Greater Shepparton Council has reversed a previous decision not to fund celebrations on January 26.
Following a vote in 2023, no funding was provided to community groups across the council’s area to put on Australia Day events this year, though they were not prohibited from doing so.
The committee that organised Shepparton city’s events was also disbanded.
However the council reversed that decision in April, restoring funding to community groups wishing to celebrate the day, and on Tuesday voted to organise Shepparton city’s Australia Day events itself.
Levi Power, the North East representative for the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria, called the move “a kick in the guts”.
“Our community are really hurting at the moment,” the Yorta Yorta man told NITV.
“Particularly after feeling a real sense of pride after the original decision to move away from Australia Day. There was a real sense of optimism for the future.
“But the decision yesterday was … a real trust breaker in my opinion. The great work that’s been done can be unravelled pretty easily.”
Aboriginal community not consulted ahead of vote
Shepparton is home to Victoria’s largest community of First Nations people outside of Melbourne; nearly 4 per cent of the Greater Shepparton area is Indigenous, compared to 1 per cent for the state.
Yesterday’s vote, as well as the earlier decision in April, were made without formal consultation with the area’s Aboriginal communities.
Mr Power, who was born and raised in Shepparton and still lives there, accused the council of only listening to a limited section of the wider community.
“To my knowledge … representing my region, being elected by my community, I’ve never had any contact from the councillors,” he said.
“They’re not representing the diverse voices of this region.
“It’s a multicultural capital … and to me it sounds like they’re only listening to the few that they want to listen to, which is really concerning.”
Greater Shepparton Mayor Shane Sali confirmed there was no “broad” community consultation.
“It was an executive decision to recommend that funding be reinstated,” he told NITV.
“I don’t expect all people in Greater Shepparton to view Australia Day as a day of celebration.
“I acknowledge it’s a difficult day for some of our community, but … the 26th of January is our national day, and council felt that we needed to have an acknowledgement of the 26th of January in Shepparton to align with the remaining parts of our community.”
Snap-rally in Shepparton against motion
From left: Rumbalara Aboriginal Co-op’s Felicia Dean, Levi Power, DRMNGNW and Uncle Dr Paul Briggs met with Cr Kieron Eddy and Mayor Shane Sali before the vote.
The motion was put forward by Cr Fern Summer, who acknowledged the continuing trauma inflicted by colonisation, but declared celebrating January 26 was an opportunity for ‘healing’.
The motion was carried 8-1.
Cr Sam Spinks, who spoke forcefully against the motion, was the lone dissenting vote.
Proceedings were also interrupted by a man clapping bilma (clapsticks) and chanting “Always was, always will be Aboriginal land” in front of each of the councillors.
It followed a rally earlier in the day in front of the statue in Shepparton’s Queens Gardens.
“I was fortunate to go along and see the crowd that attended, and it was not only strong leaders from our community here on Yorta Yorta land but many of our allies that showed up,” Mr Power said.
“To me, that’s what unity looks like and, and community coming together to fight for something we believe in.”
