Is the Miss Wagga Wagga Quest outdated? Questions raised after 2025 event is cancelled

One of Australia’s oldest community service awards, the Miss Wagga Wagga Quest (MWWQ), will not be held in 2025.

The quest, which began in 1948 and recognises young women’s community services and professional development, has struggled to find candidates for key leadership and administration roles within the committee.

Outgoing MWWQ chairperson Clare Lawlor said the decision not to hold the quest this year had been a difficult one but stated that the purpose behind the hiatus was purely based on a lack of adequate leadership. She said the committee would continue to support the current titleholders.

“After careful consideration and review, the committee has determined that taking a pause this year will allow for strategic planning and long-term growth,” Ms Lawlor said.

“While the quest will not proceed in its usual format, the committee is dedicated to supporting the 2025 titleholders as they carry out their community engagement roles.

”Applications for the Community Princess Foundation grants remain open, and the titleholders look forward to contributing to many events on the Wagga Wagga calendar.”

The quest has always battled misconceptions about it being solely a beauty contest, with many in the community saying the title of Miss Wagga Wagga has a certain negative stigma attached to it.

The debate has raged on for more than 70 years, with articles as far back as the 1950s arguing both sides.

“Miss Wagga is not a ‘Beauty Queen’ nor is she intended to be,” a Daily Advertiser article said in 1954.

“She is a girl chosen for many attributes which may also, and usually does, include beauty.

“The whole idea of the Miss Wagga Quest is to find a girl whom the city’s representatives (in the form of the judges) think would make a good ambassador for Wagga wherever she may go.”

Despite these views, Ms Lawlor said the quest was more vital now than at any other time in its seven-decade-plus history.

“We never refer to it as a competition internally. Obviously, when the quest first started over 75 years ago, it was a competition. Nowadays, it’s certainly not,” she said.

“It’s all about women coming together and learning new skills and working as a team to develop themselves, while also fundraising and supporting the local community here in Wagga.

“I think in today’s society, it’s even more important for women to have spaces where they feel safe and empowered, and that’s exactly what the quest provides.”

The quest was also marred by controversy as recently as 2023-24, with its status as a non-political event coming into question.

In 2023, entrant Poppy Vandermark chose to stand down following an incident involving her wearing a pro-Yes vote for the Voice Referendum badge, smaller than a 20-cent coin, during set-up for an MWWQ event.

Entrants and committee members were urged to remain apolitical during the quest, but Ms Vandermark claimed she did not wear the badge in a representative capacity.

“I believe that the Miss Wagga Wagga Quest needs to review its handbook and policies if it is going to be relevant to young women today,” she said at the time.

“I find it contradictory to invite politicians to attend and support our events but not let entrants speak about things they care about.”

The quest was called into question once more when Ms Lawlor joined the ticket of former chair Ali Tanner’s husband and current Wagga councillor Lindsay Tanner during the local government elections in 2024.

Ms Lawlor rejected claims she used her position as chair to promote her council election ticket, stating it was done in a personal capacity separate from her quest role.

“That’s something that I did in my own time. So Ali wasn’t a member of the quest committee last year. I was, and I certainly never used the quest as a platform or broadcast the council campaign through any of the quest channels that way,” Ms Lawlor said.

“I made a really conscious effort personally to keep them really separate because I believe the quest needs to remain apolitical, and as an organisation which didn’t take on any political stances. But that’s not to say that the individuals involved can’t, in their own time, advocate for whatever they’d like.”

Ms Lawlor said she would love to see the quest return in 2026 and is calling for any interested members of the public to contact the committee.

“If there’s anyone out there in the community who is interested in getting involved, we would absolutely love to have anyone on board that’s willing to put their hand up and contribute,” she said.

“I personally really loved being involved in the quest, and I would highly recommend anyone getting involved in the committee.

“It’s a really rewarding experience to be involved in the growth of young women and see how they just flourish throughout the quest process.”