Australia Day snub sparks backlash for our man in London

Australia’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Stephen Smith has caused an uproar over his decision to snub Australia Day celebrations in London over “sensitivities” attached to the date.

He has since backflipped on his stance and will now attend a party co-hosted by the Britain-Australia Society and the Australian Foundation Trust on 25 January, with nothing scheduled for the actual day on the 26th.

But his about-face did not occur before Peter Dutton blasted Australia’s top diplomat in the UK for being “ashamed” of his country’s national day.

“If Stephen Smith is ashamed of Australia Day, he should be on the next flight home,” the Opposition Leader said.

According to reports in News Corp outlets, Mr Dutton has put the blame equally at the feet of Anthony Albanese.

“The Prime Minister owns this as the UK High Commissioner was his captain’s pick,” Mr Dutton said.

“And the PM should pick up the phone and sort this out today. What other developed country refuses to acknowledge its national day?”

While official travel clashes were first put forward as a reason for Mr Smith’s absence at the upcoming gala dinner, the word is he has now “rearranged” his plans for him to now attend the event on the 25th (a Saturday).

And he will deliver a message from the Prime Minister.

Region understands Mr Albanese insisted Mr Smith attend the event and deliver the message.

The gala dinner is a huge event each year to celebrate everything Australian and is usually attended by big-name, homegrown celebrities living or visiting Britain at the time.

The likes of Kylie Minogue, Delta Goodrem and Natalie Imbruglia are usually there, as are leading businesspeople from Australia and the UK.

The annual event has a two-decade history.

But it is the second year in a row Mr Smith has made a fuss about skipping Australia Day.

Last year he moved the celebration from the 26th to the 25th and also refused to have the gala dinner held at the Australian High Commission.

He has made a point of only attending Australia Day events in the lead-up to the 26th and not on the actual day.

Mr Smith was reported in 2024 as saying it was not appropriate for the dinner to be held on 26 January because it marks the arrival of the First Fleet in Sydney Cove in 1788 – which many First Nations people call Invasion Day.

This year the London dinner on the 25th is being held at Peninsula Hotel in Belgravia, with organisers stressing it is not to celebrate the arrival of the First Fleet.

Asked about this year’s kerfuffle during an interview on Channel Nine, Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor described Mr Smith’s snub of Australia Day as “completely unacceptable” and that the PM should insist he attend the dinner.

“Australia Day is the day we celebrate our nation, our history, warts and all,” Mr Taylor said.

“There are warts, but mostly it’s a very proud history and he is the Ambassador to the UK, from Australia.

“It’s his job to get out there and celebrate our great nation. Anthony Albanese should get on the phone and tell him, this is part of the job. It’s completely unacceptable.”

In the same panel interview, independent MP Monique Ryan also questioned Mr Smith’s actions.

“Well, I’m not sure why Stephen Smith has decided not to attend this event,” she said.

“It is true that there are sensitivities around Australia Day, and every year we seem to have these sorts of arguments, and people get into culture wars about it.

“It should probably prompt some discussion about switching the date in my view.

“But it is Australia Day for the moment, and I think that if you can, the Australian High Commissioner to London should attend official events around at this point.”

Mr Smith, a lawyer, was a Member of Parliament for 20 years and is a former Minister in the Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard governments – first as foreign minister and then as defence minister.

Immediately before his UK posting, he served as one of two independent leads of the Defence Strategic Review.

Mr Smith began his posting as High Commissioner to the United Kingdom on 25 January 2023.