Brendan Simpkins

GAWLER councillor Ian Tooley hopes to start a conversation surrounding the celebration of Australia Day on January 26.

Cr Tooley submitted a motion on notice for Gawler Council’s February 23 meeting which called for recognition of January 26’s meaning to Indigenous Australians.

It also called for a public workshop to be held in order to start a conversation within the community about whether Gawler should continue to celebrate Australia Day on January 26.

However, the meeting was adjourned before motions on notice could be dealt with.

On the same night, City of Mitcham became the first council in South Australia to oppose the celebration of Australia Day on January 26.

Councillors voted to lobby state and federal politicians to advocate for Australia Day to be moved to a different date and will submit a motion to the Australian Local Government Association’s National General Assembly formally calling on the Federal Government to change the date.

A number of councils across the country have opted to not celebrate Australia Day on January 26, including Freemantle, Launceston and Yarra City in Melbourne.

In a bid to curb the growing trend, the Federal Government has previously threatened to strip councils of their right to hold citizenship ceremonies if they opt not to celebrate Australia Day on this date.

Cr Tooley said the motion was not about opposing Australia Day, but rather about starting a dialogue around what is an appropriate date of celebration.

“I chose my words carefully, I didn’t arrogantly go and say ‘we are changing the date, that’s the vote’ because I believe that you do have to take your community on a journey with you,” he said.

“My sense is there’s more that are either open to it or indifferent, don’t care one way, then there are strongly opposed.

“I believe as a community we should be able to have an open discussion and work that out for ourselves.”

Gawler Council is one of a number councils across the state that has a Reconciliation Action Plan and begins every meeting with an acknowledgement of the traditional custodians of the land – the Kaurna people.

The town has a number of significant cultural sites of the Kaurna people, most notably the junction of the North Para, South Para and Gawler Rivers.

This area is known as Parridla Taikondi, which was the first major reconciliation project in Gawler undertaken in 2002.

It culminated in council adopting the traditional name for the junction and resulted in the establishment of Parridla Taikondi Park, officially launched in 2003.

Cr Tooley said that Gawler “can be a leader,” and should be bold by starting the discussion.