Moving Australia Day ceremonies did not sit well with this Adelaide Hills rate payer.
South Australian octogenarian, and Adelaide Hills resident, John Tate challenged the Adelaide Hills Council on their decision to cancel traditional Australia Day ceremonies for the 26th January.
Over the Australia Day weekend in January 2024, I covered Australia Day presentations at Jacobs Well Retreat, Murrayville by South Australian octogenarians John and Edna Tate, who provided their personal testimonies about the significance of Australia Day for them.
Edna - 2024 Australia Day Testimony - Edna Tate's perspective on becoming an Australian Citizen
John - The attack on Australia day by Australia’s Council's - Presentation by John Tate
On Tuesday night the 26th of March 2024, John Tate was given the opportunity to speak to the Adelaide Hills Council via deputation to present his disappointment about their decision to move traditional Australia Day Ceremonies to another day.
John’s Deputation and a full list of John’s submission to Council members can be found further down.
But for now, here is the media release relating to the decision (Click image for link to site)
The motion was moved by Councilor Melanie Selwood who is a member of the Australian Greens Party. You can view the full report considered by council HERE
But here is a small insight from the full report regarding the alignment to their Strategic plan:
It is also interesting to note that perceived racism was one of the reasons they did not go to a full community consultation process:
In the end they chose option 3, but note in the highlighted why some stakeholders may have decided it in their best interest to support the move:
Before we get to John’s Deputation below, its also worth noting the current dates ATSI Peoples are recognised around the country (Sourced HERE):
13 February – National Apology
19 March – National Close the Gap Day
21 March - Anniversary of the Kaurna Native Title Determination
27 May – 1967 Referendum anniversary
27 May to 3 June - National Reconciliation Week
3 June – Mabo Day
1 July – The Coming of the Light Festival
3 to 10 July – NAIDOC Week
4 August – National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children's Day
4 September – Indigenous Literacy Day
13 September – Anniversary of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People
Now that we’ve covered a bit of background, here is John’s deputation:
Below is John’s full written submission for his deputation, as well as additional information relating to the issues he wished to raise which was made up in a pack for each of the Adelaide Hills councilors and the Mayor.