Happy new year to everyone. I hope your Christmas was enjoyable and you are ready for the year ahead. I am looking forward to the challenges it will no doubt bring as budgets are becoming increasingly difficult to set and the search for additional funding rather than the continual burden on ratepayers will be an aim we continue to strive for through lobbying the main two tiers of government.
I feel the need to address an issue that has been raised from a Melbourne newspaper article claiming "Councils wage war on Oz day", stating Hindmarsh Shire Council, along with 80 other local councils across Australia, are choosing not to do citizenship ceremonies on Australia Day.
In Hindmarsh Shire, we do citizenship ceremonies on demand which can be numerous times during the year. We have a large multicultural population per capita and welcome applications from our large Karen, Filipino, Indian and many other cultures whom we enjoy. Doing citizenship ceremonies is one of my most enjoyable tasks of being Mayor.
We as a council have never passed a resolution or even discussed the idea of not having citizenship ceremonies on this day. We have Australia Day celebrations in all of our four (4) major towns which is hosted by local volunteer groups and supported by Council with funding and quite unique to other local councils. This gives each town its own identity and a chance to honor its own community with awards and guest speakers who have a connection to the area.
In my time as a Councillor, we have never held a citizenship ceremony on the day due to practical reasons. Hindmarsh Shire Council is often exempt from having to host citizenship ceremonies on Australia Day, or within the three days before or three days after, which is what is directed by the Department of Home Affairs. We have, however, scheduled an Australian Citizenship ceremony for 29 January 2024 to honour this.
I feel the article was an easy grab to run an agenda against Australia Day and not factual, and I hope this clarifies the situation as I have had quite a few calls from people expressing their disappointment about a decision that has never been taken.