Lord Mayor rejects claims council neglected Australia Day

Lord Mayor Sally Capp has rejected suggestions the City of Melbourne neglected Australia Day and will implement the same restrictions on Chinese New Year next month.

There was no Australia Day parade on January 26, which caused angst given many events are being promoted ahead of Chinese New Year on February 12.

Sally Capp told Neil Mitchell the key difference was those events were ticketed and could be easily traced for COVID-19 purposes.

“Many activities happened on Australia Day,” she said.

The Lord Mayor said similar events at Chinese New Year, such as the traditional dragon parade, would not go ahead this year for the same reason the Australia Day parade did not.

She told Neil Mitchell the Australia Day protest service she attended on Australia Day morning was ticketed.

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