Sunbury was home to Hume’s Australia Day celebrations this year, with a family-friendly event hosted at Sunbury Village Green.
The council’s Australia Day in the Park event included a Welcome to Country and smoking ceremony, live music from artists Nathan Gabriel and Callan Turner, a sausage sizzle hosted by the 1st Sunbury Scout Group, face painting and bubbles.
Hume mayor Jarrod Bell said that the event was a great opportunity for our community to gather, reflect and celebrate what we love about our country.
“It’s important to recognise the different ways January 26 impacts our community, acknowledging the complexities and the different perspectives,” he said.
“To this end, we had Wurundjeri man Daniel Ross join us for a Welcome to Country, allowing our residents to embrace diversity while also holding a place for our history.
“What makes Australia special is our achievements, our values, and our people, all of which were on show in Sunbury as our community came together for a respectful, reflective and enjoyable event.”
As reported by Star Weekly, Hume council decided to host an Australia Day event during a council meeting last July, bucking a growing trend of councils stepping away from hosting events on Australia Day.
In Macedon Ranges, the day was marked with community-hosted events across the region, including the Survival Day Morning Reflection event in Macedon and the Australia Day Family Fun Day in Gisborne.
Instead of hosting a council-led event, Macedon Ranges offered an Australia Day Grants program, which according to the Macedon Ranges website, aims to “support community groups to hold free events [or] acknowledgment ceremonies to mark [January 26] in a way that is respectful of all community members.”
