John Singh, proprietor of Punjab Stud & Byron Bay Pork at Coorabell, travelled to Sydney on the last weekend of August to attend the Australian Sikh Awards for Excellence 2026, having been nominated as a finalist in the Agriculture category.
Farming and growing pigs in the Byron Shire and Northern NSW for 50 years now, John is an unwavering advocate in this field and was last year recognised by the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW as a 50 Year Champion in the Pig Industry. So, yes, Johnny grows good pigs!
The Australian Sikh Awards for Excellence 2026 was conducted at the Grand Ballroom of the prestigious Shangri-La Hotel at The Rocks, Sydney. Hosted by Sikh Youth Australia and sponsored by SBS Australia, the awards aim to identify and acknowledge leaders in a wide range of categories including Arts, Culture and Music, Community Service, Sports, Professional Fields (Science & Commerce) and Agriculture. With 300 attendees, the awards also included Sikh Woman of the Year, Young Sikh of the Year and a Lifetime Achievement Award. The event was attended by a number of Federal and State politicians representing the Prime Minister of Australia and the Premier of NSW, including the Federal Attorney-General, Hon. Michelle Rowland MP.
Johnny was accompanied by his personal bodyguard (and referee for the award) Greg ‘Nashy’ Nash of Bangalow, along with fellow referee and nephew Ran Singh and his great mate ‘Billy Barber the Brilliant Barrister’. Keen for some information about this prestigious event, I asked Nashy for his personal observations.
“I couldn’t have been more impressed with the occasion and the high-powered attendees. Quite apart from the magnificent attire and striking presence of the delegates, every guest speaker and all the other award nominees and guests I met at the function were high profile and the quality of the event was truly breathtaking. It was simply a wonderful cultural exchange for somebody like myself. I’m so pleased that Johnny invited me. I was reminded of the Sikh culture of Seva, that is, the concept of performing selfless community service without any expectation of reward. That rings so true with Johnny Singh and his own beautiful wife Kamal and the extended Singh family. They have been living Seva for the last 48 years.
Johnny was also recognised, with his late father Manga, for establishing Bangalow’s Gurdwara (Sikh Temple on old Bangalow Road) back in the early 2000s so Sikh families could worship there. The Awards night was a superb occasion, however there was a twist in this glorious tale. Twas a dry event! Johnny didn’t breathe a word of that part! I drank in Sikhism instead and it tasted much sweeter. Be sure we made up for it afterwards. What a wonderful example of great cultural integration, hard work, success and happiness,” says Nashy.
Sikh culture in Australia dates back to the 1830s, with some 300,000 Sikhs now living all around the country. The Gold Medal winners in the Agriculture category were a wheat farming and milling operation out of Renmark, South Australia. During the big SA drought 10 years ago and needing to quickly pivot and diversify, they unbelievably shipped a stone mill from the Punjab region in Northern India and now it’s used to mill thousands of tonnes of wheat for flour and stockfeed every month.
Ironically, Johnny Singh buys their wheat grain to feed his prize-winning pigs right here in Bangalow. The world really is a small place sometimes. Congratulations John Singh, a true Bangalownian.
PS: Johnny was too humble to be interviewed for this article.
Danielle Mathie