Fester,

This may be of interest:

Ben Pobjie in his book, "Error Australis: The Reality Recap
of Australian History," talks about the First Fleet. He talks
about the prospect of being sent to the far end of the world,
to a strange unknown land as being terrifying. The powerful
emotions generated were eloquently expressed in the classic
old song "Botany Bay,":

Farewell to old England forever
Farewell to my rum coes as well
Farewell to the well known Tim Bailey
Who used to teach me to spell
Singing too-ra-li-oo-ra-li-addity
Singing bing bong dum doo dad fi-fay
Singing spinkly pom pinkly bom baddity
It's shyte down in Botany Bay

And just as the song predicted more than 700 convicts
found themselves bound for that mysterious far-off land.

We're told that of-course not everyone on the First Fleet
- named after the fact that it was a fleet - was a convict.

In addition to some 775 convicts there were also around 300
sailors, 250 Royal Marines, 15 officials and passengers,
and about 50 wives and children of the marines.

Also on board the fleet were six horses, four cows, one
bull, 44 sheep, 19 goats, 32 pigs, five rabbits, 18 turkeys,
29 geese, 35 ducks, 122 fowls, 87 chickens, assorted cats,
and the Governor's greyhounds.

It was suspected that a significant proportion of the
ducks had committed serious crimes and several of the
pigs were thought to be marines in disguise.

Pobjie provides for us an immediate visceral sense of
what it was like to be there in the moment of our nation's
defining events. The book is worth a read.

It is only by looking at where we have been that we can
understand who we are, what we stand for, and why things
work the way they do.

The book is a scholarly and hilarious account of a
young nation that has spent many years seeking its
place in the world, and almost as many years not liking
what it has found.

A great read!

BTW: I hope you had an awesome day!

Fester

The trouble with history is that modern historians keep repeating what other historians have repeated before them. Most are too lazy to wade through original documents. Instead, stories get changed over time, often to myths that individuals want to believe.

That doesn't mean bad things didn't happen, but the good things seem to fall by the wayside.

We just have to accept that some people hate Australia Day, Australia itself - but they won't act on what they have convinced themselves of and go somewhere else to live. There are lots of people who want to take their places.

I see the Islamic dissidents are now siding with the Invasion Day anti Australian brigade. Shouting Give the land back to aboriginals whose land was stolen by invaders. They supposedly came here for freedom from the war in Gaza and are bringing the same conflict into Australia. They should be deported as they are not integrating into our values of inclusion. They are creating social conflict and creating unsettlement to community inclusion.

Josephus

Agree. And just look who brought the Arab rabble here - another 800 of them in too short a time for proper vetting.

The following link is interesting:

http://abc.net.au/news/2023-03-26/harmony-week-why-im-tired-of-being-told-to-be-grateful/102123256

There's so much information in state and national libraries
to be had. Genuine historical primary sources are readily
available. Facts are documented. The writings of genuine
historians are on the shelves. These historians
do not ignore documentary evidence that contradicts
their own ideology.

Josephus

Yes, some Palestinians embrace the values of "them and us", "we were here first", and "go back to where you came from", which pretty much sums up the reasons for the peace and love situation observed between the Israelis and Arabs today. That is why I believe equality and inclusion such valuable principles. Cult leader Albo tried to trash that principle with his apartheid Australia referendum and failed, but I was sad to see attempts to create division and hatred in Australia along the same lines with the anti-oz day push again this year.

As much as you might fear people, I feel that equality and inclusion are great strengths of our civilisation, and the main reasons I voted "no".