in the world, there must be peace between nations. If there is to be peace between nations, there must be peace in the cities. If there is to be peace in the cities, there must be peace between neighbours. If there is to be peace between neighbours, there must be peace in the home. If there is to be peace in the home, there must be peace in the heart.” (From the re-affirmation ceremony)

Win Salmon
PP Rotary Club of St George