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Melbourne's Yarra Council drops Australia Day ceremonies despite warning from Turnbull government

Lord mayor Robert Doyle has joined Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in condemning an inner city council's decision to stop celebrating Australia Day on January 26. 

Yarra City councillors on Tuesday night voted to stop referring to January 26 as Australia Day and to cease holding any citizenship ceremonies on that day from 2018.

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City of Yarra won't celebrate Australia Day

The council has passed a motion to stop celebrating annual citizenship ceremonies on January 26 and will instead hold an indigenous themed event. Vision courtesy: Channel 7's Sunrise.

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Mr Turnbull said the council's attack on Australia Day was a repudiation on the values it celebrates, "freedom, a fair go, mateship and diversity".

"The council is using a day that should unite Australians to divide Australians," he said on Wednesday morning.

"I recognise Australia Day, and its history, is complex for many Indigenous Australians but the overwhelming majority of Australians believe the 26th of January is the day and should remain our national day.

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"The citizenship ceremonies around Australia are all about inclusion. We begin with a welcome to country and an acknowledgment of country, and we celebrate our multicultural nation; we celebrate the oldest continuous human culture on earth, of our First Australians, just as we celebrate the youngest baby in the newest citizen's arms."

Cr Doyle said the City of Melbourne would "absolutely not" be following in Yarra Council's footsteps. 

He said the "privilege" of holding a citizenship ceremony on January 26 was not something he would give up lightly. 

"I think that is a divisive debate, it is also a settled question. What other councils do is a question for them," he said.

"We always have the most senior Wurundjeri elder Aunty Joy who does provide a Welcome to country in the most generous spirited way on Australia Day each year," he said.

It is understood Yarra Council could be stripped of its authorisation to conduct citizenship ceremonies as early as Thursday.

Despite pressure from the federal government against such a move, Yarra councillors voted unanimously.

All clauses passed unamended despite some fiery submissions from a few people in the audience who said the council hadn't surveyed the community widely enough.

Yarra Council voted to:

  • Refer to Australia Day as "January 26" until another "more appropriate" term is adopted nationally;
  • Stop holding citizenship ceremonies on January 26; 
  • Hold a "small-scale, culturally-sensitive event featuring a smoking ceremony that acknowledges the loss of culture, language and identity felt by Aboriginal community on January 26";
  • Adopt a "communications plan that focuses on broader community education to help people better understand Aboriginal community experiences of January 26";
  • Officially support the #changethedate campaign in council publications and on social media;
  • Consider ways to lobby the federal government to change the date of Australia Day.

Cr Stephen Jolly said the council would not stop anyone from celebrating January 26 as Australia Day.

"It's not North Korea here, you know. We are a small council. If the City of Yarra decides to call it January 26... that does not stop the vast majority of people in the council area calling it Australia Day. No one is going to jail because they are having an Australia Day barbecue."

Premier Daniel Andrews and Federal Assistant Minister for Immigration Alex Hawke also attacked the decision, with Mr Hawke warning "Greens-dominated councils" could be banned from hosting citizenship ceremonies.

Assistant Minister for Immigration Alex Hawke sent a letter to councils across the country on Tuesday warning that if they stopped complying with the Australian Citizenship Ceremonies Code they would lose their hosting rights.

"The government views the recent public actions of Greens-dominated councils, using their ability to host Australian citizenship ceremonies to lobby against Australia Day on January 26 as a breach of the Code," he said in a statement.

"As long as Australia Day is celebrated on 26 January, this is a most appropriate date for a citizenship ceremony to take place.

"Local councils are now on notice that if they politicise Australian citizenship, the government will see it as a breach of the code and take the appropriate action."

Earlier, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said the move from the council was unnecessary.

"You can celebrate what modern Australia is and citizenship ceremonies are a big part of that — it's truly a magical thing," he told the ABC.

"I don't think anybody should be trying to diminish that."

"I think we get the balance right [on Australia Day]. We respect the traditional owners of our land, but we then get on in a really unified way."

Mayor Amanda Stone said she can't find any requirement in the code for councils to hold citizenship ceremonies on Australia Day.

"The code actually says you shouldn't use a ceremony to promote a political agenda or a religious agenda or commercial agenda," she said.

"We wouldn't be intending to do that."

The council commissioned an independent survey of nearly 300 non-Indigenous people, which showed strong support for change. 

"In the last 12 months there has been a groundswell of community support for change from both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people across the country. The community is looking for leadership on this issue," Cr Stone said.

"People can still have their barbecue and parties on the January 26 public holiday, but I hope our stance encourages people to stop and think about what this date really means in the history of our nation."

Yarra City usually holds citizenship ceremonies every two months and Cr Stone said they would continue to do so.

Ms Stone said councillors took into consideration the ministers' warning before Tuesday night's vote, but all decided a bold move for change was required.

Yarra City Council takes in the inner-northern and eastern suburbs of Melbourne including  Carlton North, Abbotsford, Collingwood, Fitzroy and Richmond.

with AAP

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