Should Australia Day 26th January remain!

Discussion in 'Australia, NZ, Pacific' started by truthvigilante, Jan 12, 2018.

  1. truthvigilante

    truthvigilante Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Good to see the Aussie section still going strong.

    Ah well it’s that time of year again and nothing like raising an annual discussion. The title says it all!

    Look, I think those that know me are aware that I support a change of date and because of 2 considered reasons. The current date is only relatively new and most people really didn’t understand the significance of the date( 26th January). Myself one of them for quite some time to be honest. Probably one of the few occasions I would whip out the barbie, dust off the cobwebs and start sizzling some snags and a few fresh prawns latthered in VB!

    Righteo, my first reason is obvious and that is out of respect for our aborigines. I mean come on, this was seemingly the beginning of the end for these people who lived productive simple lives for over 70, 000 years on this land!

    My second reason is......convicts! We are celebrating a sad occasion for a fleet load of unfortunates who were taken from their families and simply discarded and enslaved on apparent vacant land out of the sight of the people. Australia was simply a dumping ground for those baddies trying to steal a loaf of bread for survival reasons. The 26th January marks this occasion. Who in their right mind thought this was a good occasion to celebrate as a national day!

    It needs changing unless otherwise convinced, but good luck with that!
     
  2. scarlet witch

    scarlet witch Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Good to see you T. Yes I agree the date needs to be changed, even if they just moved it back a week as recognition on how European settlement is seen through the eyes of Aboriginals that would be far better than just ignoring the issue and hoping it will go away.. which of course it won't.

    Also true re the convicts, although I admit I've never thought about it that way... celebrating a day that represents a life of misery for some doesn't seem right at all.
     
  3. m2catter

    m2catter Well-Known Member

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    Good to see you back, tv.
    Long overdue, bring it on, change that damn date!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    Reg.
     
  4. Bowerbird

    Bowerbird Well-Known Member

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    Let's move the date to somewhere in winter so it is not so bloody hot!! ;p
     
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  5. truthvigilante

    truthvigilante Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Hey SW, it’s simple really. It doesn’t make us less Aussie by recognising aborigines, it just solidifies our place in this nation. I can’t help what happened then but I can be respectful of it.
     
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  6. truthvigilante

    truthvigilante Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    BB, the way it’s going winter will be summer, but that’s an argument for another thread : )

    How about 8th May?
     
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  7. Bowerbird

    Bowerbird Well-Known Member

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    I have no problems with it being May 8 or any other day. It could be the third Friday of June as far as I am concerned. But we have to look hard at what we are celebrating and why. National introspection day
     
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  8. bigfella

    bigfella Well-Known Member

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    I can see both sides of the argument. I don't have a strong opinion on changing it. If a consensus arises that its the right thing to do then I'm fine with that. However.....

    .....the way I see this going is something I'm not going to be fine with.

    As a country we have an incredibly poor record on indigenous issues, and there is a hard core of people for whom any concession of any sort will have to be exacted like pulling a tooth. Sadly there are politicians all too happy to latch on to this sentiment. That means that the amount of progress that can meaningfully be made on this issue is limited. Fights need to be carefully chosen and coalitions of support across party & ideological lines formed. This is no easy business.

    Right now one of the most important attempts to progress indigenous issues since 1967 - the Uluru statement - languishes, dismissed by a spineless government. That is the fight we need to have. That is the fight we need to have right now. 'Change the date' is guaranteed to upset people who might otherwise be persuadable on more important, practical issues. It is also guaranteed to become part of any attempt to block progress: 'do X for Aboriginies and they will take away Australia day'. Worse, this has already become a pet issue of the smug inner urban left, people who are very easy to dislike when they start preaching on issues like this (most of my friends are among them, so I know of which I speak).

    Maybe this will get up in time, but I fear it will become the sort of hollow 'victory' cherished by people who like putting up signs in their windows and feeling good about their beliefs, but who aren't going to dig in for the more important, harder & less sexy fights that need to be fought long before this one. This will become a huge distraction.
     
