Huge Australia Day decision made after woke council snubbed our national day
A local council in South Australia has backflipped on its decision to move Australia Day celebrations away from January 26.
A local council in South Australia has backflipped on its decision to move Australia Day celebrations away from January 26.
Councillors with the City of Unley, a small council area that covers Adelaides prosperous southern inner-city, voted 8-4 on Monday night to restore its citizenship ceremony and Australia Day awards to January 26, after earlier voting to move the events to the evening of January 25.
The reversal, proposed by Councillor Rebekah Rogers, followed a community survey that showed 60.6 per cent of residents wanted the council to keep the ceremonies on January 26.
We cannot ask our community for their opinion and then not listen to the result, Ms Rogers said on Monday.
Tonights vote is on a consultation process.
The community wanted a say and we gave them a say.
Ms Rogers proposed the earlier motion to reject January 26, which the council passed 7-5 in March 2023.
Her new motion asked the council to acknowledge January 26 was a divisive date for many Australians, but Unley should nonetheless hold its citizenship ceremony, Australia Day awards and community event on January 26 and the allocate $20,000 for the 2025 celebration.
A local council in Adelaide will continue to commemorate Australia Day after a shock backflip. Pictured is an patriotic Aussie celebrating the national public holiday
The Australian Citizenship Ceremonies Code was amended to allow councils to hold ceremonies either on January 26 or within three days before or after the date. Pictured is an Dawn Reflection and Smoking Ceremony at Bondi Beach on Australia Day earlier this year
The vote triggered sharp emotions from the public and the councillors.
Before the vote, Indigenous Elder Major Moogy Sumner AM spoke out against January 26 and implored councillors to maintain their original position.
We can all enjoy another day, he said.
Why change it back? To rub salt into a wound? Or to say, well, were going to have it whether you like it or not.
January 26 marks the day the British First Fleet arrived in Sydney Cove and it serves as a source of pain for many Indigenous Australians.
I dont think anyone would like to celebrate on the date that all the Jews died in the prison camps, on that day, Uncle Moogy said.
Thats how we feel. We feel the hurt within us.
Tension around Australia Day ceremonies erupted across the country after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese changed the Australian Citizenship Ceremonies Code in 2022, allowing councils to hold ceremonies either on January 26 or within three days before or after the date.
More than 60 per cent of residents wanted Adelaides Unley Council (pictured) to keep the ceremonies on January 26
Councillor Jennifer Bonham, speaking against the motion, said January 26 was a day that could be likened to celebrating the holocaust.
A day, which at its core, is a celebration of the colonisation of Australia, rather than the resilience of its First Nations people, she said.
Councillor Jane Russo said the survey data was not deep enough for councillors to truly know community sentiment.
Councillor Don Palmer hit out at the Federal government for putting local councils in the position of voting on contentious social issues.
Take responsibility and dont handball it to local government, he said.
Unley Councillor Rebekah Rogers proposed the change back to January 26 to reflect community wishes
Ms Rogers, who said she personally opposed the January 26 date, argued councillors must not turn away from our community.
Otherwise, they will not engage with us, they will not trust us, she said.
We were elected to serve our community.
The vote makes Unley the first council to reverse a decision to alter Australia Day.
