A local council in South Australia has reversed its decision to move Australia Day celebrations from January 26.
Councillors in the City of Unley, a small council area covering Adelaide’s prosperous south inner city, voted 8-4 on Monday night to restore its Australia Day citizenship and awards ceremony to January 26, after an earlier vote to move the events to the evening of January 25.
The reversal, proposed by Councillor Rebekah Rogers, followed a community survey which showed 60.6 per cent of residents wanted the council to keep the ceremonies on January 26.
“We can’t ask our community for their input and then not hear the outcome,” Rogers said Monday.
‘Tonight’s vote is centred on a consultation process.
“The community wanted to have a say and we gave it to them.”
Ms. Rogers proposed the previous motion to reject on January 26, which council approved 7-5 in March 2023.
His new motion called on the council to recognise that January 26 was a “watershed date” for many Australians, but Unley should nonetheless hold its citizenship ceremony, Australia Day awards and community event on January 26 and allocate $20,000 towards the 2025 celebration.
An Adelaide council will still mark Australia Day after a shock setback. Pictured, a patriotic Australian celebrates the national holiday
The Australian Citizenship Ceremonies Code has been amended to allow local councils to hold ceremonies on or within three days before or after 26 January. Pictured is a sunrise reflection and smoking ceremony at Bondi Beach on Australia Day earlier this year.
The vote sparked strong emotions among the public and councillors.
Ahead of the vote, Indigenous elder Major ‘Moogy’ Sumner AM spoke out against January 26 and implored councillors to stick to their original position.
“We can all enjoy another day,” he said.
“Why change it again? To rub salt in the wound? Or to say, ‘Well, we’re going to have it, whether you like it or not’?”
January 26 marks the day the British First Fleet arrived at Sydney Cove and is a source of grief for many Indigenous Australians.
“I don’t think anyone would like to celebrate the date when all the Jews died in the prison camps,” Uncle Moogy said.
“That’s how we feel. We feel the pain inside us.”
Tensions around Australia Day ceremonies flared across the country after Premier Anthony Albanese changed the Australian Citizenship Ceremonies Code in 2022, allowing local councils to hold ceremonies on January 26 or within three days before or after the date.
More than 60 per cent of residents wanted Unley Town Council in Adelaide (pictured) to hold ceremonies on January 26.
Councillor Jennifer Bonham, speaking against the motion, said January 26 was a day that could be compared to “the celebration of the Holocaust”.
“A day that is, at its core, a celebration of Australia’s colonisation, rather than the resilience of its indigenous peoples,” he said.
Councilwoman Jane Russo said the survey data was not deep enough for council members to truly understand community sentiment.
Councillor Don Palmer criticised the federal government for putting local councils in the position of voting on contentious social issues.
“Take responsibility and don’t leave it to local government,” he said.
Unley Councillor Rebekah Rogers proposed the change to January 26 to reflect community wishes.
Ms Rogers, who said she personally opposed the January 26 date, argued that councillors “should not alienate themselves from our community”.
“Otherwise, they won’t communicate with us and they won’t trust us,” he said.
“We were elected to serve our community.”
The vote makes Unley the first council to reverse a decision to alter Australia Day.