Australia Day 2024: West Aussies at odds on how to spend January 26 as change the date debate snowballs

From traditional barbecues and citizenship ceremonies to now the annual “Invasion Day” protest, West Australians are at odds on how to spend Australia Day this year as debate around changing the date from January 26 rages. Clad in Australian flag patterned clothing by the water or singing the national anthem at a breakfast barbecue in the park would have been a typical way to spend January 26 a decade ago. Politicians, businesses, and everyday Australians are increasingly questioning long-standing traditions amid backlash by Indigenous advocates around celebrating the 1788 landing of British settlers in Sydney. The lead up to Australia Day this year will look different in supermarkets after Woolworths, Big W and Aldi announced this week they would be stripping all themed merchandise from shelves. The move was labelled an “outrage” from Australia’s Opposition Leader Peter Dutton who even called for a “boycott” of the Woolworths Group. Mandurah father Jack Ward, pictured with wife Chené and son’s Hudson and Maverick, labelled the move “unAustralian” saying he planned on donning patriotic gear at the southern coastal city’s annual Australia Day “raft up” - a favourite with boat lovers. “People want to change the date, but we’re all Australian. I just take it (Australia Day) as a celebration of everyone being Australian,” he said. Ms Ward, who has called Australia home since moving as an eight-year-old from South Africa, said she loved celebrating the national day. “Australia Day to me is just celebrating the fact that I get to live in such a beautiful country and I really do feel privileged to call this home,” she said. “I love the way Australian celebrate with their mates.” While Woolworths, Aldi and Kmart are on the growing list of retailers which have moved away from the themed merchandise — Coles, Red Dot and The Reject Shop still have “patriotic” gear on offer. Spudshed king Tony Galati told The West on Friday he would be stocking the products in eight stores because “we need to celebrate Australia Day”. The prominent WA businessman is among a critics of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s rule change to allow councils to decide when to celebrate, and called for a national approach to changing the date to stop community “division”. Australia-wide, 81 councils have either cancelled or shifted citizenship ceremonies on the national day to a new date. It included a dozen Perth councils. Whadjuk, Yued and Wardandi Noongar man Brendan Moore, who sits on the City of Fremantle’s Indigenous advisory board, said he was “proud” the coastal city had been part of igniting debate nationally on the date. Fremantle was one of the first councils to ditch Australia Day, announcing in 2016 it was moving celebrations to January 28 and calling it “One Day”. It’s now changed format to a year long program of “truth telling” aligned with the Uluru Statement from the Heart commitments. “Since that day, we’ve held inclusive events and out of respect for our local First Nations who weren’t really coming along and partaking in the event because of what the date means to them,” Mr Moore said. “It’s not like Fremantle didn’t want an Australia Day. We’re not saying we don’t have a celebration. I love Australia. We just didn’t want it on that day.” Mr Moore said he planned to spend the day “at home with family”. Fremantle Federal MP Josh Wilson backed the councils abandoning Australia Day and called on people seeking to politically point score over the debate to reflect on their impact. “Those who seek to whip-up bewilderment about the availability of plastic thongs from certain supermarkets should have a cold drink and a good look at themselves,” he said. He will attend a Cockburn-based citizenship ceremony on Australia Day but acknowledged council’s decisions to change the date. “Local councils should be able to decide when they hold citizenship ceremonies,” he said. WA Premier Roger Cook wouldn’t be drawn on whether retailers had over-stepped the mark in axing Australian-themed products, saying he understood it as simply “a commercial decision”. While several western suburbs Perth councils opt for a new date, regional WA have kept their events business as usual with most hosting January 26 celebrations. Pastoralists and Graziers’ Association of WA president Tony Seabrook acknowledged the city-country divide and said it seemed to echo that of the results in the Voice referendum. Similarly, he said Woolworths “blatant show of wokeness” to scrap items that help Australians celebrate their national day emulated the corporation’s decision to take a political stand on the Voice by pouring funds into the failed Yes campaign. “Just leave it alone. We saw this with the woke campaign around the Voice, and now we’re seeing the same thing with Australia Day. It’s gone too far,” he said. “There are things in our nation that are really serious, that we need to address and this nonsense is about at the bottom of the list. “This is a celebration of the day that white man arrived in Australia and set us up for a future of prosperity.” He said, like most WA farmers, he’ll likely spend the day working. WA Punjabi Club’s Harry Gill became a citizen on Australia Day in 2005 at a citizenship ceremony. He said it was a memorable moment to become a citizen on Australia Day but acknowledged public sentiment has begun to shift since that date. “There was no debate back then. It was a day of celebration. People look forward to Australia Day,” he said. “We’d pretty much be beer drinking all day and then watch the fireworks in the evening - it was pretty much a joyous day.” Mr Gill will celebrate again on January 26 until Australia Day was officially changed by the Federal Government. “As a migrant, I see it very differently. If the date is changed, we have no issues with that but at the moment, this is what it is,” he said. Perth Flying Squadron Yacht Club in Nedlands will be among a string of venues across the city toasting the nation on January 26. The venue will celebrate with Australian 80s pub rock classics, including INXS, Icehouse, AC/DC, Cold Chisel, Midnight Oil, Men at Work, and John Farnham. It comes as ABC’s Hottest 100 music countdown, a former long-running Australia Day tradition until the broadcaster announced in 2017 it would shift dates, will be held on January 27 this year.