January 26: Mayor Danny Claridge meets new citizens at the 2020 Australia Day festivities.
Photo by
Simon Ruppert
With a growing number of local government areas across the country choosing not to take part in Australia Day celebration on January 26, the Ensign asked the Benalla community its opinion on the ‘change the date’ movement.
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The question of whether the date should be changed was posed to the Ensign’s social media users on Facebook and Instagram.
It is worth noting that this does not cover the opinions of all local people, and the post also had some responses from people not from the area.
Polarising: Most responders to a post on the Benalla Ensign Facebook page said they would prefer to keep Australia Day on January 26.
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Contributed
However, the online community’s answer was a resounding no.
The post was online for 24 hours and elicited a comment from 65 people (this does not include replies).
Of those comments, 56 wanted no change, five wanted the date to change, and four did not say either way.
As of December 2023, around 80 local government areas across the nation had decided not to take part in Australia Day activities.
Around 15 of those are in Victoria.
Benalla Rural City is one that will continue to celebrate Australia Day on January 26, with no plans to change at this time.
Some of the Benalla Ensign Facebook responses to the question should the date of Australia Day be changed.
Heather Wallace
No. Keep the date. We are one country. I too was born in Australia, and proud of it. Let us all celebrate together.
Denise Paterson
Stick with tradition 100 per cent.
Andrew Cogger
Just make it the 3rd Monday in January...no date
Steven Ferguson
Just leave Australia Day alone, big no from me.
Tracy Harper
If it ain’t broke, why fix it.. just leave things as it is
