The Turnbull government has banned the City of Fremantle from holding citizenship ceremonies "under any circumstances" at its "culturally-inclusive alternative event" on January 28.
The office of the Assistant Immigration Minister Alex Hawke and Fremantle council having been warring for days after the federal government last week warned the city it must move its Australia Day celebrations back to January 26, or risk being prevented from hosting citizenship celebrations.
Mr Hawke claimed the council couldn't hold citizen ceremonies because it breached the Australian Citizenship Act 2007 by "politicising" its fireworks ban, but the city fired back saying it wouldn't be bullied because it had not breached any code.
In the latest twist, Mr Hawke sent the council a blunt letter on Wednesday night claiming council could not hold citizenship ceremonies on its One Day in Fremantle event on January 28.
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"I hereby advise that the City of Fremantle cannot hold a citizenship ceremony on 28 January under any circumstances in light of the way the council has presented the ceremony as being part of your One Day in Fremantle event described as an alternative to traditional Australia Day celebrations," he wrote.
"Notwithstanding your assurances that the ceremony would be held with due formality and dignity with no political comment being made at the ceremony, the fact is that the council promulgated its 'One Day' event on its website, flyers and in the invitation letter issued to perspective conferees for the associated ceremony.
"I therefore consider that should a ceremony proceed on this day it would be a serious breach of the Australian Citizenship Ceremonies Code with respect to ceremonies being apolitical."
Mr Hawke gave the council three options to hold the ceremonies, as long as none of them were on January 28.
He has given Fremantle council a Thursday deadline to respond to his letter.
Fremantle mayor Brad Pettitt said on Monday he was "extremely confident" the council would hold its citizenship ceremony on January 28.
"The government keeps saying we are breaking the code, but after talking to our staff and the Immigration Department, we are confident we are complying with the code," he told WAtoday.
"We are not going to break the law and we still want to work with the government but we have no plans to hold it on January 26."
The council wrote to Mr Hawke earlier in the week, with assurances that its decision was not to denigrate Australia Day or those who celebrated it, but to hold an event on January 28 that was "more respectful and inclusive for the entire community".
"We take our responsibility to conduct Citizenship Ceremonies most seriously, and consequently, we have ensured our media statements on this matter, and the manner in which we conduct this event will fulfil the requirements of the Citizenship Ceremonies Code," Dr Pettitt wrote.
"I can assure you that the Citizenship Ceremony will be held will all due formality and dignity. We have no wish to be in breach of the requirements of the Citizenship code, and would be happy to work with officers of your Department to ensure that the event can proceed as planned on January 28th in an manner that meets your requirements."
Councillors have been under fire since voting in August to scrap the fireworks from 2017, saying that many Australians were uncomfortable celebrating a day representing "sadness and dispossession" for Aboriginal people.
Greens MLC Lynn MacLaren slammed the Turnbull government for threatening to strip the council of its citizenship ceremony.
"The Turnbull government's ban on the City of Fremantle holding citizenship ceremonies on January 28 is petty and ridiculous," she said.
"Since citizenship ceremonies are held in Fremantle on different days throughout the year, there should be no impediment to holding one on 28 January."
"There is strong support in this community for Fremantle Council's decision."
Fremantle council is planning to respond to Mr Hawke in writing on Thursday.
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