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  9. Bowerbird

    Bowerbird Well-Known Member

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    Good points

    But I want us to go beyond thinking about how we have treated our indigenous people and think about whoand what we are as a nation and importantly where we want to be. That includes everyone from all corners of the earth
     
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  10. m2catter

    m2catter Well-Known Member

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    I think we owe them more than only changing that date.....
    Not quite sure whether that has something to do with left or right, rather right or wrong.
    There are certainly quite a number of people who can't give a rats ass' when it comes to indigenous affairs, as they are against anything which favors our aboriginal people.
    Reg.
     
  11. Diuretic

    Diuretic Well-Known Member

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    26 January is really NSW Day. Australia became a nation on 1/1/1901 but that's New Year's Day and we can't lose a holiday. We should find another date.
    And for the record, it was an act of colonisation so it's understandable that Indigenous people will harbour a resentment - they're entitled to and I won't quibble.
     
  12. Sallyally

    Sallyally Well-Known Member Donor

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    I like Australia Day but I know that it isn't universally popular for indigenous and penal colony reasons. The convict past seems a good idea for a national holiday-we are Australian and have a perverse pride in our shady beginnings- Waltzing Matilda, Botany Bay, Ned Kelly, etc.
     
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  13. Moi621

    Moi621 Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    And poor Governor Bligh.
    Good man treated horribly by all sides.


    If only you guys had that nugget, that kernel, of FREEDOM consciousness.
    exemplified by Lexington green and Concord bridge. The Alamo too.

    Like a piece of the Australian brain is missing.
    So "party on". Numb is the word.


    Although I do acknowledge Ned Kelly. Sort of your Butch Cassidy. Not a Jesse James


    Moi :oldman:
    :flagus: observer


    r > g


    :nana: :flagcanada:
     
    Last edited: Jan 13, 2018
  14. Sallyally

    Sallyally Well-Known Member Donor

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    American freedom's a delusion, Moi, sorry.
     
  15. LeftRightLeft

    LeftRightLeft Well-Known Member

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  16. Sallyally

    Sallyally Well-Known Member Donor

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    Hadn't heard that, LRL, thank you.
     
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  17. scarlet witch

    scarlet witch Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Here's what our Trump had to say... completely oblivious to the plight of Aboriginal people


    http://www.smh.com.au/federal-polit...ralians-tony-abbott-says-20180121-h0lyzc.html
     
  18. Moi621

    Moi621 Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    In The Land Of The Free
    And The Home Of The Brave

    We Can Still Have A Cliven Bundy. The Federal's court set him free!
    After how many days of incarceration, harassment, etc.


    He is speaking to Federal occupation of State lands. Land that is NOT Federal.
    federal_lands.jpg




    I mean this is like the "Milagro Beanfield War" in real life and without the Mexicans.

    And that concept of FREEDOM is just absent in Australia where
    you get taxed if you do not vote.


    That is what I find remarkable about Aussies as well as :flagcanada: .
    I don't know Kiwis well enough to have an opinion.


    Moi :oldman: :flagus: :salute:
     
  19. Sallyally

    Sallyally Well-Known Member Donor

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  20. Sallyally

    Sallyally Well-Known Member Donor

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    Chill babe!
     
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  21. Moi621

    Moi621 Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    There is no chilling from Federal hegemony.
     
  22. Sallyally

    Sallyally Well-Known Member Donor

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    states rights aren't as big a deal here as in the US. I can't quite get why they assume such importance for you.
     
  23. reallybigjohnson

    reallybigjohnson Banned

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    If you are really serious about this introspection and soul searching then you need to consider apologizing for Foster's beer. Stop sending that crap over here already. You don't even drink it so why are you sending it to us. Are you trying to start WW3?
     
  24. Sallyally

    Sallyally Well-Known Member Donor

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    We make it for export.
     
  25. LeftRightLeft

    LeftRightLeft Well-Known Member

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    Wrong thread
     
    Last edited: Jan 24, 2018

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