This year marks an amazing 20 years since Ian Kiernan AO, founder of Clean Up Australia Day, launched the event around Australia urging people to make a difference by cleaning up their local areas for a couple of hours.

The SES members launched the boat on the Macquarie River at the bottom weir ramp and worked towards town picking up rubbish from the water as well as along the riverbanks.

Local SES controller Stephen Lincoln said the crew covered about two kilometres of waterway until heavy rain forced them to abandon efforts on the day.

“Bottles, tin cans and styrofoam were the biggest pollutants and surprisingly rubber thongs were also in abundance,” Mr Lincoln said.

Other rubbish included bicycle wheels, poly pipe and rope, with six large bags filled within a couple of hours.

“Clean Up Australia Day is a good opportunity for crew members to do their bit in cleaning up an important resource as well as a chance to hone their boating skills,” Mr Lincoln said.