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For many, many years we celebrated the Australia Day Long Weekend. These last few years, redneck "patriots" changed the observance day to the 26th January regardless of the day of the week on which it falls. It always used to be celebrated on a Monday, and it was one of the Grand Aussie Traditions, the last chance to go bush or take the kids to the beach before the yearly grind of school and work set in again. But the redneck lobby changed the date. Bastards.
Meanwhile, we see the following from a competent pollster:
Roy Morgan wrote:
A majority of Australians (59%) want January 26 known as ‘Australia Day’ however a large 41% say it should be called ‘Invasion Day’ according to special Roy Morgan Snap SMS survey conducted on Monday January 25, 2021. Victorians are divided 50-50 on the name to call the day Captain Arthur Phillip arrived in Port Jackson on January 26, 1788, while in all other states majorities want January 26 known as ‘Australia Day’. There is quite a gender difference on the question with men favouring January 26 being known as ‘Australia Day’ rather than ‘Invasion Day’ by a margin of almost 2:1 (66% cf. 34%). In contrast, Australia’s women are almost evenly split on the question with a narrow majority of 53% in favour of January 26 being known as ‘Australia Day’ compared to 47% saying it should be known as ‘Invasion Day’.
stui magpie wrote:Assuming changing the date is an easy fix is assuming that the Indigenous population is homogeneous when they are far from it. There are a multitude of different nations from different areas with different cultures and within that different people. Assuming that all Indigenous people find the date offensive is as racist as assuming that all white people don't and as stupid as assuming all Europeans have common culture and values.
yes there is a cohort of Indigenous people who are offended that the anniversary of the beginning of their dispossession and other hardships is celebrated as our national day.
There is another cohort who want to move forward and are comfortable with the date and happy to celebrate on it provided that there is due acknowledgement of the past, not airbrushing of it. Some of these get distressed by the actions of protestors
A third cohort don't really care about the date as it's a far lower priority than things like constitutional recognition, a treaty, a genuine national reconciliation action plan and indigenous voice
A fourth cohort couldn't give a rat fvck about Australia day or what date it's on as they're more focused on day to day concerns like poverty, substance abuse, sexual abuse, family violence, youth incarceration etc.
The first cohort gets all the publicity as their activists got latched onto by the green left, they do their protest marches and media gets filled with debates that people are weary off and becoming scared to participate in but the other 3 are not necessarily less significant in size, just in voice.
Personally I'm open to changing the date if that's the best outcome, but not at the behest of white bandwagoners who's actual interaction with Indigenous people is limited to owning a copy of Storm Boy. Finish the current work of creating an Indigenous advisory voice to federal parliament, use them to access a range of Indigenous opinions, come up with some options and put it to the people via a plebiscite.
More importantly, enact the "Uluru Statement"
“I even went as far as becoming a Southern Baptist until I realised they didn’t keep ‘em under long enough” Kinky Friedman
Most people don't care about much unless annoyed, so I don't think polls get you far on future concepts. The opposite, in fact.
My sense is that the symbolic removal of the bloody Union Jack from the flag might need to precede everything because it makes a mockery of 21st century Australia, and is hopelessly outdated. Living here, it looks like something from a Fawlty Towers episode; a bizarre colonial spoof planted on a hillside in Torquay to greet special visitors from Australia (Basil quickly throws together a Union Jack and the Southern Cross, and there it is).
I don't know how things come together, and maybe generational change fixes it, but the country needs to grow up at some point. Perhaps that won't happen until it is safely embedded in a trading block rather than clinging to the master's coat tails.
But for now proper inclusion is a first step, even if it involves a promise to mourn/celebrate with Aboriginal peoples as part of the day, and look for a new concept over time. (And make it a bloody roving Monday like every other sensible holiday if you can).
Tannin wrote:The fact that redneck "patriots" recently changed the date we celebrate Australia Day is irrelevant to a discussion about changing the date
Sorry, I didn't realise you considered Keating to be a redneck patriot.
Any danger of talking about moving forward instead of being stuck in the past?
Nup, didn't think so.
Every dead body on Mt Everest was once a highly motivated person, so maybe just calm the **** down.
Tannin wrote:The fact that redneck "patriots" recently changed the date we celebrate Australia Day is irrelevant to a discussion about changing the date
Far out.
(Not that I quoted sensible, verifiable mainstream numbers. Unlike the tiny-sample-nonsense Eddie parroted.)
Tannin wrote:The fact that redneck "patriots" recently changed the date we celebrate Australia Day is irrelevant to a discussion about changing the date
Far out.
(Not that I quoted sensible, verifiable mainstream numbers. Unlike the tiny-sample-nonsense Eddie parroted.)
You quoted the exact same poll...
Duhhh. Read my lips.
I provided sensible, verifiable information provided by that poll. Large numbers. Reliable. Not freak outliers from a sample of three.
^ Would anyone really be satisfied with that? I doubt it. January 26ish is still commemorating the same thing, i.e. the colonisation of this land by another country that we are supposedly now independent from.
For me, the obvious candidate is 3 March: the date Australia finally cut its last (functional) apron strings to the UK and actually became a fully independent, sovereign nation. What more symbolic representation could there be of the nation that we are and the nation that we actually want to be in future?
The Australia Act (Cth and UK) eliminated the remaining possibilities for the UK to legislate with effect in Australia, for the UK to be involved in Australian government, and for an appeal from any Australian court to a British court. This formally separated all legal ties between Australia and the United Kingdom.
Last edited by David on Thu Jan 28, 2021 10:10 am, edited 1 time in total.
"Every time we witness an injustice and do not act, we train our character to be passive in its presence." – Julian Assange
stui magpie wrote:Any danger of talking about moving forward instead of being stuck in the past?
Nup, didn't think so.
You are the one who is stuck on the date and doesn't want to move forward.
Simply make it the last Monday in January.
Fixed.
No, I proposed a consultative process with Indigenous people to firstly clarify whether the date is really a problem and if so to develop suitable options.
You, the old white man, just decide we don't need to consult, it is a problem and if we go back to the 80's it's all fixed
Every dead body on Mt Everest was once a highly motivated person, so maybe just calm the **** down.
