Fairfield mayor Frank Carbone to order thousands of flags after Woolworths Australia Day controversy

A western Sydney mayor has slammed supermarket giants axing Australia Day merch and has ordered his council to hand out thousands of flags for free in a fiery response.

Fairfield mayor Frank Carbone has asked his council to hand out thousands of Aussie flags for free in western Sydney in response to Woolworths ditching its Australia Day merchandise.

Slamming the supermarket giant’s controversial move as “against Australian values”, the popular mayor said the council has now ordered thousands of flags to celebrate January 26.

“Major multinational organisations have no place in making political comments on our national day,” Cr Carbone said.

“This is something we are seeing more of, large organisations trying to tell people what to think. Their actions are completely against our Australian values and denies Australians the opportunity to be proud of who we are.

“During a time when people are struggling with cost of living pressures, major supermarkets should be focusing their efforts on reducing their prices instead of telling people what to think and using their stores to make political commentary.”

Mayor Frank Carbone, right, at Fairfield’s 2022 Australia Day ceremony. Picture: Monique Harmer

The mayor’s doubling down comes as German supermarket chain Aldi also made a similar decision for its Australian stores.

On Friday it confirmed its “Australia Day special buys catalogue” would not be part of its campaign this summer.

The council said it will make flags and merchandise available for free from several council buildings across its 26 suburbs. Picture: Richard Dobson

The local government area of Fairfield counts itself as among one of the most diverse in the country.

Cr Carbone told the Saturday Telegraph Fairfield welcomed about 5000 new Australian citizens last year, making it among one of the biggest in the nation.

Calling on the state and federal governments to provide extra funding for other councils to do the same, Cr Carbone took aim at the NSW Premier and Prime Minister for seemingly avoiding the conversation.

“Australia Day is on 26 January and unless the government makes a decision to change the date, we will continue to celebrate on that date and be proud of who we are,” he said.

“It is time for the Prime Minister and the Premier to make it very clear what their intentions are for Australia Day and take leadership on this issue, instead of sitting back while commercial organisations weigh in on our national day with their unwanted opinions.

Australia Day flags which the mayor said will go up across Fairfield this year.

“It is disappointing that as mayor I need to speak up about this, but we want to make sure that the community is given the opportunity to display their pride on a day that is important to all of us.

Cr Carbone told the Saturday Telegraph the council was in the process of buying “tens of thousands” of Australian flags

The local government area counts itself as among one of the most diverse in the country.