DB/Poly is a good person!

Lately I have watched him picked and picked by the forums name callers.

More so than I have ever seen anyone else cop it...

I think it needs to stop. It's obviously hurtful.

Meredith,

Light hearted values? Hardly,
you haven't read enough of me to make that conclusion if you had you'd realize how inappropriate that comment is.

Have you read about the Burma railway? Lots of AUSSIES were there and lots died in horrific circumstances only they were worked/starved/ beaten and diseased slowly to death.
Besides which what has the holocaust go to do with AUSTRALIA DAY?
There is a time and a place for that type of rememberance.
I think you've gone off on a tangent.

Col Rouge,
No not all I can comment on lots but I proposed this question for other peoples' comments.
As for the vodka invite I will if you will first when I see it on the news I'll remember you but I must admit it might take some time before I end it all I'm having too much fun.
BTW Didn't you see the comment 'yes it's satire' I wrote it especially for you and David. Not the satire just the comment. :-)

I'm proudly Australian and would love to have an Australia Day that is truly inclusive and that all Australians can celebrate with pride. The day in its current form doesn't quite cut it for me yet and I'm sure for many others.

To begin with, I agree with Ludwig and Mac, it's being celebrated on the wrong date. Celebrating the arrival of the First Fleet automatically excludes the many Australians who rue the day their ancestors' lands were invaded and taken from them. I'd prefer to see it celebrated on Eureka Day (December 3rd) or as Mac suggested on Republic Day (on whatever date that eventually ends up being).

As well, if we're going to parade the national flag to the extent we now do on this day, I'm sorry Foxy, but it too needs to be inclusive of all Australians. I'd like something new and bold, something that still gives the nod to our British inheritance to some small degree, but which also includes some symbolism that speaks to Australia's original inhabitants and to the history that is uniquely Australian, again perhaps Eureka's flag seems very fitting here.

Finally and most importantly, we need to become a truly welcoming and generous country first, if the meaning of the day is to advance beyond its current narrow and jingoistic flag waving. For as long as Australia continues to demonise innocent aslyum seekers, imposes a narrowly defined citizenship test, denies Aborigines true land justice and lurks in the shadow of Cronulla (as evidenced here by BD's petty little outburst), the day will remain a day that shines on the favoured and shuts out the rest.

Until things change fairly radically, I'm afraid I'll be leaving the flag waving to others.

Dear Bronwyn,

Beautifully put.

I salute you, dear lady.
You've summed it up so well.
I only wish I would have given my
posts more thought.

Bronwyn,

I should have also written that we Australians don't have any bloodstained significant events such as wars of independence, revolutions or civil wars, that defined us as a society.I haven't forgotten the dispossession of the indigenous inhabitants, this is one characteristic we share with other settler societies. The choice of 26th January as our national day is a rather ludicrous attempt to define ourselves through the actions of the British, which is the antithesis of a true national celebration,it seems to me a symptom of the colonial mentality of many Australians.