A proposed Australia Day barbecue has seen Knox City councillors grapple and then eventually cut the budget for it, leaving behind a few question marks.
A forecasted 44k spend, the Australia Day ‘Knox Picnic in the Park’ budget was cut down to over half the initial amount suggested at the Knox Council meeting on Monday 10 November.
Councillors initially baulked at the figure listed for a proposal for an event to acknowledge and celebrate Australia Day in 2026, which came to around $44,000.
Councillor Chris Duncan described the report plans as a ‘ridiculous overspend’.
“We argued for weeks and weeks and weeks over $15,000 worth of Christmas decorations,” he said.
“To go $44,000 for an event that we’re putting on to target 150 to 200 people, we might as well just give everyone that rocks up 200 bucks and call it done.”
Cr Susan Pearce said the amount was ‘crazy’.
“I think we can do it for much less, and I think we need to explore other areas and other options,” she said.
The financial plans for the event cited a limited timeframe, with no support in the regular annual budget, plus hefty admin and planning fees, as an external hiring company would need to be used.
With a $10,000 grant from the National Australia Day Council, the $44,000 was to cover a ‘small-scale event called “Knox Picnic in the Park” at Tim Neville Arboretum on Monday 26 January 2026, and an inclusion of a Citizen of the Year Award was to be ‘considered but not recommended’.
Known as “Invasion Day” to some Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander Australians, the date for the event is still entrenched with generational trauma and pain, while to others it is a day to celebrate being Australian.
A media release on 15 November from Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister, MP Patrick Gorman, states that the Australian Government is supporting many events through its Australia Day Grants Program, managed through the National Australia Day Council, and $10 million in funding will support 869 capital city and community events, the highest since the program began in 2021.
“The Australian Government is supporting a record number of community groups right across our country to hold events that bring their communities together,’ he said.
Australia Day 2026 will see a 19 per cent increase in the number of Australia Day celebrations in 2025, with the government providing financial support for over 3,000 Australia Day events around the country since 2021.
Back at a local level, councillors discussed how the amount didn’t meet the needs of the community, and Cr Williams said he was a little confused by the resistance, as ‘We were all for an Australia Day’.
Agreeing that there was a need for the event, Deputy Mayor Cr Glen Atwell suggested going back to the drawing board.
“Think of the date and think of what we are trying to achieve,” he said.
Mayor Lisa Cooper said it was important that all Council members are comfortable with what they decide to move on with.
“..and that it represents what we think our community want to see as well,” she said.
The motion was lost and after a ten-minute recess, Councillors ultimately decided to move a subsequent motion that they liaise with the National Australia Day Council, and subject to feedback, make a further spend of $10,000 on the original grant.
So, the event isn’t off the table, but if no feasible application happens, Knox Council will withdraw the grant application from the Australia Day Council.
Moving the motion, Cr Duncan said he does love the idea of Australia Day.
“…$44,000 was way too much for what we were actually going to achieve,” he said.
Hoping to get community groups on board to help run the event, Cr Williams said he thinks it will give them a good opportunity, good exposure.
Deputy Mayor Atwell asked if amending the grant proposal and developing an alternative Australia Day event would allow the council to consider a date that does not clash with the three citizenship ceremonies that the council hosts on Australia Day, but was informed this was not possible as the grant was fixed to the date.
Cr Lockwood said a significant number of people in the area value Australia Day, particularly people who have migrated to Australia.
“It relates to their citizenship or their family citizenship – so it’s certainly significant from that respect,” he said.
Mayor Cooper was happy to support the motion.
“I am concerned that it’s a very short time frame, and if we’re not able to do something for the next Australia Day, that is, that is saddening to me,” she said.
“Having the contribution of the $10,000 grant sort of put us in this position where we need to decide on what to do, and that decision has to be made tonight,” said Cr Atwell.
The motion passed unanimously.
