Another Melbourne council has ditched its Australia Day celebrations following a heated debate among councillors.
The City of Darebin council, which governs several of Melbourne’s northern suburbs including Northcote, Preston and Reservoir, came to the controversial decision with a 6-2 vote in favour of the change.
The planned shake-up will see a shift of date for the Australia Day citizenship awards which will now fall on January 25, ABC News reported.
Another Melbourne council are the latest to ditch its Australia Day celebrations following a heated debate among councillors
The City of Darebin council (pictured), which governs several of Melbourne’s northern suburbs including Northcote, Preston and Reservoir, came to the controversial decision with a 6-2 vote in favour of the change
The Australia Day awards will also be renamed to the Darebin Community Awards.
The decision comes after Yarra City Council’s decision to no longer refer to January 26 as Australia Day.
And now Darebin council will follow suit and hold an Indigenous-themed event instead of an annual citizenship ceremony on the day.
But the decision, alike Yarra’s, has been faced with a wave of residents protesting the move.
‘Australia Day is January 26 and it should remain that day. They’re doing it without proper consultation and they’re just making decisions for us,’ resident David Schulz said.
Councillor Trent McArthy argued the changes were needed and disagreed suggestions there was not enough discussion on the matter.
Darebin council will follow Yarra’s lead and hold an Indigenous-themed event instead of an annual citizenship ceremony on the day
‘Australia Day is January 26 and it should remain that day. They’re doing it without proper consultation and they’re just making decisions for us,’ Darebin resident David Schulz said.
‘We are at risk of losing our citizenship ceremonies but we need to make this change to respect our Indigenous people,’ he said.
In a statement released onto the council website moments after the Yarra City vote last Tuesday, Yarra City mayor Amanda Stone said the decision was about being ‘culturally sensitive’.
‘The overwhelming sentiment from our Aboriginal community is that January 26 is a date of sadness, trauma and distress,’ Cr Stone said.
But Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told parliament the following day the decision was ‘utterly out of step with Australian values’.
Australia Day is one of the nation’s biggest celebrations and the public holiday is full of colour as millions descend on public events held across the country
But Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told parliament last week such decisions were ‘utterly out of step with Australian values’.
The move is now thought to provoke other surrounding councils into similar decisions, with Hepburn Shire Council at Daylesford rumoured to be eager for the switch.
‘Yarra council is using a day that should unite Australians to divide Australians,’ Mr Turnbull said on Wednesday.
Darebin council fast-tracked their vote after declaring a prompt decision was required.
‘[The decision] is in response to an emerging public debate regarding Australia Day and which Darebin councillors have been actively engaged in’, they said in a statement.
The move is now thought to provoke other surrounding councils into similar decisions, with Hepburn Shire Council at Daylesford rumoured to be eager for the switch.