Canberra’s message to local government not to mess with Australia Day has fallen on deaf ears at a second Melbourne council.
City of Darebin councillors overnight voted in favour of moving January 26 events to an “agreed date” more inclusive of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander residents.
“We formally recognised that January 26 is not an inclusive date for our national celebration,” Mayor Kim Le Cerf said after Monday night’s majority result.
“January 26 is indelibly tied to the dispossession and subsequent oppression of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and our council cannot ignore the exclusion this entails and the impact it has on the health and wellbeing of our indigenous community.”
The motion includes an end to citizenship ceremonies on January 26, instead offering new Australians the opportunity “in a positive and timely way throughout the year”.
The changes come just a week after Melbourne’s City of Yarra became Australia’s first council to announce changes to January 26.
It felt a swift rebuke from the federal government which threatened to withdraw the council’s authority to host citizenship ceremonies in a stand-off which continues between Mayor Amanda Stone and Assistant Minister for Immigration Alex Hawke.
The move didn’t prevent Darebin taking action with plans now in motion for the inner-northern local government area to hold a community celebration on a date other than January 26.
It will include awards recognising community service and the contribution of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander residents.
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