Aus day celebrations hotly debated by Central and North Burnett Council

Towns will be left to organise their own Australia Day events with the Central and North Burnett Council axing multiple events to save money following a heated debate.

Councillors Dael Giddins and Michael Dingle had their say on future Australia Day events across the Central and North Burnett.

The Central and North Burnett Council will axe most of their annual Australia Day celebrations in favour of one event for the entire region.

The council voted at Wednesday’s meeting in favour of cutting down the celebrations from six events and award ceremonies at Gayndah, Mundubbera, Eidsvold, Mount Perry, Biggenden and Monto into one rotating event.

With a budget of $22,000 allocated for six individual events CEO Margot Stork said running one event was a good opportunity to save council money.

When questioned how running one event will save money when buses and transport services would need to be supplied for surrounding towns, Mrs Stork said it was a non issue.

“I would expect a single event would be cheaper than holding six events, there’s a bit of logic there in my mind,” she said.

It was hotly debated with several councillors calling for the 2023 events to remain the same to allow for more time to discuss the council’s arrangements for future years.

“We need to work with our communities, not rip something out from underneath them,” councillor Dael Giddins said.

Previous events had multiple awards presented for hard working community members.
Picture: Sam Turner.

Councillor Melinda Jones felt it was unfair to the wider Burnett communities to axe events just two short prior.

“It’s in the budget to hold six community events and this is a massive opportunity for us to help our communities co-design how it will look,” she said.

But councillor Michael Dingle said the community wasn’t engaged enough to worry.

He said about one per cent of 10,000 community surveys on Australia Day were completed which asked residents how they felt about existing celebrations.

“I’ve asked people on the ground and they really don’t care whether we have one or not,” he said.

Others agreed with Robbie Radel outlining there was no nominations submitted for the awards ceremonies.

The final vote put forward saw the motion passed and the council will nominate one town per year to host the main Australia Day celebrations, with the remaining towns left to organise themselves.

Councillor Susan Payne said it was a great opportunity to unite the regions as the council faces further financial pressures.

“We have been talking about it since we became councillors and we need to be strategic in our thinking,” she said.

“This is a perfect opportunity to set a precedent.”