Letter to the Editor

Full marks to Diane Grant (Letters 31 May) for calling out the Strathbogie Council for the outrageous decision to dump support for Australia Day and the associated celebrations.

Full marks also to Cr Hourigan for having the courage of her convictions and being the lone Councillor to oppose the motion at the Council meeting on 16 May.

The Council goes on endlessly lecturing everyone about “inclusion”. I am all in favour of seeking out and listening to all opinions but inclusion should not mean dancing to the tune of tiny minorities every time.

The Council has form in this regard. A couple of years ago, when a Council decision went against what I believed to be the widespread community view on the issue in question, I sought details of the consultation result. After a lot of resistance from Council staff and a threat from me to lodge an FOI complaint, I was grudgingly provided with the data. Surprise, surprise, but as I expected, the consultation yielded 80% against, 20% in favour but that overwhelming expression of community opinion did not hinder the Council in backing the minority view.

I suspect that similar has transpired this around. The Executive Summary attached to the Council Minutes )page 11, May 16, 2023), when referring to the consultation on the Australia Day issue states:“The feedback from the engagement provided no clear mandate for change nor a strong determination to retain existing arrangements”.

That strikes me as singularly uninformative and a matter of opinion. How many responses were received and what were the numbers for each side?

Why didn’t Councillors tease out a bit of detail instead of accepting an officer’s bland assessment?

I would have thought that, if the result was as inconclusive as claimed, then long established Council and Parliamentary meeting practice should have been adhered to. This would have seen the status quo retained.

I will be turning up at the community organised Australia Day celebrations in Nagambie on 26 January, 2024, with bells on and I invite all urge all citizens to do likewise.

Bill Baxter Nagambie

Letter to the Editor

RE-AUSTRALIA DAY: I would personally like to say thank you to so many people who extended their thanks to me for writing to the paper about the Council not supporting our town Australia Day celebrations anymore.

It has shown me that many feel the same way. That the council reps have let them down and their residents in our shire towns.

However, I have written to Go Nagambie and asked them to undertake the Australia Day celebrations on January 26 2024 for years to come, and take it back to when communities ran them, before shire or councils stepped in of my convict ancestors, I am not sure that this event is one that so signifies what it is to be Australian, that I would choose or defend the date over any other, particularly when it is increasingly hurtful to the descendants of those Australians devastated by the coming of Europeans.

The Go Nagambie have supported the small Nagambie Australia Day committee for six years.

So I have no doubt that Go Nagambie can have the support of our community in this special day when we celebrate our national Day.

My question to myself is: would it make any difference to my pride in being Australian if any other random date that we could all embrace was drawn out of a hat?

My answer is that it makes no difference. I would still feel Australian and proud of it. In fact, I would feel the same way without any celebration at all, as I did for the first 45 years of my life, prior to 1994, when Australia Day first became a national and increasingly celebrated event.

Then there is the reasonableness of other claims in the letter. Is it reasonable for one person to expect to be informed about a council agenda item, when and if it should come up, when both the agenda and the minutes of every council meeting are published on the internet and available in other locations. How workable would it be and what would it cost if all of us expected this privilege?

Is it reasonable to say that Strathbogie Shire does not consult when a quick search of the internet shows that there is a steady stream of invitations for input including on the question of the date of Australia Day. Is it reasonable when at every meeting there is a spot for people to ask questions or put a point of view? Is it reasonable when Nagambie councillors are available almost every Thursday to answer questions and field complaints?

Is it reasonable to complain that a person living in a retirement village, not directly paying rates and therefore unknown to the council, should have to enrol to vote in local government elections?

Is it reasonable to ask how many Taungurung people live in our shire, and whether they vote, when we do not ask this question of others when matters are brought before Council?

Is it reasonable to ask if all Taungurung were asked their view of the date of Australia Day when no otherr decision of government ever depended on everyone agreeing? For example, would we ask if all farmers agree, or all women agree, to matters raised by a farmer or a woman?

Is it reasonable to assume that people who received Australia Day honours or citizenship on another randomly selected date would not feel equally proud to receive that award or to become citizens?

My hope is that instead of spending time on arguments that divide or leave winners and losers in their wake, we might put our energy into finding ways forward that, in kindness, honours all Australians

Gereldine Leonard Nagambie

If they needs funds they only have to ask locals if they can assist in that way.

QUEEN ELIZABETH ROSE GARDEN MEMORIAL: On another matter, Nagambie missed out on a grant for trees to plant under the Queen’s Jubilee Tree planting scheme last year.

So I thought seeing we had so much support for the Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth 11’s Condolence books the community might pitch in for a Memorial garden in her honour.

So I have written to the Strathbogie Shire Council’s parks and Gardens supervisor to ask where would be the best place to plant a small standard rose garden for about 6-8 plants. Maybe in between the large lit up tree and the water tower where there is lots of grass space? But where it would not be too inconvenient for council staff to work around it easily.

I have also written to some of our local groups like the RSL and Men’s Shed and other organisations about donating a standard rose to be placed in a small Memorial garden to commemorate our late Queen Elizabeth 11.

I would welcome any support in this small project. Please contact me if you or your group would like to be part of it.

Diane Grant Nagambie.