Werribee by-election candidate and Whittlesea mayor Aidan McLindon piloted his Australia Day one minute of silence at the Commercial Hotel in Werribee on Sunday, January 26.
Held at 11.59am, Mr McLindon said the one minute of silence was to reflect on the many atrocities that took place against the Indigenous population during the period of European discovery of Australia.
At 12pm, a gold bell, which will be engraved and presented to the pub next week in recognition of it being the first pub in Australia to support the concept, was rung to begin the Australia Day celebrations that followed.
“If we isolate the mourning from the celebration then the division will continue to fester in our communities and in our country,” McLindon said.
“Many people may ignore the mourning and equally many people may ignore the celebration of us as a unified country.”
Meanwhile, a Whittlesea resident has started a petition calling for Mr McLindon to resign as Whittlesea mayor. The petition has more than 500 signatures.
Currently on leave from his position as mayor, the Werribee candidate said he is not abandoning his duties and will return to his mayoral position as normal if his by-election bid is unsuccessful.
“While I am on a leave of absence I still remain the councillor of the Kirrip Ward in which I was elected and as such have continued my duties on a daily basis,” Mr McLindon said.
“The allowance I receive enables me to continue my work as a councillor and therefore allows me to continue to put food on the table for my family.”
Following the one minute of silence, Kev Carmody’s ‘From Little Things Big Things Grow’ was played at the venue.
“We don’t need to wait for politicians to tell us how to do this, we can do this ourselves,” Mr McLindon said.
Jaidyn Kennedy
