Goya Dmytryshchak
Maribyrnong council will lower the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags to half mast on January 26 from 2022, and will consult with the community on how to respond to the date.
Councillors at this week’s council meeting voted to engage “in a broad ranging and deliberative consultations process with the First Nations and the wider established and newly arrived people of Maribyrnong”.
“The intent of this clear community engagement process is to assist the sitting councillors in generating a clear direction on how the Maribyrnong City Council should respond to January 26,” the carried notice of motion states.
Australia Day is also referred to by other terms, including “January 26”, “Invasion Day” and “Survival Day”.
Mayor Michael Clarke told the meeting the lowering of the flags would “recognise the dispossession, suffering and hurt experienced by Aboriginal people”.
“We’ll do this on 26th of January and I say we do this on 26th of January as there’s no other day that the federal government has set aside as a Sorry Day,” he said.
“While 26 January recognises Australia Day, which is a day of celebration, until the federal government recognises an appropriate date as a Sorry Day, council will also recognise this day as a day when we should remember the hurt and dispossession foisted upon the Aboriginal people.”
“I’d prefer that we don’t do this – clearly this is a Commonwealth responsibility – however while the Commonwealth chooses to be defensive and avoidant on this matter, we, here, must respond to the concerns of the community.”
The council voted to prioritise Aboriginal projects in the 2021 Council Community Grants program.
The full notice of motion can be read on the council’s website.
