Australia Day: Whittlesea Council ignores call to dump citizenship ceremonies

A COUNCIL under pressure to scrap citizenship ceremonies on Australia Day and call it “Survival Day” has ignored the push — and a reconciliation group says the decision is a “slap in the face”.

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WHITTLESEA Council has quashed a recommendation to immediately dump all January 26 Australia Day celebrations.

The Whittlesea Reconciliation Group, which wants the council to consider acknowledging January 26 as Survival Day while also ceasing citizenship ceremonies, made the recommendation in a joint letter tabled at the October 10 council meeting.

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However, councillors resolved to note the joint letter with no further action to be taken, in effect quashing the recommendations.

WRG Co-Chair Andrew Morrison said he was “shocked” by the decision, claiming he received assurances from Mayor Ricky Kirkham and Cr Norm Kelly the recommendations would be given due diligence.

He also said Cr Kirkham had made a personal commitment to request a council officer report.

Whittlesea Mayor Ricky Kirkham is under fire from a local reconciliation group. Picture: Andy Brownbill

“What ensued on the night has left many within the group and the wider Aboriginal community shocked,” Mr Morrison said.

“Whittlesea Council has historically listened to the voices of WRG and I am bitterly disappointed.

“The Mayor gave his word, to the group and to the local community, that sadly it seems he had no intention of going through with.”

Cr Mary Lalios, who is also president of the Municipal Association of Victoria, said the council didn’t have enough time to consider the joint letter as it needed to have a position for the MAV State Council meeting this Friday.

Cr Lalios instead opted to vote for a motion put forward by Frankston Council for the State Council meeting, which calls on the Federal and State Governments to reaffirm January 26 as the official National Day of Australia.

“I support the Federal Government in leading the debate as to an appropriate National day for all Australians,” Cr Lalios said.

Far-Right protesters stormed a Moreland council meeting recently over the Australia Day issue. Picture: Emma Hastings

“The Aboriginal community itself is divided on this issue — even within our own municipality there are varying views among Aboriginal people about January 26.”

However, Cr Lalios could not rule out the matter coming back to council in the future.

“It’s important that the conversation continues with all the community, not just the WRG.”

“It’s important that all residents are involved in such a debate, not just a few, because there are ramifications for the whole community, including a potential loss of citizenship ceremonies which is very important to our multicultural community.

“I support the continuation of established celebrations January 26 while the community decides if they wish to debate the issue.”

WRG Co-chair Karen Bryant slammed Cr Lalios’ stance as a “slap in the face”.

“Cr Lalios took it upon herself to quash any conversation,” Ms Bryant said.

“We are just asking to be heard and to be shown respect but we will soldier on and enter into new discussions with learned people in the future.”

The group was also disappointed four councillors who attended the Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia in Darwin were absent from the meeting.

“At least now we know that Aboriginal people and their rights are not a strategic priority for (the) council,” Mr Morrison said.

The WRG also recommended the council should ensure all future citizenship ceremonies include a Welcome to Country.

Cr Kirkham was unavailable for comment.