A council has been criticized for holding its main Australia Day celebrations three days early on January 26, with the mayor previously calling the official date a “painful” one.
Mitcham City Council, in the southern foothills of Adelaide, will hold its ‘Australia Day Celebrations’ on January 23, which is the Thursday before the official date of January 26 arrives on Sunday.
On its website, the city council invites people to the event but gives no explanation for the date change.
“Head to the Soldiers Memorial Gardens at Mitcham Memorial Library to celebrate Australia Day on Thursday 23 January 2025,” the announcement reads.
‘Join us from 5pm to 8pm for a free night of activities and entertainment including food stalls, free sausages, children’s stories, face painting, children’s activities, a henna artist and live music, including a performance by Mitcham City Brass.
‘Witness a citizenship ceremony and Citizen of the Year awards presentation, where City of Mitcham residents making a difference in the community will be recognized, along with grant recipients.’
Citizenship ceremonies are a traditional part of many official Australia Day celebrations and must take place within three days of January 26, according to laws passed by federal parliament.
A Mitcham local, who wished to remain anonymous, opened up about the date change to Daily Mail Australia.
Mitcham Town Hall, in Adelaide’s south, will hold its main Australia Day event three days before January 26.
“I will not attend fake celebrations on January 23,” they said.
Last July, Mitcham Council voted not to celebrate Australia Day on the official date in a motion tabled by councilor Joanna Wells.
The motion resolved that from this year Mitcham will host Australia Day ceremonies and events “on the Thursday closest to Australia Day”.
This was “to avoid additional costs associated with facilitating the event on a public holiday and to avoid scheduling the event on a day that may cause distress to First Nations Peoples.”
Mayor Dr Heather Holmes-Ross previously campaigned to change the date of Australia Day in 2021, when Mitcham became the first Australian council to officially oppose January 26 by writing to federal and state MPs calling for it to be will change.
Mitcham Mayor Heather Holmes-Ross led the council in a 2021 campaign to change the date of Australia Day.
“This motion aims to unify all Australians,” Dr Holmes-Ross wrote on social media after council approved her measure.
‘We welcome Australia Day, our national day of celebration. We are simply opposed to the date.
‘Right now we celebrate Australia on January 26, which for some is a date of sorrow.
‘Why wouldn’t we, as a nation, choose a date when we can be united in our celebration of this wonderful country?’
Dr Holmes-Ross said she did not “accept the argument that it is not for local government to debate this issue”.
“That’s an excuse to hide,” he said.
“As the level of government closest to the community, it is absolutely our place to have this discussion.”
Although the motion was approved, it did not have universal support from other councilors.
One called it a “feel-good” proposal that lacked substance and was pushed “without even consulting the community.”
Conservative activist group Advance Australia, which campaigned against Dr Holmes-Ross following the motion, branded the mayor an activist.who hates Australia Day” for refusing to hold events on the official date.
“Councils across the country have been infiltrated by anti-Australian activists intent on destroying our national day,” Advance spokesperson Sandra Bourke said.
‘The vast majority of Australians are proud of Australia Day and want to celebrate it on January 26.
“That includes the taxpayers of the city of Mitcham.”