Good to see this extreme Left council has had it's right to hold citizen ceremonies removed after its appalling attack on Australia Day. Didn't think the government had it in them.

The arrival of the first fleet was the most significant event in 60,000 years.
After all there does not seem to have been any lasting developments in
that long time. Just surviving that long is an achievement.
So, 1788 has to be the major event in aboriginal history.

Just more *bleep* stirring from the divisive Greens.

What a pity that party politics is being pushed in local government to drive wedges between people at grassroots level.

In 2011 a Greens push in a NSW council tried to implement a boycott of goods and services from Israel, but had to back down.

In the federal Senate, Greens are notorious too for wasting hours, days, of the <60 days sat p.a.

Local government used to be relatively free from Party politics.

The Age tells us that "Local Councils are often told
to stick to the three R's of local government:
roads, rates, and rubbish. But a push to ass another -
Reconciliation has provoked a big fight with the
Prime Minister as inner Melbourne Councils look to
join the battle to change the date of Australia Day."

"At least 3 other Councils - Moreland, Darebin, and
Hepburn Shire are now debating whether to follow the
lead of Yarra Council which voted unanimously to no
longer recognise Australia Day or hold Citizenship
Ceremonies on January 26th."

"The Federal Government later followed on a threat to
strip the Council of its power to hold any Citizenship
Ceremonies."

I wonder how the rate-payers and council workers feel
about all this in those areas? Will council workers
not have a holiday on that day? Will council offices
be open? What will the end results of all this be?
Or will everyone applaud their council's decisions?

Interesting reading, especially in the local papers.

26 January has been 'Australia Day' since time immemorial, since 1994 to be exact. Before that, different states celebrated on different days or not at all. So it's never been fixed in stone and unchangeable.
26 January is important to both Aborigines and non-Aborigines but obviously for quite different reasons. Yes, we should commemorate it as a turning point in the history of the continent. But as 'Australia Day'? We need a day that brings us all together. Ideally it would be Federation Day, the day we properly became the nation of Australia. That would be the proper day for citizenship ceremonies. But that's 1 January, already a holiday, and if there's anything Australians hate, it's losing a holiday.
So my suggestion is we keep 26 Jan as a holiday, but rename it and focus on reconciliation of  the peoples who met on that day and whose lives and cultures have been irrevocably woven together ever since. Then, we have another day, Australia Day, commemorating Federation, when we welcome new citizens. By doing this, Australia Day would not be a time of dissension, but a positive unifying event. Reconciliation Day (26 Jan) would also be a positive but with the focus on repairing past wounds. Ideally RD would be before AD in the calendar, but that's not practical.

Dear Cossomby,

Great suggestions.

I have to admit though what bothers me just a little
is - I was not aware that Councils could change laws
enacted by our Federal Parliament. If our
Federal Parliament has enacted the law that Australia
Day is celebrated on 26th January Australia-wide -
how can Councils decide to change that? I would have
thought that we are all obligated to obey the laws
that are enacted by our Parliament - no ifs and buts
and if changes are to occur they must be done by
our Parliament not by Councils. Otherwise it would
cause chaos right across the country. But perhaps I
am wrong in making these assumptions?

There was a Lord Mayor of Brisbane, Clem Jones, a surveyor by profession, who sewered Brisbane against the nay sayers and entrenched interests. It was a magnificent achievement. The same man used to jot down road potholes and other damaged infrastructure and get it fixed on arrival, early, at work. No *bleep* stirring, just solid achievement from a leader.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clem_Jones

Yarra City Mayor, Greens Amanda Stone, must have plenty of time on her hands and nothing to fix for ratepayers.

Its the only invasion day that I know of that has brought so many benefits to so many. Still it has not stopped family and tribal feuds. Surely any honest historian would rejoice. Oh that right the revisionist have dumbed down so many.

Anyone who would say "Local government used to be relatively free from Party politics." When was that leoj? Obviously you have never been involved in local government politics. So many state and federal politicians, from all sides, have received their political grounding at the local level.


"Its the only invasion day that I know of that has brought so many benefits to so many" What was that runner, the ancestors imposing their protestant Christianity onto indigenous people. or was it all those Europeans who were able to escape the oppression of Europe, and so many other places since. Australia has indeed been the lucky country for some.

well I suppose a lot of young girls who would of been given to old uncles would be happy Paul. Then again you Greens have shown you care zilch about child abuse unless committed by a catholic priest.

