We are calling on the City of Ballarat Mayor Ben Taylor and City of Ballarat Councillors to cancel the January 26 2020 fireworks in Ballarat and donate the funds to fire victims across Australia.

It does not seem fitting, to have a 10 minute firework display (which costs around $30,000) while our country is facing its largest bushfire catastrophe ever and we are only at the beginning of the fire season.

Australia is facing a climate emergency, we are seeing weather events like never before, due to the the devastating impacts of climate change. Now is not the time to celebrate, now is the time to act.

We are seeing major cities and towns across Australia with extremely low qualities of air due to the fires and yet do we know that fireworks cause extensive air pollution and shoot harmful chemicals and smoke into the air?

There is no place for fireworks in Ballarat, our community must be morally, environmentally and culturally better than this. There is no other time to act than now.

Local Aboriginal Community members have been expressing concerns about the January 26 fireworks for quite some time now, it is time to listen to their calls for concern.

Please sign this petition if you agree - City of Ballarat cancelling the January 26 fireworks and reallocating the funds where they're needed.