petition<\/a>, which has been running for about a week and closing on 3000 signatories, calls on the City of Ballarat to not hold the annual pyrotechnic display and instead donate the money to bushfire relief efforts.<\/p>\nSissy Austin started the campaign and said the fireworks display was problematic for many reasons.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fact we have the City of Ballarat spending $30,000 on fireworks on 26 January when our country is literally burning is pretty horrific and disrespectful to the land,\u201d she said. \u201cAt a community level we could contribute to starting to create change.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy callout is for the fireworks to be cancelled and the $30,000 to go to communities affected by bushfires.\u201d<\/p>\n
The call to not hold the fireworks at Lake Wendouree have the support of deputy-mayor Belinda Coates.<\/p>\n
She said not holding the fireworks on 26 January has come up on council\u2019s agenda before, and that a report in favour of extinguishing the sky show had been presented by municipal officers in September.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a very strong organisational recommendation and supporting that was the fact that the Christmas fireworks held by the community carols had already been approved,\u201d she said. \u201cHaving fireworks four weeks after that seemed a bit excessive and not really necessary.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought we should have accepted that recommendation. From a risk point of view it would have been quite easy to do back in September and say, \u2018look, the community will still have Christmas fireworks, January is too risky for a number of reasons\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
The City of Ballarat was asked how much the 26 January fireworks display is set to cost but did not respond to that issue.<\/p>\n
Ms Austin\u2019s petition says that $30,000 is being spent on the display and that money could be better used on bushfire relief efforts.<\/p>\n
However, Ms Coates said the money for the forthcoming Australia Day display had already been spent.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn booking it in you have to give a financial commitment,\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s a financial risk with that, given that it can cancelled at the last minute [due to fire danger] and it has been touch-and-go for quite a few years.\u201d<\/p>\n
With fireworks organisers and state and municipal governments across the country looking at the issue of whether fireworks are appropriate at this time of year, Ms Austin said the City of Ballarat had an opportunity to show leadership.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a moment where Ballarat can lead on something, rather than follow,\u201d she said. \u201cThe City of Ballarat can listen to the community and take a stand.\u201d<\/p>\n
If the fireworks weren\u2019t to go ahead, Ms Austin said that doesn\u2019t mean people can\u2019t mark Australia Day in a way that\u2019s relevant to them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s so many other ways to pause on January 26,\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s going to be a dawn ceremony acknowledging the survival and invasion of Indigenous people.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s multiple events that are culturally respectful and relevant for people to attended. You don\u2019t need fireworks for that. There\u2019s lots of celebrations where fireworks aren\u2019t set off.\u201d<\/p>\n
A statement issued by the City of Ballarat acting CEO Neville Ivey didn\u2019t address the petition directly, with fire risk on the day be the current key determining factor on the future of the fireworks display.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe City of Ballarat will consider all advice provided by the Country Fire Authority and all other relevant authorities in the lead-up to the planned fireworks at Lake Wendouree on January 26,\u201d Mr Ivey said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the CFA provides advice that it is a day of Total Fire Ban, or that the weather conditions are not suitable for a fireworks display to be conducted, then the fireworks will be cancelled for safety reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
AN online petition calling for the Australia Day fireworks at Lake Wendouree to be cancelled is gaining traction. The petition, which has been running for about a week and closing on 3000 signatories, calls on the City of Ballarat to not hold the annual pyrotechnic display and instead donate the money to bushfire relief efforts. […]<\/p>\n
Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":141,"featured_media":66337,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-66336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCall for city to can fireworks on 26 Jan - Ballarat Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/call-to-can-citys-26-jan-fireworks\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Call for city to can fireworks on 26 Jan - Ballarat Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"AN online petition calling for the Australia Day fireworks at Lake Wendouree to be cancelled is gaining traction. The petition, which has been running for about a week and closing on 3000 signatories, calls on the City of Ballarat to not hold the annual pyrotechnic display and instead donate the money to bushfire relief efforts. [...]Read More...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/call-to-can-citys-26-jan-fireworks\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ballarat Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/alistairfinlayjournalist\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-12-30T06:28:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/12\/0V1A2405-2-for-web.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1732\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1154\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Alistair Finlay\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Alistair Finlay\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/call-to-can-citys-26-jan-fireworks\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/call-to-can-citys-26-jan-fireworks\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Alistair Finlay\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9bf999ff27982396123a6d7a9abe115b\"},\"headline\":\"Call for city to can fireworks on 26 Jan\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-12-30T06:28:12+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/call-to-can-citys-26-jan-fireworks\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":643,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/call-to-can-citys-26-jan-fireworks\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2019\\\/12\\\/0V1A2405-2-for-web.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/call-to-can-citys-26-jan-fireworks\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/call-to-can-citys-26-jan-fireworks\\\/\",\"name\":\"Call for city to can fireworks on 26 Jan - Ballarat Times\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/call-to-can-citys-26-jan-fireworks\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/call-to-can-citys-26-jan-fireworks\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2019\\\/12\\\/0V1A2405-2-for-web.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-12-30T06:28:12+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/call-to-can-citys-26-jan-fireworks\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/call-to-can-citys-26-jan-fireworks\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/call-to-can-citys-26-jan-fireworks\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2019\\\/12\\\/0V1A2405-2-for-web.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2019\\\/12\\\/0V1A2405-2-for-web.jpg\",\"width\":1732,\"height\":1154,\"caption\":\"Out with a bang: There\u2019s an effort to have the 26 January fireworks at Lake Wendouree extinguished and the money given over to bushfire relief. 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Once at Westlock News, The Advocate, and the Latrobe Valley Express. Oilers fan. Email: alistair@timesnewsgroup.com.au Facebook: @alistairfinlayjournalist twitter: @alistairfinlay_ Instagram: @alistairfinlayeditor\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/alistairfinlayjournalist\\\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/author\\\/alistair\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Call for city to can fireworks on 26 Jan - Ballarat Times","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/call-to-can-citys-26-jan-fireworks\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Call for city to can fireworks on 26 Jan - Ballarat Times","og_description":"AN online petition calling for the Australia Day fireworks at Lake Wendouree to be cancelled is gaining traction. The petition, which has been running for about a week and closing on 3000 signatories, calls on the City of Ballarat to not hold the annual pyrotechnic display and instead donate the money to bushfire relief efforts. 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