South Australian mayors back power to dump Australia Day celebrations

South Australian mayors have backed council decisions to dump traditional Australia Day celebrations, despite it drawing the ire of some regional counterparts.

South Australian mayors have backed council decisions to dump traditional Australia Day celebrations, despite it drawing the ire of some regional counterparts.

Four SA councils – Adelaide Hills Council, Unley and Mitcham – will not hold citizenship ceremonies or annual awards on January 26, out of respect for the “culture and values” of First Nations people.

Port Adelaide hosts its Australia Day Awards on January 25.

The move drew criticism from regional mayors, including Coorong’s Paul Simmons who said some councils had “nothing else to worry about” and Kangaroo Island’s Michael Pengilly who said he was disappointed councils were “playing politics”.

Mr Pengilly said councils should “do what you’re meant to do; look after roads, rates and rubbish”.

However, City of Unley mayor Michael Hewitson backed his council’s decision saying a federal government update to the citizenship code allowed councils to hold ceremonies three days either side of January 26.

“Our council discussed it – five voted to keep it on Australia Day, seven voted to have it on the evening before,” he said.

City of Unley mayor Michael Hewitson caked his council’s decision to move citizenship celebrations from Australia Day Picture: AAP/Roy Vandervegt

Kangaroo Island mayor Michael Pengilly said local council’s should leave Australia Day celebrations to January 26. Picture: Matt Loxton.

“Some of those seven would have argued that (the move was for) Aboriginal cultural reasons but others might not have and it was a close call.”

Mr Hewitson said his council did not have time to engage in public consultation before the event schedule needed to be locked in but he invited the public to provide feedback to elected members as the council planned future events.

The Unley mayor would not be drawn on if he thought January 26 was the appropriate day for celebrations but said changing the date of a national day was not the business of local government.

“I think opinion is very divided, there are some strong opinions for both positions,” Mr Hewitson said.

“I suspect the large majority would probably favour having a day of celebration because we have a lot to celebrate and a large majority would accept that it’s not for local councils to determine when.

“We should have a national day and it should be on a date set by the Australian government … the date of Australia Day is not council business.”

However, neighbouring Mitcham mayor Heather Holmes-Ross held a different view in 2021 when the Mitcham Council became the first SA to vote to change the date of Australia Day.

At the time, Dr Holmes-Ross said it was “absolutely” the council’s responsibility to advocate for the date to be changed.

“We are the closest level of government to the people, so if there are thoughts within the community … it’s our job to pass them on to different levels of government that might not be as in touch with the general public,” she told The Advertiser.

Dr Holmes-Ross said she believed most people felt Australia Day was “marred by its historical context”.

The City of Holdfast Bay has revealed it would consider moving celebrations from Australia Day in 2024 but mayor Amanda Wilson said a decision had not been reached.

However, Ms Wilson backed local government deciding if celebrations.

“Councils should get to decide the date they do citizenship ceremonies on,” she said.