Western Sydney mayor’s bold move ahead of Australia Day celebrations

Fairfield City Council will give away free Australian flags to residents, ahead of Australia Day celebrations later this month.

The move comes as it emerged that more than 30 per cent of Victorian councils have opted not to celebrate Australia Day in any form — including hosting citizenship ceremonies on January 26, the Herald Sun reported on Tuesday.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Western Sydney council’s Australia Day move.

Opposition to the January 26 date of Australia Day has grown in recent years with many people believing January 26 to be “Invasion Day”, as it was the date the First Fleet sailed into Sydney Cove.

However the Institute of Public Affairs’ annual poll of attitudes towards Australia Day found that 69 per cent of Australians agreed with the statement, “Australia Day should be celebrated on January 26”.

Fairfield City Council Mayor Frank Carbone said many of his residents were among them, prompting the decision to give away the flags.

“I don’t think it is a hard decision to make,” he said on Sunrise on Tuesday.

“I remember last year listening to many organisations that were talking about not selling Australian products and it actually made me genuinely upset and genuinely angry and it made a lot of our residents angry.”

Carbone said most Australians wanted to celebrate their national day.

“We live in Australia, we are very proud to live in Australia,” Carbone said.

“Australia is a home for people that have come from all over the world. They have left their home to come here, and it is a time to celebrate who we are as people.

“I just think it is something that we all should do and that is why as a council we thought it was a responsible thing for us to do, to take the lead on something that is so simple that we shouldn’t really need to, but to celebrate Australia Day.”

Carbone said Fairfield City Council would give away flags, host a ceremony on Australia Day, celebrate with a fireworks display and have the Australian flag proudly flying across its 27 suburbs.

The mayor said he was unmovable in his stance.

“I am going to keep on celebrating Australia Day on the day that the Australian people decide is their national day, and as far as I’m concerned, January 26th is our national day,” he said.

“I mean, this divisiveness we hear every single year ... if you want to change the date, come up with a solution. I don’t see any different dates being proposed.

“I see people want to stop Australia Day because they don’t want to celebrate Australia no matter what date it is.”