Lidia Thorpe welcomes Australia Day parade cancellation in Victoria

Lidia Thorpe has welcomed Daniel Andrews‘ decision to cancel the Australia Day parade for the third year in a row in Victoria. 

The state government planned to bin its annual parade along Swanston Street in Melbourne on January 26.

The event was previously shelved in 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic and then again in 2022 as the Omicron outbreak lingered.

Ms Thorpe praised the move as a sign of ‘progress’ and the result of hard campaigning by protestors demanding the tradition be scrapped.

Lidia Thorpe has welcomed a decision to cancel the Australia Day parade for the third year in a row in Victoria

Ms Thorpe praised the move as a sign of ‘progress’ and the result of hard campaigning by protestors demanding the tradition be scrapped

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‘Grassroots Blak activists in solidarity with Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance successfully Abolish Aus Day Parade,’ she wrote on Twitter on Sunday.

‘That is progress and that is the power of mobilising the masses tirelessly year in, year out.’ 

The flag raising ceremony will be observed as usual at Government House while a gun salute will be made at the Shrine of Remembrance on January 26. 

An event will be hosted at Federation Square to ‘reflect, respect, celebrate’ in place of the regular Australia Day parade.

First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria co-chair Marcus Stewart said it was a positive step in the right direction, but more work needed to be done.

‘We need to create a day we can all celebrate, not one that pushes us apart,’ he told The Age.

‘Change is hard, and change takes time. The parade [was] a slap in the face, and rubbed salt in the wounds, so it’s a positive step that it won’t be proceeding.’

Opposition Leader John Pesutto demanded premier Daniel Andrews explain why the ‘family friendly’ event would not be going ahead.

Revelations emerged on Saturday the state government had plans to bin its annual parade along Swanston Street in Melbourne on January 26

He said the decision to scrap the parade was disappointing and that it not only brought families together, but helped to boost spending in Melbourne.

Anthony Albanese has declared that ‘it’s fine’ to give workers – whether in the government or the private sector – a choice of working Australia Day or not.

The Labor Government overturned the Morrison Government’s short-lived ban on public servants working on January 26 – letting public servants take another day off instead if they don’t wish to mark the occasion.

Major companies including Woolworths, Telstra, Network Ten and some of the Big Four accounting firms gave employees permission not to work on January 26.

The prime minister told KIIS FM’s Kyle & Jackie O on Friday morning that giving workers the choice was about flexibility.

‘It’s up to each of the departments, like it’s up to employers in other areas,’ he said.

‘So some employers are saying if you want to work Australia Day, you can have another day off.

‘And I think that’s fine to have some flexibility in the system.

‘I myself will have a very busy Australia Day. I have a full schedule, and I’m really looking forward to it.’