Australia Day: Local councils warned not to politicise citizenship ceremonies
COUNCILS that threaten to hijack Australia Day citizenship ceremonies with political correctness will be stripped of rights by the Federal Government.
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RENEGADE councils that threaten to hijack Australia Day citizenship ceremonies with political correctness will be stripped of their power to hold the formalities by the Federal Government.
Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Alex Hawke will today write to all 547 councils across Australia to warn them that if they test the Government with “politically motivated public attacks on Australia Day”, they will be punished.
A growing number of left-leaning councils want Australia Day citizenship ceremonies moved to another day to accommodate indigenous sensitivities.
January 26 marks the anniversary of the arrival of the First Fleet in Australia.
On Monday it was reported that an internal report at Victoria’s Yarra Council suggested it should “acknowledge the pain and disconnection” felt by indigenous Australians, and it should dump all references to Australia Day.
Mr Hawke told The Courier-Mail the Commonwealth could strip councils’ right to hold citizenship ceremonies, which could be done by neighbouring councils or facilitated by the Immigration Department.
“The Australian Government will not allow council to politicise and delegitimise citizenship ceremonies in a public attack on Australia Day being held on January 26,’’ Mr Hawke said.
“If councils want to ... fight an ideological war against Australia Day instead of ... delivering value for ratepayers, that is their business, but they must leave Australian citizenship ceremonies out of it.”
The correspondence from Mr Hawke will remind councils of their duties under the Australian Citizenship Ceremonies Code.
“The Government views the recent public actions of Greens-dominated councils, using their ability to host Australian citizenship ceremonies to lobby against Australia Day on January 26, as a breach of the code.
“In recent months, a small number of councils have waged a co-ordinated attack on Australia Day, and they are doing so through the institution of Australian citizenship.
“The Turnbull Government is committed to ensuring that citizenship is treated in the ‘non-commercial, apolitical, bipartisan and secular manner’ that our regulations mandate.
“A citizenship ceremony must not be used as a forum to protest the practice of celebrating Australia Day on January 26.
“This includes arranging a citizenship ceremony to align with an ‘anti or alternate Australia Day celebration’.
“Local councils are now on notice that if they politicise Australian citizenship, the Government will see it as a breach of the code and take appropriate action.
“For the record, the Commonwealth Government’s view is that our national day, Australia Day, January 26, remains the most popular day for our newest citizens to attend citizenship ceremonies.
“As long as Australia Day is celebrated on January 26, this is a most appropriate date for a citizenship ceremony.”
Originally published as Australia Day: Local councils warned not to politicise citizenship ceremonies
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