Runner, I don't know where you evidence for that superstition is;
"well I suppose a lot of young girls who would of been given to old uncles would be happy" Something you made up, did Arthur Phillip make reference to it on Invasion Day?

You might be an apologists for the actions of Catholic priests. I am not!

No more Ceremonies? Good.
It's not just about rights but also responsibilities.
You shouldn't get a prize just for turning up that now gives you legitimacy in attacking all other existing Australians as racists because you now want to make this country just like the backwards stoneage hellhole where you came from.
Instead of attacking real Aussies, why don't you gatecrashers just accept the country and its natural imhabitants for who they are and try to assimilate, or else piss off back to where you came from.

Multiculturalism is ONLY good if it improves the lives of all the people, not just the imports, and currently its a bs fantasy under a leftist bs guise of so called equality.

Stop importing Jihadi's.

Yarra Mayor, Greens Cr Amanda Stone was interviewed by Neil Mitchell from 3AW.
It is a short revealing interview for any who are interested and is linked to below.
http://www.3aw.com.au/podcast/yarra-city-council-wont-acknowledge-australia-day-but-will-take-the-public-holiday/

In the interview Cr Stone was surprised herself to find that from the ABS census only 0.4% of the people in the Council area identified as Aboriginal.

The Greens dominated council will be taking the public holiday on Australia Day (they are refusing to refer to that) - they are having the day off!

They are going to use council funds for 'an education campaign'. Stone says there is no special allocation, 'It is just something the public relations would normally be doing'. Remarkable how she doesn't understand, or more likely pretends she doesn't know, that it is diversion of funds. So yes, it is a decision to apply funds. So who does she think she is kidding?

Apparently the Council is sponsoring a 'Yes' campaign for SSM, but no money for the 'No'.

It is diversion of ratepayers' money to social reengineering and promoting Greens activism. In short, ratepayers are paying for Greens publicity.

Federation 1901 is Politicians' Day the pride and joy of 25 million taxpayers ( subtract kids and multi nationals). Put another pollie on the barbie is the chorus of freedom lovers.

Capt Cook won the invasion on 29 April which was lost on 25 April. The Hobart yacht race ought to be the Hobart to Botany Bay race with all contestants given citizenship.

Why have citizenship ceremonies anyway. As long as all requirements for citizenship are met, signing up and receiving the certificate is all that is needed; it's not a spectator sport.

Dear Ttbn,

«Why have citizenship ceremonies anyway.»

Because the Mayor likes to help himself to a few beers on the rate-payer's expense.

---

Regarding the topic, nothing prevents the Yarra Council from granting Yarra citizenship to the immigrants - and if the Victorian state approves, perhaps also a Victorian citizenship. Who needs Canberra anyway?!

Muhammad Born
22 April 571 AD, Mecca, Saudi Arabia

Dear Nick,

It is not appropriate to disclose personal details on this forum.

It's OK it was 571 AD , he was Christian

26 January is the best date for illegal customers on Manus island as it celebrates flogging , detention for 7 to 14 years and military rule. Gov Macquarie flogged 2 civilians for entering his garden which will make immigrants wave their flags with Australian value.

I see the greens polled 200 odd colleagues to get a "representative" sample.

"Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull condemned the council’s decision as an attack on the national holiday which celebrates Australia values,"
-
Are there a few jobs around Australia that could use the PM's attention ? The decision is about handing out papers in a town hall and not doing it on 26 Jan. Fantastic , that leaves all day for everyone to ..celebrate...by um....values..nation , Australian, celebrate and ...or have lunch and watch TV ?

Hi Foxy, you said there are three "R" in local government. I believe there are four; Roads, Rates, rubbish and REPRESENTATION. In the case of Yarra Council, which is a 3 x 3 council, 3 wards 3 councilors per ward, requiring 25% of the vote to get elected. It is a representative council, meaning the entire council has received a minimum 75% of the vote. Over time State governments in particular have shifted more and more responsibilities onto local councils. The Yarra council vote on this issue was unanimous. Not being familiar with the demographics of that municipality, however I think it would reflect the general opinion of local residents.
It may be a surprise to some conservatives on here, that not all Australians agree with the likes of Turnbull and his wide eyed view of what 26th January represents. Malcolm should not be shocked, when he puts this kind of responsibility onto a local community and they throw it back in his face. As they have done in this case. What can the Federal government do in retaliation, they can't cut off funding to Local government they have already stopped the 2% of income tax revenue which once flowed to LG. What can they do?

