Federal Government in major stoush over Australia Day

Australia Day brings up a lot of mixed feelings in people. There are those that celebrate it without fail for the country that it has become; there are others that just like the day off, and there are those that think a bit more sensitivity needs to be made towards the indigenous people about the day.

The City of Fremantle had a discussion with local Aboriginal elders and came to the conclusion that it wasn’t a day to celebrate and welcome new citizens. So they moved their citizenship ceremony to the 28th of January and called it “One Day.”

The Federal Government and has told Western Australia that they could lose their power to hold citizenship ceremonies if it doesn’t reconsider. A letter from the Minister for Immigration Alex Hawke stated, “The government takes a very dim view of Fremantle City Council’s decision to cancel their Australia Day events on political grounds”.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull kept his feelings about the situation simple. When he was asked about it when appearing on 3AW, he said, “stick with Australia Day on the 26th.”

What do you think? Do you think the council has the right to hold the ceremony on a different day? Do you think the Government is overstepping their grounds? Do you think it’s important for citizenship ceremonies to happen on Australia Day?