Ballarat mayor defends councils’ decision on Australia Day future

Ballarat’s mayor has defended councils’ decision to go back to the community for consultation on the future of January 26.

Councillor Mark Harris has labelled the move as embarrassing, whilst Councilor Belinda Coates says it’s simply sad.

Mayor Des Hudson says he thinks it’s important to have the conversation as a community.

“Councillor Harris and Councillor Coates [spoke] against that motion, feeling it was a waste of time, and that’s their view,” he said.

“But the balance of the council’s voted [to] ‘let’s go and do the conversation’. That’s why we have nine councillors sitting around the table with different ideas [and] different views.”