Council shifts Australia Day position: Compromising or backing down?

It also decided not to fund any Australia Day celebrations taking place on January 26.

This was done in the hope that communities would choose to access the funding and hold celebrations on a different date.

This was not the case, with Tatura and Murchison communities going ahead with self-funded celebrations on January 26 this year.

In light of feedback from community members on the day, Cr Anthony Brophy put requested a review of council’s previous decision in February.

On Monday, April 22, councillors met for their monthly meeting and voted on council’s approach to Australia Day celebrations in the future.

The debate was informed by the 26 January Financial Implications Report prepared by council staff following Cr Brophy’s request for a review.

The report recommended that from 2025, council provide funding for communities to hold their celebrations between January 24 and 29 and council itself conduct a community awards and citizenship ceremony between January 27 and 29.

It also recommended council assist in forming a Shepparton Australia Day committee post-2025 Australia Day and provide support to get the committee up and running before allowing it to operate independently in the future.

The report recommended council continue to support the Survival Day dawn ceremony on January 26, advocate for the Federal Government for a change of date, and continue to lower First Nations flags to half-mast on all council-owned buildings on the day.

Cr Ben Ladson moved to have debate about the motion delayed due to Cr Greg James being absent from the meeting due to a personal matter.

Cr James is Greater Shepparton City Council’s first and only First Nations councillor.

Cr Ladson’s request was not supported by any of the other councillors.

Speaking after the meeting, Mayor Shane Sali said council was finalising its budget in May, and that this item had budget implications and could not wait until the next meeting.

During the meeting, Cr Brophy proposed a motion and said council valued Cr James’ perspective.

“I think if anyone sitting at this table feels it, in regards to Australia Day, it is Greg (Cr James),” Cr Brophy said.

“We haven’t walked in his journey, and we haven’t walked in his shoes, and we certainly haven’t walked in his skin.

“So when he says how he feels about it, we do listen, and we’ve appreciated his commentary in the last two to three years and what he’s presented to us.”

He said council had tried to unite and not divide, but “this January past, missed the mark” when council had not supported events on January 26.

Cr Brophy said his motion would provide a choice for each community in Greater Shepparton to celebrate Australia Day however they wanted on whatever date they wanted, and pointed out that January 26 remained Australia Day for now.

Cr Geoff Dobson seconded the motion and said the community response to council’s actions this January had been largely negative.

He said his personal view was that January 26 was the wrong date but that, as a councillor, he had a responsibility to represent the community’s views.

“The community has told us that this is not an issue for local governments to be involved in,” he said.

Cr Sam Spinks spoke against the motion, calling it a compromised outcome.

“I hate that we are going to consider backing down,” she said.

“The moment things have got hard, we’ve tried to undo it.

“The larger community don’t care, it’s the minority that always gets their way.”

Cr Spinks foreshadowed a new motion similar to Cr Brophy’s, but hers would have the Shepparton Australia Day committee facilitate next year’s Australia Day, taking council out of hosting Australia Day celebrations for the foreseeable future.

Cr Brophy said he was unsure if it would be logistically possible to get the committee up and running in time, and that was why his motion suggested 2025 onwards. It would also mean council would host Australia Day celebrations on January 26, 2025.

Cr Sali said council would start forming the Shepparton Australia Day committee with the hope that it would deliver an event in January 2025, regardless of which motion was passed.

Despite proposing her alternative motion, Cr Spinks said she was still uncomfortable with that level of compromise, but at least council would be “doing something”.

Cr Seema Abdullah also spoke against Cr Brophy’s motion, calling it “sugar-coating a rollback”.

She rejected the review, and said it reversed many key decisions council made.

She said she preferred Cr Spinks’ motion because Cr Brophy’s asked council to hold next year’s Australia Day event and citizenship and award ceremonies on January 26, deviating from council’s stance on the date.

Cr Dinny Adem criticised the attitudes of some community members and suggested that some of the controversy surrounding Australia Day was less about the date changing and more about who was asking to change the date.

He said council’s role was to continue to advocate to the Federal Government to change the date but not to restrict how the community chose to celebrate Australia Day.

Cr Fern Summer said the general community did not have the benefit of learning from and engaging with First Nations communities about this issue.

An emotional Cr Ladson spoke in part in Yorta Yorta language and said he believed the Australia Day date would inevitably be changed, and until then, every January 26 was Survival Day, and that sovereignty was never ceded.

Cr Sali said it was clear that there was an expectation for council to provide funding to groups that delivered events for their communities and that his priority was to fund these communities to celebrate however they wanted.

“This would remove council from facilitating the event,” Cr Sali said.

“We want Shepparton to fall into the category of Tatura and Dookie, where they can get access to funding, you do what you want to do on your day, and whoever wants to attend can attend.”

Crs Sali, Dobson and Brophy voted in favour of Cr Brophy’s motion.

Crs Ladson, Spinks, Abdullah, Adem and Summer voted against it, meaning the motion was lost.

Following this, Cr Spinks’ motion was passed, with Crs Sali, Brophy, Spinks, Abdullah, Dobson and Adem voting in favour, with just Crs Summer and Ladson voting against it.

That means Greater Shepparton communities can hold their Australia Day events on January 26 if they wish and receive funding and logistical support from the council.

The council’s municipal awards and citizenship ceremonies will take place between January 27 and 29 next year.

Council will assist in the creation of a Shepparton Australia Day committee with the aim of the group facilitating the Shepparton event from 2025 onwards.