Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—

(a) condemns the move by the City of Yarra Council to change the way it marks Australia Day;

(b) endorses the remarks by the Prime Minister that this attack on Australia Day by the City of Yarra is a repudiation of the values of 'freedom, a fair go, mateship and diversity';

(c) stands resolute in its view that Australia Day is a day that all Australians come together as a nation, to celebrate the values that make Australia great and that make people proud of Australian citizenship;

(d) notes that all Australian states and territories have celebrated Australia Day on 26 January since 1935; and

(e) calls on the Australian Government to strip the City of Yarra Council of its authorisation to conduct citizenship ceremonies.

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to move an amendment which has been circulated in my name to Senator Smith's motion.

Leave not granted.

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Gavin Marshall (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Labor will not be supporting this motion, and we are disappointed that leave wasn't given for our amendment. The Senate has more important issues to debate than the machinations of local councils: issues like health, education, jobs or, indeed, national security. There is no doubt that Australia Day is an important national day. It is the source of great celebration for many Australians, but we cannot shy away from the fact that, for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, 26 January can speak of dispossession and sorrow. Labor does not support changing the date of Australia Day. Reconciliation is more about changing hearts and minds than it is about moving public holidays. We do support working towards building a more reconciled nation, a nation where Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians are united. These are the things that are worth working towards.

Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Gavin Marshall (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Greens will not be supporting this motion. The Greens do proudly stand with Aboriginal people who are calling for a change to the date of Australia Day. Aboriginal people see 26 January as Invasion Day. We will never be a truly reconciled nation while we put Australia Day on the date that they see as the day of dispossession and invasion. We stand proudly here today saying we want Australia Day to be on a day that is not 26 January, and where we collectively decide on a date where we can celebrate this wonderful country, where we are not once again marginalising and discriminating against the first nations of this place. We stand proudly to say, 'Change the date'.

James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Gavin Marshall (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Let me be very, very clear: the Liberal-National government will never ever change the date of Australia Day. It is a day to bring all Australians together—

Honourable senators interjecting—

Gavin Marshall (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator McGrath, resume your seat. Order! Senator McGrath has the right to be heard in silence, and I would ask all senators to respect that right. Order!

James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is a day to be proud, not a day to be ashamed. It is a day that brings all Australians together. That is what is good about being Australian. The City of Yarra council should—

Honourable senators interjecting—

Gavin Marshall (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator McGrath, resume your seat. Senators, I have asked that you listen in respectful silence. Order!

James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The City of Yarra council should focus on roads, rates and rubbish, rather than this politically-correct mumbo jumbo, bat-poop-crazy stuff masquerading as social engineering. We will never change the date of Australia Day. We are proud to be Australian.

Honourable senators interjecting—

Gavin Marshall (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Order!

Peter Whish-Wilson (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek the Senate's leave for Senator McGrath to have another five minutes!

Honourable senators interjecting—

Gavin Marshall (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order!

Derryn Hinch (Victoria, Derryn Hinch's Justice Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Gavin Marshall (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

Derryn Hinch (Victoria, Derryn Hinch's Justice Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In the United States of America, 4 July is celebrated as Independence Day. There are a lot of American Indians who would be upset about that. They also celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and everybody in the United States can celebrate that. I will support the government on Australia Day being kept on 26 January. But I also think that we should be looking quite seriously at having another day in this great country of ours and have Mabo day where we can all celebrate the Indigenous people who have been here for 60,000 years.

Cory Bernardi (SA, Australian Conservatives) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short statement for one minute—or five minutes as the case may be.

Gavin Marshall (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

Cory Bernardi (SA, Australian Conservatives) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Australian Conservatives unequivocally support Australia Day remaining where it is. I do want to put it on the record that when Senator McGrath gave his impassioned plea for the patriots of Australia in defence of our traditions, Senator Hanson-Young called him a disgrace. I do not think that there is anything disgraceful about sticking up for Australia. In fact, if there were more patriots in this place, instead of people who are happy to undermine and sell out our institutions, our country would be much better off.

So I support you, Senator McGrath. I condemn Senator Hanson-Young for her condemnation of people sticking up for Australia Day. If we are not prepared to defend our values, our principles and our traditions in this country, we will replace them with anything else—and that's okay for the internationalists over there who want to have UN Day instead of Australia Day, but it's not okay for those people who recognise that Australia was formed. We can recognise our Indigenous heritage—we can recognise a whole range of things—but we need to stand up and support our way of life, our culture and values.

Sarah Hanson-Young (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Leave not granted.

Gavin Marshall (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question is that the motion, as moved by Senator Smith, be agreed to.

Question agreed to.