The Byron Shire Council has undone on its controversial decision to move its Australia Day citizenship ceremonies off from January 26.
The decision, made in September, was made in solidarity with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups who have characterised January 26, the historical day that the First Fleet arrived in Sydney, as the beginning of the systematic displacement and genocide against the native population.
There has been large scale debate in recent years surrounding a push to move Australia Day to another date that does not offended indigenous groups. Prime Minister Scott Morrison even suggested a compromise of holding a separate Indigenous Australians Day.
The decision by the Byron Shire Council to move its Australia Day events to January 25 sparked widespread backlash, including from the Federal Government.
The Prime Minister used social media to characterise the move as āindulgent self-loathingā. In its official response, the Government officially stripped the council of its authority to hold its citizenship ceremonies at all.
Since then, the council has conceded to hold its citizenship ceremonies on the officially recognised date of Australia Day; January 26. However, it has said it will still hold all of its other official events on January 25.
The Greens Mayor of Byron, Simon Richardson, said that the compromise was necessary in order to honour the councilās Commonwealth commitments. He said that āitās basically their eventā and that it was a reasonable compromise to continue to hold citizenship ceremonies on the 26th.
Mr Richardson then went on to describe the ātoxicā social media backlash against his councilās decision and said that there were āobviouslyā people who believed Australia Day was āsomehow a sacred and untouchable eventā.
In response to the backflip, the Government has reinstated Byron Shire Councilās authority to issue citizenships on Australia Day.