Home Australia Anthony Albanese dodges major Australia Day question – after Peter Dutton promised huge overhaul

Anthony Albanese dodges major Australia Day question – after Peter Dutton promised huge overhaul

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The Prime Minister was pressed on the issue after the opposition leader announced he would make it mandatory for councils to hold citizenship ceremonies on Australia Day.
  • Citizenship ceremonies used to be on January 26.
  • Anthony Albanese eliminated the requirement in 2022
  • But Peter Dutton has promised to reinstate the rule if elected.
  • Albanese declined Tuesday to talk about the issue.
  • READ MORE: Generational war breaks out on Australia Day

Anthony Albanese has refused to be swayed by Peter Dutton’s pledge to force local councils to hold Australia Day events on January 26.

The Prime Minister was pressed on the issue after the opposition leader announced on Monday he would make it mandatory for councils to hold citizenship ceremonies on Australia Day.

In late 2022, the Labor government removed a previous rule requiring councils to hold citizenship ceremonies on Australia Day.

Last year, more than 80 councils decided not to hold Australia Day ceremonies on January 26.

But Dutton has promised to restore the old rules if the Coalition wins the federal election, which must be held before May.

Albanese was pressed on the issue on Tuesday but declined to comment on his rival’s headline-grabbing commitment.

“I will attend the national Australia Day commemorations (in Canberra) as I have done every year I have been Labor leader,” Mr Albanese said.

‘I hope Peter Dutton this year decides to join the national Australia Day celebrations in Canberra. “That’s what I did as opposition leader.”

The Prime Minister was pressed on the issue after the opposition leader announced he would make it mandatory for councils to hold citizenship ceremonies on Australia Day.

Last year, more than 80 councils decided not to hold Australia Day ceremonies on January 26.

Last year, more than 80 councils decided not to hold Australia Day ceremonies on January 26.

Finance Minister Katy Gallagher, who appeared alongside Albanese at the press conference, was quizzed on the issue and also sought to highlight how Dutton often failed to show up for the Australia Day ceremony in Canberra.

She said she was “not sure” if she had seen the opposition leader there in previous years.

But the Liberal Party leader dismissed the criticism and put the blame for the number of councils withdrawing on the Labor administration.

“Part of the reason we’re in this mess right now with councils going in every direction is because the Prime Minister removed the requirement for councils to hold their citizenship ceremony on Australia Day,” Mr Dutton said.

“If the Prime Minister doesn’t have the leadership strength to stand up to mayors and others who don’t want to celebrate Australia Day, then our country is in more trouble than we first thought.”

Dutton said Australians should recognize the good and the bad in their history and not be ashamed of their national day.

“There are millions of Australians who have made the migrant journey to our country, enriched it and for many of them Australia Day is sacrosanct because they became citizens on that day,” Mr Dutton said.

“We have an incredible Indigenous history that we should celebrate, and we have an incredible immigrant history that we should celebrate as well.”

But Dutton (pictured) has promised to restore the old rules if the Coalition wins the federal election, which must be held before May.

But Dutton (pictured) has promised to restore the old rules if the Coalition wins the federal election, which must be held before May.

Australia Day, celebrated each year on January 26, marks the landing of the First Fleet in 1788, when the first governor of the British colony of New South Wales, Arthur Philip, raised the Union Jack in Sydney Cove.

But for many indigenous peoples, it is considered “Invasion Day” or “Day of Mourning.”

A recent poll, conducted by the right-wing Institute of Public Affairs (IPA), found that 69 percent of 1,002 respondents agreed that the national holiday should remain on January 26, an increase of six points from 12 months ago. .

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