The discussion and strong feelings over the council's events program for the January 26 holiday spilled over to town hall on Wednesday night in the first council meeting of 2020.
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The mayor Cr Ben Taylor raised the matter in his introduction to the meeting, reiterating that January 26 was federal holiday.
Acknowledging a range of different views and events, he said there would be a report conducted on the council's future approach to the traditional Australia Day holiday over the next months.
Veteran council watcher Gary Fitzgerald was the next to refer to the subject during public question time. He referred to the Aboriginal protests at Civic Hall last Friday, which disrupted the ceremony for the Australia Day Citizen of the Year awards at the venue.
He said that while he supported the right to protest, he objected to the interruption of the national anthem when it was played.
"That's just not on in my books," he said, going on to ask whether there were any city bylaws that could have helped prevent the disruption. The City of Ballarat CEO Justine Linley responded that there were not.
One of the attendees from that evening - a representative of the Roller Skate Fit Club, which won the community event of the year - also made a personal submission, asking council to consider a change of date.
"On the one hand we were really excited and grateful to be recognised" she said, but told councillors she would prefer the date to be moved "so everyone can the enjoy celebrations."
The next appearance at public question time came from one of the main organisers of the protest, Sissy Austin, who has been an outspoken opponent of holding fireworks on January 26.
Introducing herself as a Gunditjmara woman who had belonged to the Koorie Engagement Action Group for seven years, Ms Austin said January 26 was a day that represented pain and mass murder.
You failed to hear our cries
- Sissy Austin
She criticised the council for not cancelling the fireworks around Lake Wendouree after a petition she founded gained in excess of 8,000 signatures.
"You failed to hear our cries," she said.
A following question from Yorta Yorta woman Rachel Muir followed up the same theme, asking, "What does it take to have your voice heard in Ballarat?"
Councillors later voted to receive the petition. Cr Mark Harris said it had the most signatories of any petition submitted to council that he could remember. Cr Taylor told the chamber it would help inform the later report.
Editor's note: The name of the Roller Fit Club representative was incorrectly stated in an earlier version as well as in print. Apologies for the error.
Related stories:
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- See Ballarat's Australia Day celebrations at Lake Wendouree
RATE CAP WON'T BE CHALLENGED
Councillors voted unanimously not to seek a higher rate increase than that allowed by the state government under its Fair Go Rates cap, which has been set at two per cent for the next financial year.
Cr Daniel Moloney also asked what the process would be to consider the impact if rates were increased by an even lesser amount.
The council's director of business services Glenn Kallio said the effect of upping rates by one per cent or freezing rates entirely would be looked at as part of the budget process.
Read more:
- Rate cap prompts discussion about Ballarat Council services
- Review of rates system comes to Ballarat
- Rates and charges $200 more for average house in Ballarat compared to Geelong in 2019
- Questions asked over carbon plans in Ballarat council budget
- Heated exchanges in Ballarat council chamber as budget approved
PETITION REPORT
A petition brought to council by a Canadian resident asking for a speed hump to be installed in Larter Street due to the menace posed by speeding drivers had a sympathetic hearing among councillors.
As reported in The Courier earlier this week, long-time resident Jeff Hardy reiterated that some cars moved so fast that he could not read their numberplates and that he had installed an electronic gate at his property to protect his grandchildren.
Councillors voted to receive the petition, and backed Cr Jim Rinaldi's request for a report from the CEO looking into the issue.
Ballarat Gift and Polocrosse Champs get equal funding
Councillors have opted to deliver the same funding to two very different events in the coming months.
Both the Ballarat Gift and the National Polocrosse Championships will get $13,000 of council funding towards their costs.
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