The City of Armadale Council has reluctantly made the tough decision to cancel its Australia Day 2025 event and fireworks, due to the impact of the Metronet Byford Rail Extension works. The City has been notified by Metronet’s contractor (Metconnx) that the extent of work planned for January 2025 requires public exclusion from many areas which would prevent a large public gathering in and around Minnawarra Park and Armadale Road.
These works mean the City’s usual Australia Day event location at Minnawarra Park is not able to be used.
City officers investigated a range of options for alternate locations and outlined the positives and negatives for each alternative.
These alternatives were presented to the Community Services Committee on Tuesday June 4 2024, and were reviewed at Council on Monday 10 June 2024. Full agendas and minutes of both meetings are publicly available on the City’s website.
After thorough consideration, Council voted to cancel the 2025 event, citing concerns over the safety of patrons at one of the alternate locations, and the option of holding three smaller events without fireworks at different locations being undesirable and untested. Council voiced the potential for reserving the 2025 funds so they can be put towards hosting a bigger and better event to welcome people back to the City centre in 2026.
Council acknowledged how popular our annual event is for residents and visitors alike, as one of the biggest Australia Day events in Perth. Council felt the City would be unable to safely recreate the same scale and experience at alternative sites. Maintaining the integrity of the event is paramount, and the City looks forward to hosting our usual event in January 2026.
Mayor Ruth Butterfield said: “The City recognises the continuing popularity of our Australia Day Event, and we want to ensure this annual feature is the best that we can offer. The unavoidable works taking place around Minnawarra Park meant that we had to look at alternative arrangements, and as a Council we decided that cancelling the 2025 event was the best option under the circumstances. We look forward to welcoming everyone back in 2026.”
Please refer to the Council minutes for full details of the proposed alternatives and final Council decision.
