Australia Day 2022: Sydney councils accused of using Covid to avoid controversy
Some Sydney mayors have accused fellow councils of cancelling Australia Day celebrations under the guise of public health to fit their “woke” ideology.
NSW
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Sydney councils have been accused of using Covid-19 as a cloak to cancel Australia Day events and avoid controversy relating to the ‘Change The Date’ movement, as dozens of authorities prepare to forge ahead with their own celebrations.
Reiterating his support for Australia Day being held on January 26, Fairfield Mayor Frank Carbone said “there’ll always be a minority of councils who use any excuse to change the date (of Australia Day celebrations) when it’s none of their business”.
“As a council we should be part of our nation and our community – and rather than changing the date and making political statements, we should get on with providing services and recognising those very special people … during Australia Day.”
Former Cumberland Mayor and current Councillor Steve Christou said: “Covid has now become an excuse for the ‘woke left’ and doomsayers to say, if it doesn’t fit their ideology, let’s just cancel it because of Covid”.
“I firmly believe this is the case now – we’re two years into Covid, with a third booster available, what push can there be to keep cancelling their events, especially a major public holiday like Australia Day?” he added.
“Now Covid has become an excuse for woke, politically correct public servants and cancel cultures to cancel events that don’t fit their personal ideology.”
Canterbury-Bankstown Mayor Khal Asfour said councils using Covid-19 to cancel events “should have the guts to come out and state their intentions without blaming the virus”.
“Covid has knocked us all around but we are still holding events and ensuring the health and safety of our community,” he said.
The council will hold its Australia Day Awards and citizenship ceremony virtually, but will push ahead with pool parties, carnival rides, sausage sizzles and live DJs spread across the authority’s pools and recreation centres.
Mayor Asfour added changing the date of Australia Day was a matter for the Federal Government and not individual councils.
It comes as a swath of Sydney councils pull the plug on much-loved Australia Day events, blaming Covid-19 infection rates, as new cases plummeted to 15,091 and Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt declared the pandemic had peaked on Australia’s east coast.
Inner West Council was the first council in Sydney to axe Australia Day events in 2020, with Mayor Darcy Byrne saying then that January 26 “represents the beginning of colonisation, dispossession, the removal of children and deliberate destruction of language and culture” for Indigenous Australians.
Western Sydney councils Blacktown and Campbelltown are two of the authorities which have axed their Australia Day events this year citing health and safety concerns due to the virus.
“While council acknowledges the ‘change the date’ movement, our decisions to cancel or take events online were purely in the interests of public health and safety,” a Blacktown City Council spokeswoman said.
“In regards to decisions by other councils – Blacktown City Council doesn’t tell other councils how they should run their business.”
A spokesman for Campbelltown Council said the decision was made to cancel this year’s event due to the “increased pressure on the health system and emergency services in recent weeks”.
“Our Australia Day celebrations often attract large crowds and with the high number of current Covid-19 case numbers, we are conscious of the impact on the most vulnerable in our community and the logistical burden being placed on our hospitals and police,” he said.
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