South Australia Excludes ‘Christmas’ and ‘Australia Day’ From Public Holiday Legislation
The legislation has declared Easter Sunday as a public holiday and increased the total number of public holidays in South Australia from 11 to 12.
The South Australian government has not included Christmas Day, Australia Day, ANZAC Day, and Proclamation Day in the new public holiday legislation.
The main goal of the legislation is to declare Easter Sunday as a public holiday and increase the total number of public holidays in South Australia from 11 to 12.
Shadow Treasurer Matt Cowdrey moved an amendment to include the names of New Year’s Day, Australia Day, ANZAC Day, Christmas Day, and Proclamation Day among other public holiday names into the legislation.
Debate in Parliament
Mr. Cowdrey stated in the Parliament that “the opposition is moving a series of amendments to essentially give rise to the name of the particular public holiday with the date of the public holiday.”
Mr. Cowdrey also made an amendment seeking to ensure that a proclamation cannot be made to declare a different day to be a public holiday in the year instead of Australia Day without a resolution passed by both houses of parliament.
Ten members of parliament voted for the amendment, while 22 voted against it in the South Australian House of Assembly.
However, this attempt was also defeated by three votes in the South Australian Legislative Council.
