Inner West marks January 26 in a more mature way
Wednesday, 22 January 2020
Following a decision made in November to move all celebratory events away from January 26, Inner West Council will hold a sombre and respectful citizenship ceremony this Sunday at Marrickville Library.
Council is also partnering with the Yabun festival and encouraging local citizens to attend that event to learn the meaning of the day to Aboriginal Australians.
Inner West Mayor Darcy Byrne said that the move was about recognising that January 26 was a day that represented sadness for many Aboriginal Australians.
“It’s a small, but respectful act of recognition. It’s the right thing to do,” he said.
“Attitudes towards January 26 are changing in the community and we believe there is a more mature way for our local government to mark the day.
“For Aboriginal people, the date represents the beginning of colonisation, dispossession, the removal of children and deliberate destruction of language and culture. A growing number of Australians want that to be respectfully acknowledged.
“We will incorporate contributions from Aboriginal people on what the day means to them,” he said.
“We are not seeking to dictate how people in the community celebrate the day, but we do think our local government can mark it in a better way than we have in the past.
“We think the focus of January 26 should be Yabun, a large Aboriginal-run festival that’s on in nearby Victoria Park. We don’t want to have a festival competing with that event.
“We want residents to celebrate and learn about the history of the world’s oldest, continuous, human civilisation.
“Our community will not be losing anything; we are just marking the day in a more thoughtful way.”
Inner West Council will mark January 26 by:
- Holding a citizenship ceremony as required by the federal government
- Moving its Citizens of the Year Awards to its own day
- Moving its Enmore Park festival to February 8 and holding a massive fundraiser for victims of the bushfire disaster
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