Nativity gets a reprieve -- Lord Mayor gets a serve

Nativity scenes like these are causing controversy.

It's not just the strains of Jingle Bells echoing out of shopping malls as early as November, but also the groans you can hear from retail bosses as they contemplate whether to have nativity scenes and how much clout they will give Santa Claus this time round.

In these hyper-sensitive politically correct times, many Sydney retailers are opting for less religious Christmas symbols lest they offend non-Christian communities.

There has been no talk of boycotts by Jews, Buddhists and Muslims because of nativity scenes, but the mere thought that they might cause offence has dollar-counting retailers opting more for secular decorations. Town Hall has followed suit.

Charlie Saliba was first to cop it this year. He holds the franchise for Oporto, a fast food outlet specialising in chicken burgers, at a mall in Sydney's Hornsby suburb.

Saliba, a Catholic, had installed a small nativity scene -- depicting baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, the three wise men and a shepherd -- in his store, but was told last week by the Oporto chain to remove it.

"I am Maltese and we are very much into our Christmas decorations... they told me take it down and I thought it was a shame because, without a nativity scene, it is not Christmas."

Oporto chief executive Jeff Fisher said last week the chain supported generic decorations over nativity scenes because Australia was a multicultural society and it would be wrong to push any one religious belief.

However, chicken burger eaters did not agree and this week Fisher allowed Saliba to reintroduce the nativity scene next to his chip machine.

"This issue is obviously something the community feels very strongly about," Fisher told the Daily Telegraph newspaper. "We have listened to the community and corrected the situation.

"We are guilty of being over-sensitive by wanting to keep the decorations to a general nature. We tried to be politically correct and that was overzealous."

Meanwhile, Sydney City Council has been underzealous in its approach to Christmas, earning the wrath of the Daily Telegraph over the lack of sparkle in the city.

It ran photos on its front page of glittering festive lights and Christmas scenes in London, New York and Paris, alongside a sober Sydney Town Hall with a dimly lit tree on its balcony.

"2004 is the year Sydney forgot Christmas and across the city, people are infuriated," thundered the tabloid.

The city council's A$600,000 ($656,383) bill for Christmas decorations includes a huge Christmas tree in Martin Place, 21 metal stars over Pitt Street mall, banners in eight languages wishing season's greetings and lights on 35 trees in Chifley Square.

Lord Mayor Clover Moore defended the minimalist and secular approach to decorations.

"We are just trying to keep a generic approach without trying to push any one religious belief," she said. "We are cognisant of the fact that in Australia we are a very multicultural society."

In its editorial, the Telegraph said Christmas was most certainly a Christian festival.

"But why should there be any concern that by celebrating Christmas we run the risk of offending members of non-Christian communities?

"In this country, bound by secular customs and practices as much as by religious observances, none is excluded from the Christmas compact of giving and receiving, of sharing of the human spirit."

There are moves to get Ms Moore, in her first year as Lord Mayor, into the Christmas spirit.

New South Wales Premier Bob Carr said the council needed to make sure Sydney lived up to its reputation as a world-class city that rivalled other international cities with its Christmas decorations.

"There is nothing like the sparkle in a young child's eyes when they see the first Christmas decorations appearing in the city and suburbs," he said.

City councillor Shayne Mallard is planning an emergency motion at the council's meeting next week to put up more Christmas decorations in the city.

He said the city "looked terrible" and it was "mean-spirited not to let children experience that something special is happening".

Out in the suburbs, the Christmas spirit lives on. Christmas carols feature on most suburbs' festive programmes.

Bankstown is holding its third Christmas festival and evening carols in Paul Keating Park.

In nearby Blacktown, the mayor, Leo Kelly, said his area focused on joy and goodwill.

"Toning Christmas down is absolute nonsense. That would divide the community."

- NZPA