Ballina Local Government Area covers 485.6 sq. kilometres with an estimated 46,760 local residents (ABS ERP 2022).
A conservative estimate is that 1,824 men, women & children in this local population are of Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander descent, with the majority being from First Nations family groups who have lived in the eastern Australia coastal zone since time immemorial.
There are many people living in Ballina today whose families have been birthing their babies and burying their dead in this local government area for tens of thousands of years and they don’t deserve either the level of cultural insensitivity or the false historical narrative of Australia Day celebrations being held on 26 January every year to commemorate the invasion of their country and the subjugation of their families, by an arrogant British Government on the other side of the globe.
However, some Ballina Shire councillors have tin ears and it seems a steely resolve to perpetuate the type of one-dimensional potted 'histories' sometimes found on the back of cereal boxes, lids of gift biscuit tins or sides of shopping bags.
A rescission motion has been put forward for consideration by Council in the Chamber on Thursday 23 June 2023 seeking to nullify Resolution 250523/17:
11.1 Rescission Motion - Australia Day Celebrations
Councillor Cr Buchanan
Cr Ramsey
Cr Bruem
This is how the the situation is playing out in local media.....
The Echo, 20 June 2023:
Last month’s Ballina Council meeting saw a decision to move the Australia Day Awards and Citizenship Ceremony, to be held at Lennox Head Cultural Centre, from the controversial date of 26 January 2024, to the evening of 25 January. This amendment to an earlier motion was moved by Cr Simon Chate with the support of Cr Stephen McCarthy.
Two conservative councillors allied with Mayor Sharon Cadwallader, Nigel Buchanan and Eva Ramsey, were absent from the meeting when this decision was made. These two councillors, along with Cr Rod Bruem, have since announced that they intend to launch a motion of rescission at this week’s meeting, to return the local ceremony date to 26 January.
As Cr Simon Chate told The Echo, ‘The recission motion is likely to succeed as they have the numbers, with Cr Eoin Johnston and Mayor Cadwallader’s casting vote.
‘There has been strong emailed support from the community for the change of date to the more inclusive and welcoming 25th of January and only a handful of emails supporting the January 26 date,’ he said.
‘In my opinion, if this rescission motion is successful (and barring a miracle, it will be), this is a real lost opportunity for Ballina Council to show compassion and cultural sensitivity to the pain felt amongst many of our First Nations people and their supporters around the January 26 date.’
Simple gesture
According to Cr Chate, ‘Such a simple gesture, to move the awards ceremony forward by about 15 hours, would make our ceremony open, inclusive and welcoming. To rescind it would be narrow-minded and unkind.
‘At every meeting, we stop for an acknowledgement of country and for Council to move the ceremony back to the 26th of January seems dismissive and culturally insensitive.’
Cr Chate suggests that people who agree that the issue is important should contact their councillors. The rescission motion will be debated at this Thursday’s meeting in Ballina.
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