The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
The Forum - On Line Opinion's article discussion area



Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0

Main Articles General

Sign In      Register

The Forum > Article Comments > Australia Day deserves to stay > Comments

Australia Day deserves to stay : Comments

By Charles Smith, published 2/10/2017

Newcomers are unlikely to join our national community and adopt our culture if we keep telling them that our country has very little of which to be proud.

  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. Page 5
  7. 6
  8. 7
  9. All
‘Jan 26th was only formalised as Australia day in 1994 but was celebrated as far back as 1808 and is far more meaningful than the left whinge sycophants make out.’ Until 1817 there was no such thing as Australia, it was New Holland, so to try and state Australia Day was celebrated as far back as 1808 is a falsehood. Even after 1817 there was no such thing as a collective Australia and it was only from the 1850s when the word was used to describe a nation…and even then it was simply a collection of colonies and not a unified nation-state.

In 1938 Aboriginal people in NSW and Vic nominated Jan 26th as a 'Day of Mourning' and held the first civil rights protest in Sydney. Protest have been held ever since and will continue until a true and unifying national day is chosen.
Posted by minotaur, Wednesday, 4 October 2017 9:25:42 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Minotaur,

With regards your comment "I don’t agree with Australia Day on the current date as I know what it represents…massacres, rapes, torture, kidnapping, theft of lands, slavery and more." Please clarify which of these events happened on Jan 26th? If you can't, then you are simply associating Australia day with all the ills of colonisation which is independent of the 26th.

I'm sorry if you struggle with English, but: The day of the 26th of Jan was celebrated from 1808 under various names, was adopted by all states as Australia day in 1935, and finally in 1994 was declared a public holiday.

As for the lifestyle of the hunter-gather indigenous population, as with every other pre-agricultural communities, life spans would seldom exceed 30yrs and been largely preoccupied with eking out an existence, especially as their food supply was subject to the vagaries of the weather. combine that with intermittent wars with other tribes, starvation and disease and the picture is far less glowing than the occasional encounter described by Cook would have you believe.
Posted by Shadow Minister, Wednesday, 4 October 2017 11:06:31 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
What is it about people like Shadow Minister who just don't get when it comes to what Australia Day represents for Aboriginal people? It matters not that on the 26th of Jan 1788 that nothing overtly untoward occurred towards or to Aborigines of the area. The landing was the catalyst for what was to come. I would have thought that that was a fairly simple concept to understand.

SM also massively over-generalises about pre-colonial Aboriginal societies. They were diverse and people in all regions knew their food sources extremely well. I know a fraction of what my Aboriginal ancestors knew but I know enough to be able to source food all year round in the bush. Aboriginal people across the nation had various methods of preserving and storing food sources. Most people remain pig-ignorant of that though and prefer to believe Aborigines to be simple people who led short and brutal lives. Keep on exposing that ignorance SM, it serves your agenda so well!
Posted by minotaur, Wednesday, 4 October 2017 11:14:27 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
A lot of what is written in the opinion piece, I agree with.

One part I do not, that being:

<< Internationally, Australia is seen as a success story>>

This is not the case at all and Australia, has a lot of improvement to undertake in that context. At present, a good percentage of Australians look at other countries (particularly those that are not seen to be good condition) and see Australia as a fine country to live in, when in fact there are a lot of areas needing vast improvement.

For example, Australia at present has a very weak foreign affairs record. This very much fits in with the context of this opinion piece. For example one line reads:

<<Those arguing that the arrival of the First Fleet on January 26, 1788 is nothing but a source of shame are, in effect, asserting that our entire national existence is lamentable.>>

This element is still part of Australian culture today. Many people simply talk down the value of Australia and this impacts on Australia as a nation and also in a global context.

In 2012 (under the Gillard Government), a vote was taken (with the United Nations) in relation in regards to Israel and Palestine. The Australian Government, decided to abstain on the matter. What was surprising however, was that countries such as Australia were outvoted by a range of smaller countries, who's governments had the courage to take a strong independent stance and make it clear what their position was.

It is important to recognise the deep enriched history of Australia. Many do not, including history teachers at schools. Some states are removing the subject at a year 12 level and keeping modern European history (as this is what many teachers want to teach), due to its interest, culture and particularly, age.

If you view the following youtube, you can see an interesting part of Australia's history and why such moves to write off many parts of Australian history should not be allowed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOwqoEgED1g
Posted by NathanJ, Wednesday, 4 October 2017 1:23:54 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
I seem to recollect that it was called Anniversary Day.
Posted by Bazz, Wednesday, 4 October 2017 1:25:12 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Minotaur,

Thanks for confirming that the complaints about Australia day are entirely about the formation of Australia and not about the day itself. It is like the rent seekers that want to get rid of ANZAC day. I believe that in most the feelings are confected and would go away with a sizable dollop of cash.

Only the pig ignorant would try and glamourise the life of the hunter-gatherer. Even a small group would need to roam a large area to locate enough food, as it does not take long for the local area to be picked clean, and even then the bush tucker is generally lacking in all the vital requirements for adequate nutrition. That the tribes fought each other is well documented, as is a plethora of unpleasant practices.
Posted by Shadow Minister, Wednesday, 4 October 2017 1:49:11 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. Page 5
  7. 6
  8. 7
  9. All

About Us :: Search :: Discuss :: Feedback :: Legals :: Privacy