A local council in Adelaide has backflipped on a decision to move Australia Day ceremonies away from January 26 after a community poll showed most were against the change.
City of Unley councillors voted 8 to 4 on Monday to reverse an earlier decision to hold its Australia Day awards and citizenship ceremony on January 25, which passed 7-5 in March 2023, due to 60.6% of residents wanting the keep them on the original date.
But councillor Jennifer Bonham, who voted against the reversal, argued that holding events on January 26 could be compared to “celebrating the holocaust”, the Advertiser reported.
“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.
Indigenous activist and Major Lancelot “Moogy” Sumner also made a holocaust reference as he begged councillors not to change the date back to January 26.
“We can all enjoy another day. Why change it back? To rub salt into a wound? Or to say, ‘well, we’re going to have it whether you like it or not’,” he said.
“I don’t think anyone would like to celebrate on the date that all the Jews died in the prison camps, on that day. That’s how we feel. We feel the hurt within us.”
The motion to restore January 26 was proposed by councillor Rebekah Rogers, said that although she was in favour of moving the ceremonies, and proposed the previous motion, the council should “not turn away from our community”.
“Otherwise, they will not engage with us, they will not trust us. We were elected to serve our community,” she said.
Councillor Don Palmer said the federal government should not be handballing decisions on Australia Day citizenship ceremonies to local councils, while Jane Russo said the survey was not an adequate measure of community opinion.
The motion also described January 26 as a “divisive date” and included an allocation of funding for the 2025 ceremonies. It marks the first time a council has reversed an anti-Australia Day decision.
Mayor Michael Hewitson told ABC News the debate in council on Monday night was “deep and meaningful”.
“We appreciate the feedback from all those who participated in the consultation, and while we recognise that not everyone will agree with this outcome, we believe it reflects the majority sentiment of our community,” he said in a statement.
