General News
30 January, 2026
Australia Day Contentious
The debate surrounding Australia Day and what it represents was the topic of numerous speeches locally earlier this week.
Australia Day across the Central Goldfields Shire was both a show of unity and recognition of division which has been seen in protests across the country.
While local Australia Day ceremonies largely celebrated national and community pride Monday, elsewhere in the country protests were held on both sides of the debate surrounding the day’s significance.
Invasion Day rallies recognised that, for many First Nations people, the anniversary represents dispossession, violence, and generational trauma that remains from colonisation and the First Fleet’s arrival.
On the other side was anti-immigration events under the March for Australia banner held across the country.
Protesters called for the end to so-called mass immigration while, according to the ABC, Sydney’s rally saw one person arrested for alleged hate speech while former members of a Neo-Nazi group were also seen in the rally.
Despite the protests’ distance from the Central Goldfields Shire’s Australia Day, debate still found its way into the addresses given by local officials.
Speaking to the crowd at Maryborough’s Australia Day, Central Goldfields Shire mayor Ben Green said it was his “firm view” that dissenting voices should be listened to.
“It’s also my firm view that we maintain our ability to think and make our own minds up on things. These days we seem to be told what to do and how to feel but I think it’s part of the great Australian legacy and culture that we can make up our own minds,” he said.
“Many of us came to Australia in chains so I think to characterise the day as Invasion Day is perhaps just one aspect,” he said.
At Carisbrook’s Australia Day, as reported by The Carisbrook Mercury, Central Goldfields Shire deputy mayor Anna De Villiers said she was deeply saddened Australia Day had become a source of division.
She said what happened in the past “belongs to history” but shouldn’t go unrecognised.
“For me, Australia Day is not a denial of history,” she said.
“It’s an affirmation of possibility.
“It is a moment to recognise the resilience of First Nations peoples, the courage of migrants and the shared commitment of all Australians to move forward together.”
Speaking at Maryborough’s Station Domain, Member for Ripon Martha Haylett reflected on the day’s different meanings and encouraged others to do the same.
“There is so much to celebrate about the country that we all call home, but we do ourselves and future generations no favours if we celebrate without also reflecting honestly on our history,” she said.
“We cannot change the past, we all know that, but acknowledging it, learning from it, and working to reconcile it does help build a stronger future.”