Greater Shepparton City Council to cease celebrations and activities on January 26 from 2024

A regional council in the state’s north has condemned Australia Day celebrations on January 26 to the scrap heap despite support to keep the date.

A regional council in the state’s north has voted to scrap celebrating Australia Day on January 26 from next year despite strong support to keep the date.

Greater Shepparton City Council will instead provide opportunities for communities to gather together and acknowledge Australia Day on different dates in January.

It comes after the council put out a community consultation earlier in the year that revealed

“strong community support, particularly among its younger residents” for changing how the council views the date while there was also plenty to continue to celebrate on January 26.

While there was strong support for the community value aspects of Australia Day celebrations including award ceremonies, citizenship ceremonies and the chance for the community to come together and celebrate, they were not “strongly linked” to January 26.

A council spokesperson said “January 26 holds diverse and complex meanings for Australians.”

“However, it is not a day of celebration for all, particularly for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People.”

Councillor Greg James said the recommendation acknowledged the individual feelings the community had surrounding the date.

“A lot of pain and hurt is surfaced on January 26 as a reminder of the past and it is known to be an extremely sensitive day for all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people,” Mr James said.

“Previously, this has been a difficult day for me to celebrate because of the history of what has occurred.”

But Dr Bella d’Abrera, director of the Foundations of Western Civilisation Program at the Institute of Public Affairs, slammed the move.

“The decision by Shepparton Council to cancel Australia Day is incredibly divisive and surely a sign of things to come should the Voice to Parliament referendum be successful.”

“By cancelling Australia Day, the council is saying Australians should all be ashamed of our country, which is a disgrace.”

“IPA research shows a strong majority of Australians support Australia Day being celebrated on 26 January.”

“Australia is a great country. We are the envy of the world with hundreds of thousands of migrants choosing to come to our shores every year because of our way of life, yet some are doing everything in their power to make Australians ashamed of their history.”

Mayor Shane Sali thanked the community for providing feedback during the consultation process.

“Community feedback is an important part of council decisions and we thank everyone who provided their thoughts to Council earlier this year while the survey was open,” Mr Sali said.

He added the recommendation aimed to achieve a fair balance following the “lengthy conversations” which were discussed over a period of time in the lead up to the decision.