Dubbo councillors debate date of Australia Day ceremonies

The Australia Day ceremony dates were on the discussion at Thursday night's Dubbo Regional Council meeting. However, the councillors were divided about when they should be held.

As it currently stands, the Wellington ceremony will be held at 6.30pm on Thursday, January 25, while the Dubbo ceremony will be held in the morning of Friday, January 26.

Indigenous councillor Pam Wells was unsuccessful in her attempts to have the ceremonies both moved from Australia Day.

The council gathered feedback from the public which found 69.7 per cent of participants preferred an Australia Day event on January 26.

The final decision will be made at the August council meeting on Thursday, August 24.

Councillor Jess Gough has encouraged any members of the public to have their say before that decision is made.

Here's what the councillors said at the meeting:

Pam Wells

The reason we made a move to change it to a different day initially was [to] acknowledge and recognise what the day means to First Nations people. I think making it on the 25^th is a really bold and courageous move for Dubbo Regional Council to push forward.

Mathew Dickerson

I was actually a bit torn on this because I was very keen to see it changed. I think we were bold and courageous this year and I was very comfortable with the decision made for council this year. The thing that made me hesitate slightly was when I saw the survey results come in because I would have liked to have seen more than 33 per cent of people in Wellington say that they preferred it the day before... There are times you've got to take direct feedback from our community and there are times you've got to show leadership.

Josh Black

The national day is on January 26 and we should probably be having the ceremony on January 26. But it does make a lot of sense to have it on the evening before so people can have a full long weekend... The community survey was mid-80 per cent that wanted it on the 26th in Dubbo and a morning event. So look, we've asked the community and they've said that.

Jess Gough

I feel we should keep it the same next year just so people can get used to the idea. We got positive comments so let's move forward with the positivity and then get some more feedback from next year's event. We don't have to be forerunners in everything and we're giving people the opportunity to make their own choice.

Richard Ivey

By moving it to the 25^th, personally I don't think in any way it lessens the importance of the 26^th of January as a national day. I've been very strong in saying that it is probably the most important day in Australia, full stop. It was the day 60,000 years of uninterrupted Indigenous occupation effectively came to an end and that has to be a day that's recognised. It's also the day where Australian society as we know it started to emerge and we should be extraordinarily proud of our current society... By moving it to the 25^th, I for one am not looking to lessen the importance of the day, but rather to make it so all members of our fantastic society can recognise it for what it is.

Shibli Chowdhury

I've been talking to many people and they've been very positive and a lot of people want to participate in both events. I think it will be a disadvantage if we do both at the same time... I would like to test it for next year to see how people react.

Damien Mahon

Last year we took a brave decision to do the Wellington one earlier. It got mixed reactions, some people liked it, some people didn't... I just think if we moved the Dubbo one at the same time it could cause a ruckus at a time when we probably need to focus on bigger issues as far as what's coming towards you. I do see eventually that we can probably do both of them on the eve [of Australia Day].

Matt Wright

As a councillor I enjoyed attending both events and chatting to members of both communities. There was some really positive feedback [about having Wellington in the evening] and again, great to be in Dubbo the following morning. And certainly there are members of the community who would like to attend both.

Councillor Lewis Burns was absent from the meeting and Vicki Etheridge did not speak on the issue.

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