Call for city to can fireworks on 26 Jan

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.

Sissy Austin started the campaign and said the fireworks display was problematic for many reasons.

“The 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,” she said. “At a community level we could contribute to starting to create change.

“My callout is for the fireworks to be cancelled and the $30,000 to go to communities affected by bushfires.”

The call to not hold the fireworks at Lake Wendouree have the support of deputy-mayor Belinda Coates.

She said not holding the fireworks on 26 January has come up on council’s agenda before, and that a report in favour of extinguishing the sky show had been presented by municipal officers in September.

“We 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,” she said. “Having fireworks four weeks after that seemed a bit excessive and not really necessary.

“I 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, ‘look, the community will still have Christmas fireworks, January is too risky for a number of reasons’.”

The City of Ballarat was asked how much the 26 January fireworks display is set to cost but did not respond to that issue.

Ms Austin’s petition says that $30,000 is being spent on the display and that money could be better used on bushfire relief efforts.

However, Ms Coates said the money for the forthcoming Australia Day display had already been spent.

“In booking it in you have to give a financial commitment,” she said. “There’s 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.”

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.

“It’s a moment where Ballarat can lead on something, rather than follow,” she said. “The City of Ballarat can listen to the community and take a stand.”

If the fireworks weren’t to go ahead, Ms Austin said that doesn’t mean people can’t mark Australia Day in a way that’s relevant to them.

“There’s so many other ways to pause on January 26,” she said. “There’s going to be a dawn ceremony acknowledging the survival and invasion of Indigenous people.

“There’s multiple events that are culturally respectful and relevant for people to attended. You don’t need fireworks for that. There’s lots of celebrations where fireworks aren’t set off.”

A statement issued by the City of Ballarat acting CEO Neville Ivey didn’t address the petition directly, with fire risk on the day be the current key determining factor on the future of the fireworks display.

“The 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,” Mr Ivey said.

“If 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.”