Latest blows in Australia Day war: Stonington council to hold ‘healing ceremony’ on January 26 as New South Wales names national celebration ‘Survival Day’

Conservative commentator Andrew Bolt has branded Melbourne council’s decision to hold a “healing ceremony” on Australia Day as “insulting” and “stupid”.

The city council of the city of Stonington, which includes some of Melbourne’s wealthiest suburbs in the city’s east, will hold a “healing ceremony” on January 26 immediately after being granted citizenship.

It is the latest in a series of controversies surrounding the national holiday, with the NSW government events calendar giving the date an alternative title of ‘Survival Day’ and Woolworths being forced to defend its decision to stop selling Australia Day articles.

Bolt said Stonnington indulged in “more shame and more hurt” by a ‘healing ceremony’ on Australia Day.

“We have to fight back against this destruction of Australia,” he said on Wednesday night’s episode of his show The Bolt Report.

The municipality’s website stated that the ceremony will take place together with the municipality Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung peoples of the Kulin nation.

It will “pay respect and recognize their living connection to the land, the relationship with the land and all living things going back tens of thousands of years.”

“The ceremony supports the Council’s reconciliation journey and provides the community with an opportunity to learn what the day means to traditional custodians,” the website says.

Professor Auntie Diane Kerr from the University of Melbourne’s Indigenous Knowledge Institute will be the keynote speaker for the event, which will also feature Indigenous dance and song performers, followed by a barbecue lunch.

Bolt described the event as one where attendees would “hear the misery of Aboriginal Australians.”

‘Where is the pride in this great country?’ he asked.

“Australia should be celebrating how rich, how healthy, how comfortable and peaceful life is here for so many people – how many migrants from all over the world are coming here because of this?”

For some, January 26 marks a day of mourning over the dispossession of indigenous people

Bolt also denounced the Albanian government’s decision to allow civil servants to take an alternative day off if they felt uncomfortable celebrating the arrival of the First Fleet, which led to colonization and dispossession of the indigenous population.

“A proud government or a proud country would say that if you can’t celebrate this country and its culture on its national day, you don’t deserve a day off,” Bolt fumed.

In NSW, the Minns Labor government has issued a two-page ‘Days of Significance’ calendar to civil servants, listing January 26 as ‘Australia Day/Survival Day (Yabun Festival)’.

Right-wing think tank Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) called the calendar, drawn up by the NSW government’s ‘Diversity and Inclusion’ team, an example of “divisive and insidious identity politics and wokeism”.

“Perhaps most offensive is the double reference to Australia Day as Survival Day, which further reinforces the unrelenting hostility that elites in this country have towards our great nation and our values,” IPA director Daniel Wild said.

“Mainstream Australians understand and support January 26 as Australia Day because it is the day that marks the birth of modern Australia, defined by freedom, tolerance and egalitarianism.”

Meanwhile Woolworths has come under fire for its decision to no longer sell Australia Day merchandise.

Supermarket giant Woolworths has removed Australia Day merchandise from its shelves

The supermarket giant, which also owns Big W stores, confirmed in a statement that items associated with the January 26 celebration will not be on shelves.

“Over recent years, demand for Australia Day merchandise from our stores has gradually decreased. At the same time, there has been a broader discussion about January 26 and what it means for different parts of the community.”

The retailer added: ‘We know that many people like to use this day as a time to come together and we are offering a wide variety of products to help customers celebrate the day as they choose.

“Woolworths and BIG W celebrate the best of Australia every day, and we are proud to support the farmers, producers and suppliers who work with us.”

Kmart made a similar announcement in 2023, but Coles will continue to sell Australia Day merchandise.

“We are stocking a small range of Australian themed summer items throughout January, which are popular with our customers for sporting events such as cricket and tennis, as well as the Australia Day weekend,” a Coles spokesperson said.

Woolworths-owned online marketplace My Deal will sell Australia Day-themed items through third-party sellers.