Huge Australia Day parade is scrapped for good in Melbourne – as another controversial change is made

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has no plans to reinstate Melbourne’s Australia Day parade and is taking other steps to downplay the date’s importance.

Victorian civil servants will be given the option to work on January 26 and take another day off, while a popular Australia Day Ambassadors program will lose most of its state funding.

While the parade, which was scrapped by former Prime Minister Dan Andrews four years ago during the Covid pandemic, remains off the table, the Allan Labor government will mark the national day in other ways.

These include the annual 21-gun salute at the Shrine of Remembrance, an RAAF flyover and the flag raising ceremony and open day at Government House.

Ngarra Murray, co-chair of the First Assembly of Victoria, told the press Herald Sun it was right to cancel the parade permanently.

“The Aboriginal community has different views on January 26, but whichever way you look at it, it is a day of mourning for many of our people,” he said.

‘So it is not a date to celebrate.’

Thousands of government employees who work for Victoria’s Department of Premier and Cabinet will be given the option to take another day off if they feel uncomfortable with the date.

“We also recognize that January 26 means different things to different people,” a spokesperson said.

‘On this day we encourage conversations and reflection on the different meanings of the day for all Victorians.’

Industry groups have expressed concern that this will set a precedent for the private sector.

The state government is also withdrawing most of its support from the long-running Victorian Australian Day Ambassadors Program.

The program, which appoints leading community members as Australia Day ambassadors, will no longer be primarily managed by the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.

Ambassadors received emails in November saying it was up to local councils and communities to organize events that focused on them.

Comedian Lawrence Mooney, who has been an Australia Day ambassador for more than 20 years, said he was not surprised by the decision as Dan Andrews had previously avoided all events.

He said the move was a shame because ambassador events, especially in more remote regions, always showed “tremendous community spirit, great joy and happiness.”

A government spokesperson said the change was aimed at creating local ambassadors who “reflect and resonate” with their communities.

They said a trial of the decentralized program had received good feedback.

If municipalities or municipalities could not find a local ambassador, they could still contact the ambassador Ministry of Prime Minister and Cabinet for assistance.

Previous ambassadors include Christine Nixon, David Mann, Dr. Sally Cockburn, George Donikian, Greg Evans, Lisa Edwards, Brendan Nottle, Nathaniel Diong, Robert ‘Dipper’ DiPierdomenico and Sue Stanley.

The National Australia Day Council has approved the Victorian Government’s changes to the Ambassador Program.