More at ... https://7news.com.au/news/australia-day ... y-c-543137Sydney's Inner West has become the latest local government area to put a lid on Australia Day celebrations.
But in a move to prevent the federal government from stripping the Labor and Greens-dominated council of its right to hold citizenship ceremonies, the annual day of mass naturalisation will remain unchanged - except for the after party.
Inner West Council's mayor, Darcy Byrne (Labor), said the move was in keeping with changing attitudes in the community, where many people now view the anniversary of European arrival in Australia as a day of sorrow.
"We need to find a more sombre way to commemorate the day, and this is a sensible and mature way of dealing with changing community attitudes to the issue," he told 7NEWS.com.au.
Under the proposal, the annual festival at Enmore Park will be moved to another, yet-to-be-determined date in summer.
And a fireworks display will be held the evening before, on January 25, to mark the lunar new year.
The make-up of the inner-western council - five Labor, five Greens, two Liberals and three Independents - means the proposal is almost certain to be voted in at next Tuesday's meeting.
But not all councillors are happy about it.
Independent councillor Victor Macri described the proposal as "politicking at its worst".
"We're coming up to (local government) elections, and it's a divide and conquer move for pure political gain," he told 7NEWS.com.au.
"It's intentionally destroying the harmony we have in our community, and saying it's anything other than this is disingenuous."
Macri said he was not being disrespectful to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in his views, pointing out that there was no consensus among Indigenous people over the appropriateness of Australia Day celebrations.
The agenda paper noted that the council's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Working Group was asked for input but "preferred not to comment on any Australia Day event in the Inner West".
The paper also noted that only 37 people responded to an online survey on the issue, with 19 per cent - seven people - identifying as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander.
"That the council is making a decision based on a snapshot of 37 people is ridiculous," Macri said.
But Byrne said he had spoken to hundreds of people "grappling with how the day should be marked".
"You'd have to be living under a rock not to know there's been a long-running debate about Australia Day," he said.
In September, the federal government updated the citizenship ceremony code, making it mandatory for councils to hold the events on January 26.
A number of councils around the country have already been stripped of the power to hold the ceremonies, after cancelling traditional Australia Day activities including naturalisation events.
I agree with Macri.
