Dubbo’s council has voted to change the date of its Australia Day celebrations despite a poll showing that 87% of the population wanted it kept on January 26, leaving locals furious.
A motion to move the date to January 25 from next year sparked fierce debate at the Dubbo Regional Council meeting in the central New South Wales town on Tuesday night, with councillor Lukas Butler arguing that “the one thing worse than colonisation is not being colonised” before being outvoted.
Upset local residents told Noticer News the change was “absolutely outrageous” and an “abuse of power” by the council, but feared most of the community would not realise that the date had moved until next year.
“I’m angry about it, decisions as big as a country celebration should be a community vote only. The date is always over-exaggerated on why and how it’s celebrated,” one said.
“Indigenous people demand many things in Dubbo, like what’s been done now, but they do not deserve to make such decisions when Dubbo has lost control of criminal activities that are mainly committed by the indigenous population of Dubbo and surrounding areas.”
The date change amendment was successfully moved by Labor Councillor Pam Wells, an aboriginal activist who calls January 26 “Survival Day”, meaning Dubbo’s ceremonies will be held at the same time as those in nearby Wellington, which has held its event on January 25 since 2023, the Daily Liberal reported.
Councillor Shibli Chowdhury’s opposing amendment to leave the ceremonies on Australia Day was voted down 6-3, and he said that although he respected the council’s decision he felt the opinions of the community were being ignored.
“My personal feeling is that we need to listen to the community. A survey of 109 people in our local government area found that 87% of people wanted the ceremony to remain on the 26th,” he said.
“I cannot change the past. We need to move to the future together and as an elected body we need to listen. I encourage the community to reach out about your feelings and when you want to celebrate Australia Day.”
The survey, which was quoted at the meeting by Councillors Chowdhury and Butler, was dismissed as “not statistically significant” due to the small sample size, but based on Dubbo’s 2021 population of 43,516 the poll would have a margin of error of 12% with a 99% confidence interval.
In arguing for the date to be kept on January 26 Councillor Butler told the meeting colonisation was more beneficial than not.
“What I’m hearing is that it was all bad … and that it was the worst thing that could happen and we shouldn’t ever remember it because it was so bad,” he said.
“The one thing that’s worse than colonisation is not being colonised. Trade, the benefits of free markets and rule of law were introduced to Nigeria, Congo, and Australia … and I really would like to push back on this idea that colonisation was evil. In fact, it did great good.”
Header image: Left, Pam Wells. Right, an Australia Day citizenship ceremony in Dubbo in 2023 (Facebook).
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