A new survey by free market think tank Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) found that 69 per cent of Australians support Australia Day being celebrated on 26 January, while only 11 per cent favour the date being changed to accommodate those who state that the day is not inclusive of Indigenous communities.

The majority of the 1,038 people questioned (82 per cent) said they felt proud to be Australian, and 72 per cent said the national day was an authentic way for Indigenous and non-Indigenous people to do this.

While the numbers in support of Australia day are still quite high there is a downward trend as 75 per cent supporter the 26 January date to be kept in 2019, and 71 per cent last year.

A number of councils are canning Australia Day celebrations due to the distress which the date causes to the Aboriginal community. Whittlesea Council resolved to continue its citizenship ceremony on 26 January but announced that the events to celebrate the national holiday, including fireworks, would be stopped, whereas the council’s Australia Day Awards will be renamed the Whittlesea Community Awards in 2021 and announced at an event later in the year.

“We do not anticipate celebrating Australia Day as a major event and fireworks display on the 26 January at any time in the future,” the council said on its website.

Ballarat council also made the decision to cancel its 2021 Australia Day fireworks in order to improve the council’s relationship with Indigenous communities.

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Melbourne City Council has been criticised for supporting a controversial “Invasion Day Dawn Service” to be held on Australia Day.

In the City of Melbourne, Victoria’s government has cancelled the Australia Day Parade due to concerns over protests, however a number of events and protests planned for 26 January will go on.

Melbourne’s Lord Mayor Sally Capp said Australia Day meant different things to Melburnians, adding the council would mark the day with a citizenship ceremony and morning tea at Town Hall but had also agreed to an Invasion Day Dawn Service as part of a reconciliation policy with the city’s Aboriginal Community.

“It is important to provide events that are respectful to these differences and provide people an opportunity to reflect on or celebrate what the day means to them,” Ms Capp said.

IPA’s Bella d’Abrera said that celebrating Australia Day should “unite all Australians” and has been critical of the Melbourne City Council of pandering to “a minority of noisy activists which tells us that we need to be ashamed of our country rather than celebrating its success”.

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Ms d’Abrera said that mainstream Australians are “optimistic and positive” about the country and what it represents.

“26 January marks the foundation of modern Australia, and the freedoms that go with it. Modern Australia is defined by freedoms which are enjoyed by all Australians. This is something that should be celebrated, not denigrated,” she said.