Rockingham council moves Australia Day celebrations back to January 26 after snubbing the date in 2024

One of WA’s largest local governments has backflipped on its decision to move Australia Day after community consultation showed overwhelming support for January 26. In May 2023, Rockingham council voted to move its Australia Day celebrations to the nearest Saturday to January 26. On January 27 this year, it welcomed 99 new citizens in a citizenship ceremony and held a carnival on the foreshore. However, following a community survey in which the majority of respondents said Australia Day events should be held on the actual day, at Tuesday night’s meeting Rockingham councillors voted 10 to two to return celebrations back to January 26. Just two councillors voted against the decision – Legalise Cannabis WA candidate Cr Craig Buchanan and one-time Greens candidate Cr Dawn Jecks. One-time Rockingham State Liberal candidate Cr Peter Hudson proposed the reversal and was also behind the decision to poll residents on the date. “We have an obligation to act in the best interest of our residents, but we also have a moral duty as citizens of Australia, to act in our country’s national interest,” he said on Tuesday night. “That means defending what we have when we must — if we don’t stand up for what we believe in, nobody else will. “The Federal Government — who have abdicated their responsibility to do so — offers little backbone for Australians to stand with.” Cr Hudson claimed the majority of the 7.2 per cent of respondents who identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander also showed a preference for celebrating Australia Day on January 26. This result was not contained within the council’s agenda, but the results which were published showed 64 per cent of respondents wanted Australia Day events to be held on January 26. The city was one of about a dozen that decided to move its celebrations after Anthony Albanese said in late 2022 that festivities could be held between January 23 and 29. Cr Lorna Buchan slammed the Prime Minister for forcing the city to make the decision. “For me, the crunch came on the 26th of January, when the Prime Minister puts out on his Twitter page, ‘Happy Australia Day’ with a picture of him wearing his akubra,” she said. “And we were left as a city, as a council, with all of this turmoil, but it was created by the Federal Government. “They came to us and said, ‘Do you want to change the date, you want to change when you do citizenships, you know it’s up to you’. “And then I just felt I wasn’t supported by the Federal Government that day.” Mayor Deb Hamblin echoed this sentiment saying it was time for the Government to make a decision. Cr Mark Jones said that Aboriginal people already have “a lot of special days”. “So there’s the anniversary of the national apology, we’ve got Harmony Week in March, national Sorry Day in May, national Reconciliation Week in June, we’ve got Mabo Day in June, the National Naidoc week in July, national Aboriginal and Torres Children’s Day in August, and national Indigenous literary day in September,” he said. “So there’s multiple days we’re trying to reconcile. I guess I’m sorry that Australia Day is not one of those days for everyone, but as a city, we’re trying to celebrate the good things about Australia and unite our country.” “I was born in Australia. My mum was born in Australia. My grandmother was born in Australia, and my great-grandmother was born in Victoria in 1860s during the gold rush,” Cr Leigh Liley said. “And I’m very proud of their achievements. I acknowledge that there are a lot of Australians who are Aboriginal and Scottish, Aboriginal and Irish, and they should be proud of their nation, just as we are.” However, some councillors who supported the decision made it clear that it did not align with their values.