A council has come under fire for holding its major Australia Day celebrations three days before January 26, with the mayor previously labelling the official date as one of ‘sorrow’.
The City of Mitcham council in the south Adelaide foothills will hold its ‘Australia Day Celebrations’ on January 23, which is the Thursday before the official January 26 date rolls around on Sunday.
On its website, the council invites people to the event but gives no explanation for the date change.
‘Head along to the Soldiers Memorial Gardens at Mitcham Memorial Library to celebrate Australia Day on Thursday 23 January 2025,’ the listing reads.
‘Join us from 5pm to 8pm for a free evening of activities and entertainment including food stalls, free sausage sizzle, children’s Storytime, face painting, kids activities, a henna artist and live music including a performance by Mitcham City Brass.
‘Witness a citizenship ceremony and the Citizen of the Year awards presentation where City of Mitcham residents who make a difference in the community will be recognised, along with grant recipients.’
Citizenship ceremonies are a traditional part of many official Australia Day celebrations and must be held within three days of January 26, according to laws passed by the federal parliament.
One Mitcham local, who wished to remain anonymous, unleashed about the date change to Daily Mail Australia.
The Mitcham City council in south Adelaide will be holding its main Australia Day event three days before January 26
‘I won’t be attending fake celebrations on the 23rd January,’ they said.
Mitcham Council last July voted not to hold Australia Day on the official date in a motion moved by Councillor Joanna Wells.
The motion resolved that from this year onwards Mitcham will host Australia Day ceremonies and events ‘on the closest Thursday to Australia Day’.
This was ‘to avoid additional costs associated with facilitating the event on a public holiday, and to avoid scheduling the event on a day which may cause distress to First Nations Peoples’.
Mayor Dr Heather Holmes-Ross previously campaigned to change the date of Australia Day in 2021, when Mitcham became the first Australian council to officially oppose January 26 by writing to federal and state parliamentarians asking it to be changed.
Mitcham Mayor Heather Holmes-Ross led the council in a 2021 campaign to change the Australia Day date
‘This motion is about unifying all Australians,’ Dr Holmes-Ross wrote on social media after council passed her measure.
‘We embrace Australia Day – our national day of celebration. We just object to the date.
‘At the moment we celebrate Australia on 26 January which is a for some is a date of sorrow.
‘Why wouldn’t we, as a nation, choose a date where we can be united in our celebration of this wonderful country?’
Dr Holmes-Ross said she did not ‘accept the argument that it is not the place of local government to debate this topic’.
‘That is an excuse to hide behind,’ she said.
‘As the level of government closest to the community it is absolutely our place to have this discussion.’
Although the motion passed it was not universally supported by other councillors.
One laballed it a ‘feel-good’ proposal that lacked substance and was pushed through ‘without even consulting the community’.
Conservative activist group Advance Australia, who campaigned against Dr Holmes-Ross following the motion, labelled the mayor as an activist ‘who hates Australia Day’ over the refusal to hold events on the official date.
‘Councils across the country have been infiltrated by anti-Australian campaigners trying to destroy our national day,’ Advance spokesperson Sandra Bourke said.
‘The vast majority of Aussies are proud of Australia Day and want to celebrate it on January 26.
‘That includes ratepayers in the City of Mitcham.’
