Victorian Opposition promise new laws, if elected, to force councils to recognise Australia Day

UNPATRIOTIC Melbourne councils will be sacked if they refuse to celebrate Australia Day, under a state Coalition plan to protect the national holiday. TAKE OUR POLL

UNPATRIOTIC councils would be sacked for refusing to hold citizenship ceremonies and celebrate Australia Day, under a state Coalition plan to protect the national holiday.

Three inner-city Melbourne councils have already controversially dumped Australia Day and pushed to move the holiday from January 26.

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But the Matthew Guy-led state Opposition has promised that, if elected, it will amend the Local Government Act to force councils to celebrate the day and hold citizenship ceremonies. The reform would give the government power to sack councils that refused.

Debate over the national day has reached fever pitch after:

■ STATE MP Geoff Howard broke ALP ranks, saying Australia Day should be on the last Monday in January.

■ DAREBIN Council told residents to ignore the public holiday and work ­on Friday to show Aborigines respect.

■ A NEW poll revealed that 70 per cent of people believed Australia Day should be celebrated on January 26.

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Opposition local government spokesman David Morris said councils should focus on delivering core ­services — roads, rates and rubbish — and not on national concerns.

“If councillors want to change the date of Australia Day, then they should resign from council and run for federal parliament,” he said.

The Coalition follows the South Australian Liberal Party in announcing such a policy.

Opposition scrutiny of government spokesman Tim Smith said: “Last year the Premier sat by and failed to condemn the councils that opposed Australia Day, now’s his chance to finally stand up to the Greens.”

Opposition local government spokesman David Morris. Picture: Supplied

Federal MP Alan Tudge. Picture: AAP

Federal minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs Alan Tudge urged people to not attend rallies on the public holiday and said flying the flag at half mast was “ridiculous”.

“To those people who want to protest about Australia Day, can I just say, protest on every other day if you like but let us enjoy Australia Day for what it is and that is a great celebration of everything that is terrific about this country,” he said.

“To suggest this is a day of mourning is just wrong. I suggest this is a day where all of us unite to celebrate as a country, which includes our indigenous heritage, our British foundations and our modern multicultural character.

“Every single formal ceremony tomorrow will include an acknowledgment, a recognition and celebration of our indigenous culture as it should because it is part of our heritage and it is the oldest continuous culture on this planet.”

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Mr Tudge also backed the Victorian Coalition Leader Mathew Guy’s policy to reform the Local Government Act to force councils to celebrate Australia Day.

“(It) is very consistent with what we are trying to achieve by removing the rights of councils to hold citizenship ceremonies should they not hold them on January 26. We want to hold Citizenship ceremonies on Australia Day because it is the most popular day of the year for new migrants to be com citizens and if the councils don’t want to hold them, then we will give those citizenship ceremonies to other organisations.”

He said 13,000 new migrants would be officially made citizens tomorrow.

Moreland, Darebin and Yarra councils all dumped Australia Day last year, claiming it was hurtful and disrespectful to indigenous residents. The latter two were then stripped of powers to hold citizenship ceremonies.

Darebin mayor Kim Le Cerf said the Opposition’s move was “opportunistic” and disrespectful to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander locals.

She said council had acted out of respect for them and many other locals who had expressed concerns “over many years”.

Darebin Mayor Kim Le Cerf has slammed the Opposition’s “opportunistic” push to force celebrations. Picture: Tim Carrafa

Moreland and Yarra councils would not comment.

Mr Howard, the veteran Labor member of Buninyong, said on Wednesday moving Australia Day was “common sense”.

The MP for the Ballarat area seat, who will retire at this year’s state election, said he had opposed nominating January 26 as Australia Day when a councillor in the 1990s.

“This is simply a matter of recognising that if we are all to come together as Australians ... picking a date that everyone can celebrate together, when it’s good summer weather, when you can enjoy a barbecue, is a good Australian thing to do,” he told the ABC.

But a national poll by the Institute of Public Affairs revealed that 70 per cent of Australians did not want to change the date of the national day.

The Greens-dominated Darebin council, in listing “tips for a respectful Australia Day”, suggests residents work and take another day off instead.

But it also says January 26 remains a national public holiday “and council’s customer service centres and libraries will be closed”.

“This is exactly the kind of divisive nonsense we’ve come to expect from Left-wing councils like Darebin,” IPA spokesman Evan Mulholland said.

“The suggestion that people should go to work on Australia Day and take another day off is ludicrous. Thankfully local councils aren’t in charge of setting public holidays.”

Local Government Minister Marlene Kairouz said those who did not like their councils “should vote them out”.

“We’ll be celebrating Australia Day on January 26 and everything that makes our country great,” she said.

— with Ed Gardiner

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@moniquehore