The fourth annual Australia Day at Adventure Bay event brought in huge crowds last week, locking in the occasion as an officially recognised Australia Day event by the National Australia Day Council.
Bruny Bowls and Community Club is now listed on their official calendar of events.
Patrons enjoyed a variety of food and refreshment vans, musical entertainment from Sharn Hitchins, Eclipse, Mezzanine, The Great Anticipaters, Australian Made and the Blues Brothers Revival Band.
The little ones had fun with Sands Family Circus and face painters.
The date of Australia Day, January 26, remains a point of controversy, with rallies being held across Australia to ‘Change the Date’ every year.
January 26 marks the day Captain Arthur Phillip and the First Fleet landed in Sydney Cove in 1788.
There is debate whether this day is sensitive to Indigenous Australians, as it signals the start of British colonisation of this country.
The Kingborough Chronicle asked one of the organisers, John Peterson, whether the controversy surrounding Australia Day has had an impact on attendance rates to Australia Day at Adventure Bay in recent years.
“Probably it’s an awkward place to gauge that,” John said
“Yes, there’s different demographics coming in and coming out of Bruny, but mostly it’s the same people.
“I reckon there would have been over 1000 people coming backwards and forwards over the day this year.”
John’s observations are consistent with a recently released survey conducted by Enterprise Marketing and Research Service (EMRS) into Tasmanians’ attitudes towards January 26.
Of the respondents, 56 per cent of Tasmanians supported January 26 as Australia Day ,with 34 per cent not in support and about 10 per cent unsure.
The survey was conducted online between January 15 and January 21 this year, with 1048 Tasmanians participating.
The survey found the strongest support for Australia Day remaining on January 26 was in the seat of Braddon, with 72 per cent supporting the date.
The seat of Clark registered the least support, with 46 per cent against January 26 compared to 44 per cent in favour.
“From a demographic perspective, 70+ year olds showed 61 per cent support, 55 to 69 years 58 per cent support, with only the 18 to 34 category where opposition outnumbered support 43 per cent to 35 per cent,” EMRS CEO Mary Massina said.
“Only 3.34 per cent of Tasmanians surveyed indicated that they were not supportive of celebrating Australia Day at all.”
The survey also tested the merits of alternative dates for celebrating Australia.
This found no clear preference, with 28 per cent support to celebrate on January 1 (the anniversary of Federation), 27 per cent support for May 27 (anniversary of 1967 changes to the Constitution) and another 27 per cent support for September 1 (Wattle Day).
Australia Day at Adventure Bay organiser John Peterson said he was in favour of Australia Day remaining on January 26 “if it’s held with respect and understanding of what happened in the past, as well as celebrating the things we can help people with.”
As part of the celebrations, Australia Day at Adventure Bay kicked off with a Welcome to Country by John Lamkin.
“If we bring community together it means everyone,” John Peterson said.
