Australia Day

[Greynomad]

T1,
I was aware of Lt Cook’s rank when he charted the East coast, but the statue is of CAPTAIN Cook, his rank at retirement.
Re the Chinese threat: at the time of colonisation, the Dutch were sniffing around the area. They grabbed Batavia (Indonesia) as a consolation prize.
Had they reached the east coast first (they thought west coast was worthless dirt) I reckon that, apart from us all speaking Dutch, we wouldn’t have an Indigenous problem.

[native pepper]

Australia day should be on the day Aus became a nation which is the first of January, not when anyone arrived here as many came well before the poms and let's not forget it was the religious who did the enslaving, slaughtering and forced integration.

The vast majority of Europeans who first came were forced here, not free settlers, so no blame can be laid at their feet. All the blame for the problems lays at the feet of the elite religious and continues today. Most indigenous have no problem with celebrating Aus day, It's the date which is the problem and it's the useless wannabes on both sides who create the problems.

[Greynomad]

NP,
The problem with 1st January is that it’s already a public holiday.
If we want it to be a truly Australian celebration I suggest Melbourne Cup Day as a day off for the whole nation!
A fair percentage of people have the day off anyway.
So that would see off the businesses that complain about too many paid holidays.

[jon_d]

The problem with 1st January is that it’s already a public holiday.

Ahh, it's all about getting a day off and not about the day???

[native pepper]

NP,
The problem with 1st January is that it’s already a public holiday.
If we want it to be a truly Australian celebration I suggest Melbourne Cup Day as a day off for the whole nation!
A fair percentage of people have the day off anyway.
So that would see off the businesses that complain about too many paid holidays.

Melbourne cup day is only for Melbourne, much of the rest of Victoria have alternate days for the holiday and most of those are on their local cup or other celebratory days. The rest of the country doesn't have a holiday on cup day. If you're gonna celebrate the birth of the nation, it should be on the date it occurred and not just for the holiday and horse racing is not a truly Australian celebration, just another opportunity for the rich to make more money.

I find ideological celebration/holidays as rather pathetic and used to deceive the people as to the real problems facing society. We should only celebrate our country, when we have it to together and working towards a viable future that's fully inclusive, then we'd have something to celebrate, Problem is as long as ideology controls society, that day will never come as ideological societies live deeply in the past and celebrating the past, always denies a viable future.

[Newcastle George]

Why not just stop wingeing and simply call ourselves Australians regardless of where we come from. My forebeares came from Wales but I don't claim to be Welsh.

George

[Bow]

The problem will be solved after the Queen has gone, we will have a Independence Day.

[pet-els]

I have a complaint!
I don't get any public holidays.


PeterH

[Greynomad]

The problem with 1st January is that it’s already a public holiday.

Ahh, it's all about getting a day off and not about the day???

No, Jon, & NP,
It was a tongue-in-cheek suggestion to see who would bite.
GOTCHA!

[T1 Terry]

I have a complaint!
I don't get any public holidays.


PeterH

Yes you do, they are the days the post office isn't open and any large company won't answer the phone .... Just their way of getting you back for not working on the days they have to work.

T1 Terry