By JESSE GRAHAM
AN ICONIC Monbulk resident had years of hard work acknowledged yesterday, when he was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the Australia Day Honours.
Wesley Fleming, of Monbulk’s Fleming’s Nurseries, received the medal yesterday (Monday 26 January) as part of the annual honours event, which acknowledges the efforts of extraordinary Australians.
Mr Fleming, 52, received his medal for service to the horticultural industry and to landscape architecture, and has had a lifelong passion for plants.
“What makes me so passionate about it is that it’s who I am,” he said.
“I’ve been brought up in the horticulture industry – I also worked at Pizza Hut for two nights, and those are the only two jobs I’ve ever had.
“It’s just who I am – it’s not a job, it’s a hobby. It’s a passion. It’s a life.”
The nursery was opened in 1918 and has been run by the family ever since – Mr Fleming said even his three adult children are involved in the business.
One of Mr Fleming’s prominent accolades is a Best in Show medal at the Chelsea Flower Show, which Mr Fleming entered with designer Phillip Johnson and a team of volunteers for 10 years.
He said a driving force behind his entries in the show, which included elaborate, intricate and jaw-dropping garden designs, was to raise the public profile of the horticulture industry.
A strong driver of this, he said, was the increasing pressure of global warming and climate change.
“We can (now) talk to government, we can get in front of CEOs, we can achieve what we set out to do, and focus more time and energy and money here in Australia,” Mr Fleming said.
Part of that time and energy has since gone into childhood playground development, which Mr Fleming has worked on with the City of Ballarat and Deakin University.
He said that ditching plastic, “McDonald’s-style” play equipment in favour of well-designed natural areas, including gardens and green play areas, was already showing positive results on children at a trial kindergarten.
Mr Fleming said he was also passionate about urban development and utilising green spaces properly, and generally improving the world around him.
“To me, and I’ve been saying this for as long as I can remember, I think we’re the luckiest people in the world to be working in this industry,” he said.
“Everything we do is positive – the greenery that the horticulture industry provides is good. It’s good for health, it’s good for the mind, and it’s good for the environment.”
The Medal of the Order of Australia is awarded to Australians who have committed a “service worthy of particular recognition”.
Mr Fleming joins 413 other OAM recipients across the country awarded this Australia Day.
Anyone can nominate any Australian for an award in the Order of Australia.
To nominate a person, visit www.gg.gov.au.
