Some suggested reading from the pen of Watkin Tench.

http://setis.library.usyd.edu.au/ozlit/pdf/p00044.pdf

Is Mise a wonderful read so far. A new perspective often ingrains one toward accepting that ones prejudices can be altered through enlightenment, thanks for the opportunity to understand a firsthand account of the real situation verses a perceived one.

Regards
Geoff

The "Cosmopolitans" ironically blocked a multicultural parade in Adelaide.
http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2017/01/26/protests-disrupt-adelaides-parade
(Note the "Hundreds of Aboriginal activists" are mostly White 20-somethings.)

This clarifies their agenda (or lack thereof).

When a celebration of multicultural diversity gets in the way of their anti-traditional bulldozer, diversity can go to hell!

The only true agenda of these protesters is DESTRUCTION!
When diversity destroys, they celebrate it.
But when celebrating diversity empowers traditional institutions (national day), then they attack diversity too.

Their only goal is destruction of all norms and traditions, so there is little point appeasing them with new days, new flags, new heads of state or constitutional amendments. Any new "institution" will be attacked too.
They will never be happy, full stop.

For the rest of us, a new day poses problems too.
Any day you chose will have some tragic history, either here in Australia or the world at large.

This is the day the Granville train crashed, that is the day Azaria Chamberlain disappeared, that's when Cyclone Tracy hit Darwin, that's when Hiroshima was bombed, etc.

No day of the year will have *no* negative connotations or associations.
Every day will be inappropriate or offensive to someone.

26th January has been used for generations, according to Wiki, "records of celebrations on 26 January date back to 1808". No new date will have greater significance than the existing one.

As for Aborigines, would they be protesting if they all drove Porsches and lived in mansions? No.

So the issue isn't the day, the flag, the queen, it's their contemporary living conditions or quality of life.
Symbolic musical chairs will not change those conditions.

the problem is not Australia day, it is the fact, that, the official ceremonies on
the day are always based on ships arriving from England.. This is touted and televised
right across the country.

The officials should look at basing the celebration on todays Australia not some old
historical event. Let it be a day of national picnics and barbeques.
Its only commonsense.

Having said that, I did not like the billboard with the two little muslim girls on it.
To me it was similar to putting kids wearing German uniforms up on a board to
celebrate Jewish day.
We are at war with people who wear this garb and have sworn "Death to the Infidel",
Now ,that is threatening the life of my kids and their kids,you cannot expect me to
have a feel good feeling about seeing this uniform being worn on a huge billboard on
Australia Day. No matter how totally innocent the little girls wearing it are.

Australia Day is already an ideological battleground, there is no point in denying it.

It is part of the Culture War that has been running for a decade or more, and is totally unconnected with the original intention of the celebration.

With the rise of One Nation and Donald Trump in the USA, the lines of battle are becoming more fluid, and the advantage would seem to lie with the defence. In my opinion, we should wait and allow the “balance of forces” to become clearer.

Funny that most of the protesters at the Inversion Day marches were of European (mostly anglo) descent; must mean something.