Dear Paul,

«What can they do?»

Lots - you name it:
Councillors disappear, or beaten by unidentified "angry mob"; computers hacked; passports refused; water to the area contaminated; trees poisoned; road surfaces ruined by driving military tanks on; a new airport built in council area... or a radioactive dump-site...

Don't think that central government is going to be silent and forgiving when their cherished nationalist propaganda is challenged.

Hi Yuyutsu, all those actions are perfectly reasonable, and like the citizenship nonsense are covered by the Constitution. Although airplanes had not been invented by Orville and Wilbur (who would name their kids Orville and Wilbur) when the forefathers wrote the bloody thing, they had the foresight to include airport construction as a necessity in the document....somewhere. Since it is now obvious that our politician, like the rest of us, never bother reading the weighty tomb, one can say it contains whatever one likes, and leave it up to those odd looking folk in the strange looking wigs to decide to fate of the nation.

Greens tokenism and *bleep* stirring.

Wasting ratepayers' money on headlines for Greens.

leoj, you must feel left right out, not having any of your National Socialist Party members elected. You are certainly a "Bleep" yourself.

Paul1405,

LOL. That is outrageous, utter nonsense. There are those wafting clouds of odd smelling smoke again..

Returning to the thread, those Greens dominated councils are wasting money on Greens headlines and not providing the services they should be.

Otherwise, if they are already providing superior services and the roads are without pothole, libraries are good and so on, the money they are presently wasting on getting publicity for the Greens should be returned to ratepayers as lower rates.

There we have it. Paul calls Leoj a Nazi, which means that he is less left whinge than Karl Marx.

I think the 5th R stands for Retards for pulling a stunt that got only marginal support from the handful of friends that they "polled"

At least Citizenship ceremonies and celebrations will continue unabated while these boneheads can go to work.

"At least Citizenship ceremonies and celebrations will continue unabated while these boneheads can go to work"

Work? Wash your mouth out with soap. I believe they are taking the public holiday anyhow!

Greens hypocrisy.

I forecast that a time in the not too far future that these mad lefty
trendies will want to outlaw naturalisation ceremonies altogether and
swear allegiance to the UN or some other way out organisation.

The UN is already rewriting history.
The councils that are being refused the right to hold citizenship
ceremonies will get together and hold their lefty allegiance ceremonies.

Dear Cossomby,

Well put.

I have recently had occasion to examine in more depth the history of white settlement in our local area in Victoria. Purely from reading the newspaper reports of the time the sense of just how devastated the indigenous population was. Entire tribes totally wiped out within a lifetime. In one case the final remaining male would wander the streets wailing “I am the last of my tribe, I am the last of my tribe”, this from an original group of over 250.

This is why I so detest the flippancy of those who claim that this country's indigenous population was far better off because white settlement. If by better off they mean wiped out then what a terrible position to take. Otherwise it is just pig ignorance that would allow such a claim. Writers 150 years ago were lamenting what was being done to aboriginals around our settlements. To those who say it is all just a black armband view of history please go and educate yourselves and if you don't want to then go shut the hell up.

I fully support a more inclusive date to celebrate this nation.

Typical Greens *bleep* stirring and wasting ratepayers' money on Greens self-promotion and electoral publicity.

What about these Greens dominated councils doing something practical? Such as shared community housing. No creativity or leadership being shown there

Nope, just the usual wedge-driving protest party stuff that Julia Gillard complained about when she tried to work with the treacherous Greens.

leoj; they could all go and "work" with you, wheeling and dealing in the property market, land deals for out of towners and city slickers alike, at double the normal price! Like the good old days when your other ego onthebeach was in his prime on that Gold Coast strip, or wherever it was he hung out, white shoes and all, come in sucker... "have I got a deal for you!".

What about those *bleep*stirring Greens Councillors eschew their predilection for social engineering and instead, engineer some solutions such as group housing?

