A south-west council will provide funding to community-led Australia Day events in 2024 despite not hosting its own ceremonies on January 26.
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Glenelg Shire Council approved funding for January 26 events in Merino, Digby, Nelson and Heywood.
Further funding will be available for organisers of events in Casterton, Dartmoor and Portland at the discretion of the shire's chief executive officer Greg Wood.
It came after Glenelg councillors decided in August 2023 to cease holding citizenship ceremonies, awards and council-led events on January 26, 2024 and ongoing, in line with community feedback.
Cr Scott Martin in November said the funding was about handing control back to the community.
"This has obviously come about because council no longer sees it appropriate to hold Australia Day events in the shire," he said.
"(But) we do understand we have that diverse community and they may want to hold events.
"Whether that's celebrating Australia Day or Convincing Ground - we have a very diverse community - so that's what we're happy to do here."
From Portland's beginning as a whaling station in 1829, relations between whalers and the Aboriginal community were tense, but erupted around 1833 when almost the entire Kilcarer Gundidj tribe, believed to be up to 200 people, was massacred after a dispute over the ownership of a beached whale. The site of the massacre is known as the Convincing Ground.