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Peter Dutton (pictured) has promised to once again make it mandatory for councils to hold citizenship ceremonies on Australia Day. The Opposition Leader on Monday slammed Anthony Albanese’s approach to celebrations on the national day, accusing the Prime Minister of allowing January 26 to become ‘something to be ashamed of’.
‘Would we reinstate the requirement for councils to hold citizenship ceremonies on Australia Day? You bet it will done in the first 100 days,’ Mr Dutton told reporters. ‘It will be a sign of pride and nationalism in our country.’ Mr Dutton said he believed Australia was the ‘greatest country in the world’.
‘I’m incredibly proud of Australians and who we are. I’m proud of our Indigenous heritage,’ he added. ‘I’m very proud of our migrant story, and I’m very proud of the fact that we are a country that should stand up and protect and defend its values.’ In late 2022, the Labor government scrapped a previous rule which mandated that councils held citizenship ceremonies on Australia Day.
At the time, Mr Albanese insisted there were ‘no changes here’ – but it led to over 80 councils last year deciding to scrap citizenship ceremonies on January 26, up from just four a year earlier. The PM was accused of a ‘cop-out’ in burdening councils with the politically-sensitive decision. But Mr Dutton has now made clear that, if elected, the coalition will reinstate the old rule. ‘The Prime Minister sent a signal to those councils that Australia Day didn’t matter and that it was something to be ashamed of,’ Mr Dutton said. ‘The Prime Minister doesn’t talk publicly about that. But that’s exactly what he did.’
Australia Day, observed each year on January 26, marks the landing of the First Fleet in 1788 when the first governor of the British colony of New South Wales, Arthur Philip, hoisted the Union Jack at Sydney Cove. But, for many Indigenous people, it is regarded as ‘Invasion Day’ or the ‘Day of Mourning’. A recent poll, conducted by the right-wing Institute of Public Affairs (IPA), found that 69 per cent of 1,002 respondents agreed that the national public holiday should remain on January 26 – a six point increase from 12 months ago.
The poll also found 86 per cent of respondents were ‘proud to be Australian’ while 68 per cent agreed that Australia has ‘a history to be proud of’. IPA deputy executive Director Daniel Wild said the results demonstrated a shift in the vibe and energy surrounding Australia Day. ‘It is clear that mainstream Australians have had a gutful of this attitude and being put upon by the elites,’ Mr Wild said. ‘The 26th of January is more than just a date, it represents the establishment of modern Australia as a free and fair country.’
Mr Wild said that backflips by supermarket giant Woolworths and hospitality operator Australian Venue Co on plans where they downplayed the significance of Australia Day was evidence of the tide turning. It comes after Liberal MP Andrew Wallace claimed that most Aussies have had a ‘gutful’ of being told what to do by woke activists.
Mr Wallace, who represents Fisher in south-east Queensland, said he is frequently stopped on the streets by regular Australians fed-up with the debate. ‘The word woke was never really in mainstream vocabulary until recently,’ he told Sky News host Danica De Giorgio last week. ‘I think people have had an absolute gutful and I’m not talking about members of the LNP or people involved with politics, just everyday average Australians that have had enough. They want government to get out of their lives, they’re over being told what’s right and wrong, how they should think, where they should buy, what they should do.’
Mr Wallace said Australia Day was ‘special’ and should be treated as such. ‘Australians are a friendly, peace-loving people who are, and should be, very, very proud of this great country,’ he said. ‘It’s a very special day where we recognise Australia and we should be very proud of where we have come over the past 240 years.’
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