Cumberland Council considers removing anti-racism signs from telegraph poles

A western Sydney councillor who insists “morals should not be put on telegraph poles” has called for anti-racism signs to be removed in what is poised to prompt another politically polarising debate.

Anti-racism signs will be up for debate. Picture: Toby Zerna

Weeks after it debated whether to scrap the Welcome to Country, Cumberland Council is poised to stoke another woke debate when it considers pulling down anti-racism signs across its multicultural community.

Three years after they were installed, calls have been made to remove 50 #RacismNotWelcome signs across the community, which is one of the most diverse in Australia.

Along with fellow Our Local Community councillor Helen Hughes, Paul Garrard will table a motion at the council’s Wednesday night meeting calling for the conspicuous, red signs to be removed.

“Quite frankly, I just don’t believe the council should be putting its morals on telegraph poles,’’ he said.

“You might put them on the front door of your building but putting them on telegraph poles isn’t something we should be condoning.’’

Paul Garrard opposes the anti-racism signs. Picture: Keri Megelus

Steve Christou opposed it on his casting vote in 2021 but a change of council led the Labor-dominated chamber to support the signs. Picture: Toby Zerna

Cr Garrard, who represents the South Granville ward, said the public deemed the signs “a senseless waste of money” and “don’t believe racism is the biggest issue in the world”.

“I know there’s racism within elements of our community, sadly, but having said that, is it an issue that we have to put values on telegraph poles?’’ he said.

“To me there doesn’t seem to be massive evidence of racism within our community and I base that on reports from the police – they don’t consider racism a major concern in the Cumberland area.’’

One sign was controversially displayed outside near the Anzac memorial at Lidcombe Remembrance Park when veterans asked for it to be relocated.

In 2021, former Cumberland mayor Steve Christou used his casting vote to reject the signs after former Labor councillor Kun Huang proposed them following an alarming rise in incidents of racism in Australia during the Covid pandemic, particularly against Chinese Australians.

Cr Christou blasted the motion as political “grandstanding”.

Auburn is part of the Cumberland melting pot, where more than half of residents were born overseas. Picture: Angelo Velardo

However, the motion passed in 2022 when the new, Labor-dominated council was voted in following the December 2021 local government election.

Labor councillor Suman Saha will vote against Cr Garrard’s motion this week.

“I haven’t received any requests from anyone in the community asking us to remove these signs,’’ he said.

“Now that we have the signs in place, removing them will probably send the wrong message – people will think racism is OK or the problem has been solved.

“Let’s keep the signs to support diversity, inclusion and respect for everyone.’’

Waverley, the City of Sydney and the Inner West councils also display the #RacismNotWelcome signs, which cost Cumberland about $5000.

The council is no stranger to debating polarising issues.

Last month, Cr Christou’s bid to scrap the Welcome to Country was defeated after opponents blasted him for “dog whistling’’ and “engaging in culture wars’’.