Tweed Shire Council bucks tradition

from page 1 generally in Australia, is to move away from having January 26 as Australia Day and certainly in this Shire we’ve felt that way for a long time,” Mr Lyon said.

Last year, Byron Shire Council held a citizenship ceremony on Australia day, but this year it was moved to January 29.

The Byron Shire also did not hold an Australia Day awards ceremony to celebrate its community members.

In 2022, it decided to celebrate its citizens or community members at a completely different time of the year, which now typically coincides with Local Government Week in August.

Survival Day was instead held again at Byron Bay last Friday, January 26, which celebrated the survival of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and culture.

Arakwal Bundjalung people of Byron, the Sisters of Reconciliation and the Cavanbah Reconciliation Group invited community members to the 20th annual Cavanbah (Byron Bay) Survival Day event at Main Beach, Byron Bay.

Thousands attended the event, which included

Bundjalung and Djugun musicians and speakers who discussed the history of the British Invasion and colonisation of Bundjalung people.

Ballina Shire Council had no changes to its annual Australia Day Awards and Citizenship Ceremony with both celebrations held last Friday at the Lennox Head Cultural Centre.

The shire’s ceremony started with a Welcome to Country by Bundjalung elder Aunty Julia Paden, followed by a special citizenship ceremony and the much-anticipated Ballina Shire Australia Day Awards.