Y'know, try to help people to get along and perhaps to even grow a few nature strip gardens?

But those Greens don't have ideas of their own and they certainly don't want to be bothering themselves with any hard work.

That is why outfits like the NSW Greens 'Eastern Bloc' , the Trots, are constantly undermining efforts by leader Richard Di Natale for Greens to dump the serial protesting and do something positive for a change.

Greens don't share Australian values, says Julia Gillard
Phillip Hudson, HeraldSun
March 31, 2011

THE Greens do not share the values of everyday Australians and don't understand the importance of a strong economy, says Julia Gillard.
..
Ms Gillard said the Greens had some worthy ideas and good intentions but were only a protest party.
..
"The Greens will never embrace Labor's delight at sharing the values of everyday Australians, in our cities, suburbs, towns and bush, who day after day do the right thing, leading purposeful and dignified lives, driven by love of family and nation,'' she said.

"The differences between Labor and the Greens take many forms but at the bottom of it are two vital ones. The Greens wrongly reject the moral imperative to a strong economy.

Julia Gillard was being diplomatic to the treacherous Greens political elite who are being denounced by Greens politicians themselves for 'mushrooming' Greens members and feeding them *bleep*. NOT a party that practises internal democracy at all, far from it!

Bazz,

Good comments on the UN. That corrupt organisation is preparing to be a world government. It's run by Third World despots and socialists. We should shed all connections with it.

leoj, its rather amazing how you waffle on about Australian values, without ever stating what they are. Now you got Gillard and her lofty nonsense of Labor's delights. I thought you hated Gillard, you have put up enough derogatory posts about her often enough.
Maybe for you Australian values, is lining your pockets with lucre obtained by dubious means from the unsuspecting. I remember that land deal post of yours some years back, sorry that was onthebeach, not you.

Paul1405,

What does it take? Maybe a brick Council convenience to fall on your head?

You should throw off the blinders and the yoke of the Greens political elite who regard Greens members as 'useful idiots'. They rev you up with your jealous hatreds from your lost years of opportunity and then it is off to their million dollar homes for them. They will be getting a golden handshake for life out of the taxpayer's hide, your hide too, but more indirectly perhaps. Do they ever invite you for the top shelf plonk they keep at home? Taxpayer-funded limo. Or are you left with the empty cartons in the public park?

ABC, Inside the Greens, a party in turmoil,
"They treat their members like mushrooms. They keep them in the dark and they feed them on bull[dust]." Greens Senator
http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/2017/08/10/4716390.htm

Hmmm, make that $2million_plus homes. And ramping upwards in $value thanks to that population growth through record immigration.

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-opinion/new-left-faction-that-threatens-to-white-ant-the-greens-20170119-gtuowl.html

What would a Green of yesteryear, a real Green, say about that Ponzie growth scheme, Paul1405?

leoj, I don't know, after all you are the experienced wheeler and dealer in that area, you tell us. You go on about workers, but I bet you don't work yourself. Early retirement, possibly from the ponzi growth speculative property market. And envious of The Greens to boot.

Paul1405,

Seems you have no idea of the value of Rhiannon's and Sh**bridge's parliamentary super and on top of their property holdings. Rhiannon has two golden handshakes, one from NSW and the other as a federal senator.

Have a chat with someone who does superannuation valuation. Be seated before being advised of the approximate valuation of Rhiannon's two parliamentary superannuation benefits.

There wouldn't be many State or federal parliamentarians that Senator Rhiannon couldn't buy and sell.

Read the linked article and you will see that the reporter 'gets' it,

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-opinion/new-left-faction-that-threatens-to-white-ant-the-greens-20170119-gtuowl.html

Australia day is an already established date on our calendar.
Is there a more significant date since the first arrivals on this
land mass by the antecedents of the presant aborigines ?

There has been a no more significant date in the last 60,000 years.

Celebrate that they survived those 60,000 years as an achievement.
It is indeed a very apt date to over come the wrongs that were done by
some of the 1788 people.
Whenever new people arrive where existing people are already present
there has always been disruption and wrongs done.
There are many examples in history and it is reasonable to expect
that subsequent groups of aborigine’s ancestors also did the same to
those that preceded them.
The aborigines have already started to merge with us and inevitably
as a separate race they will no longer exist as indeed will the rest of us.