A local council in Sydney is once again holding a ‘Dawn Reflection’ on Australia Day in honour of First Nations people, despite backlash over the event last year.
Waverley Council – which incorporates the well-heeled eastern suburbs of Bondi, Bronte, Rose Bay, Tamarama and Dover Heights – said it will feature ‘cultural expression from local Knowledge Holders and artists’ at sunrise on January 26.
The council said the event was to ‘acknowledge the resilience and survival of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and their continuous connection to Country and culture as the Traditional Custodians of this land’.
Military Cross recipient Michael von Berg told Daily Mail Australia the notion of a dawn service was deeply linked to ANZAC Day and that it was an ‘ambush’ from council ‘sticking it to veterans and all those who have fallen protecting this country’.
Mr von Berg said he had no problem with the concept, but that holding it as a dawn event on Australia Day was a clear stunt intended to politicise both Australia Day and ANZAC Day.
‘Our Indigenous brothers have fought in every conflict since the Boer War,’ Mr von Berg said.
‘I’ve served with many who have never let me down, one who I lost in Vietnam which I’ll never forget. The Defence Force is completely colourblind.’
Waverley Council held the event last year when mayor Paula Masselos said that Australians voting to not enshrine an Indigenous Voice to Parliament in the constitution in October 2023 had partially sparked the decision.
War hero Michael von Berg said an Australia Day ‘dawn reflection’ event for First Nations people by a Sydney council was a stunt that ‘ambushed’ both Australia Day and Anzac Day
Waverley Council is again this year sticking with its decision to hold the dawn event at Bondi Beach on Australia Day, similar to the one held on Anzac Day each year (pictured)
‘As a Council that is committed to social justice, we understand that January 26 can be a difficult day for many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and that many in our community are still coming to terms with the result of the Voice to Parliament referendum,’ Mayor Masselos said.
‘Waverley voters were overwhelmingly in favour of a Voice to Parliament which would have given Australians the opportunity to walk together to recognise, empower and listen to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
‘It [Australia Day] can be considered a day of mourning, but also a day to acknowledge the ongoing resilience and survival of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander traditions and cultures.’
At the referendum, 60 per cent of Australians voted against altering the constitution to include the race-based advisory body.
Waverley Council’s event will include a Welcome to Country, Bondi artist and performer Walangari playing the Digeridoo, the Gamay dancers, a Smoking ceremony and the Wagana Dancers performing contemporary and traditional dance.
Mr von Berg urged council to reconsider the event and ‘hold it on another date’.
Australia Day, observed each year on January 26, marks the landing of the First Fleet in 1788 when the first governor of the British colony of New South Wales, Arthur Philip, hoisted the Union Jack at Sydney Cove.
But for many First Nations people, it is regarded as ‘Invasion Day’ or the ‘Day of Mourning’ because it marks the beginning of Australia’s colonisation.
Waverley Council mayor Paula Masselos is pictured with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese
Mr von Berg said for veterans the Australian flag symbolised more than politics.
‘The Australian flag will be flown high and proud because this flag means more to us than just a piece of cloth.
‘When a soldier dies, that flag is draped over the coffin, which are the arms of the nation embracing that soldier and thanking him/her for their service. The flag flying at half-mast are the tears of the nation mourning that soldier. It means even more.’
A poll from the conservative think-tank The Institute for Public Affairs released this week found 69 per cent of those surveyed agreed with keeping the date of Australia Day on January 26.
‘That’s a clear message from two thirds of the population,’ Mr von Berg said.
‘This one woke council is doing its own thing.’
A separate poll, the Deakin Contemporary History Survey in 2021, 2023, and 2024 included the statement: ‘We should not celebrate Australia Day on January 26’ and asked the reader to agree or disagree.
That survey of more than 2,000 respondents found over those years responses remined fairly consistent rather than any kind of ‘cultural shift’, with about 58 per cent of respondents disagreeing and wanting to keep the date, while 41 per cent wanted to change the date.
In late 2022, the federal government scrapped a previous rule which had obligated councils to hold citizenship ceremonies on Australia Day.
At the time, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese insisted there were ‘no changes here’ as nothing was being forced, but after that change, more than 80 councils dropped citizenship ceremonies on January 26 last year.
rMr von Berg said dawn services were ‘sacrosanct’ and Waverley Council was ‘sticking it’ to veterans with their Australia Day dawn event (Pictured is a Anzac Day dawn service at Bondi)
In an audit of the country’s councils, Daily Mail Australia revealed last week that a staggering 154 councils around the country were not holding citizenship ceremonies on Australia Day.
The number is likely to be higher as just over a third of Australia’s 537 local councils refused to reveal their stance when asked by this masthead.
However, citizenship ceremonies have received strong support from councils in migrant-heavy western Sydney, with mayors pushing to restore Australia Day celebrations.
The event will be followed by a breakfast BBQ at Bondi Surf Bathers’ Life Saving Club with gold coin donations going to Indigenous education charity the GO Foundation.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Waverley Council for comment.
