AUSTRALIA Day could be in for a serious shake-up in 2020.
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Bathurst held its celebrations over two days last week, in a move that sparked a heated debate among councillors.
The Australia Day awards were presented on the night of January 25, while the citizenship ceremony moved to January 26, joining the Eglinton Barbecue Breakfast and activities at Manning Aquatic Centre.
Councillor Alex Christian, a member of Bathurst’s Australia Day committee, was unable to attend any of the events due to work commitments, but said he would be sourcing feedback ahead of the next committee meeting.
“I’ll be reaching out to people, the councillors and speaking to the other Australia Day committee members as well to get some feedback,”he said.
A firm believer in celebrating Australia Day on January 26, Cr Christian wants to see Bathurst’s events program expand in future.
He said the key thing was to create “festivities for everyone to take part in”, as he felt some sectors of the community couldn’t participate in all of the activities.
“It is a matter of going back to the drawing board. The committee has a big job to come back with something for the community,” he said.
One of Cr Christian’s ideas was to utilise either Machattie Park or Kings Parade to hold a community event with activities for children and adults.
He also would like to see more community groups get involved by offering their own suggestions for events or pitching in to help expand existing activities.
Deputy mayor Bobby Bourke was a of a similar mindset, saying that this year’s Australia Day celebrations weren’t “the best of what we’ve had”.
He also wanted to use Machattie Park again and take some inspiration from the Bathurst Winter Festival by having activities that could be enjoyed on January 26 by everyone.
“You can have a lot of competitions like thong throwing or barbecue competitions, those things that are Australian and can run all day,” Cr Bourke said.