The Australia Day national holiday on the 26th of January only started to be celebrated nationally from 1935 and not until 1994 consistently as a public holiday on that date. The challenge of making the 26th of January a day all Australians can accept and enjoy is the fact that the 26th of January originated to mark the beginning of British occupation of Australia by British pioneering settlers, symbolised by the raising of the Union Jack and later the Australian flag which bears the British flag. This gives rise to Aboriginal Australians referring to it as 'invasion day'. Maybe the same spirit of the current Australia day could be achieved by changing it to January 1st and focus more on celebrating Federation, when Australia became an independent nation on 1st January 1901. Anyway happy Australia Day.
Nikon D300, Nikkor 35mm f2D @ ISO 200, 35mm f2.2, 1/500 sec
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Australia was born on January 1st, 1901. But what we need is to supplement this day with a public holiday on December 31st - a new years eve public holiday. Australia day celebrations would begin on that day.
ReplyDelete[Alfred Deakin, (London) Morning Post – 1901]
“Never was a moonlit midnight in Sydney marked by a wilder, more prolonged, or generally discordant welcome than was December 31, 1900 . . . whistles, bells, gongs, accordions, rattles, and clanging culinary utensils yielded unearthly sounds . . . Immense crowds on land and water vied with each other in mocking and echoing the noises about them . . .”
Every nation on the planet has been invaded at one time or another, go back far enough and you will find good reason to lay claims against another people or culture, Australia day should be a day for all Australians to be united as one and move forward, you can apologize for the past, or forgive your forefathers (perhaps) as a first step but it achieves nothing but self-gratification, it's time for all Australians to mature and build a future that embraces all, maybe even boat people.
DeleteLabor Party is now acting to prevent moving Australia Day to January 1st.
ReplyDeletehttp://ministers.deewr.gov.au/garrett/aussies-kids-learn-about-australia-day-under-national-curriculum