Foxy, it's not a bundle of laughs, but see if you can get hold of "The Water Diviner".

Russell Crowe may not be to everyone's taste as an actor (I reckon he's underrated), but if this film is anything to go by, he's going to be a hell of a director.

'What do you think made this country so great -
and why? And should we change the date of
Australia Day?'

Foxy

freedom of speach
freedom to worship
opportunities for all who want to work
prosperity even for those on the dole
good medical facilities
acceptance of diversity
good housing
great beaches and parks

by and large the adoption of Judea/Christian ethics have produced the high standard of living we enjoy. Many of the settlers turned bushland in food producing areas, barrenness in fruitfulness and built roads, hospitals and schools. Before the settlers arrived the place was very uncivilised unless of course you are a revisionist when it comes to history

No one has given a good reason to change the date for Australia day.

It is interesting how the 'Usual Suspects' on the forum try and evoke their worm and fuzzy feelings when it comes to Australia Day, whilst at the same time totally ignoring the plight of Aboriginal people, as it began in 1788. These feel goods, basically claim the indigenous people got what they deserved, and should be grateful for the generosity of the European and, any failures in the ensuing 200 odd years has been totally the fault of the Aboriginal and his failure to assimilate.

Ironically, these 'Usual Suspects' now days fear a Muslim takeover of Australia, which will destroy their Aussie way of life, if it was to come to pass, like the Aboriginal, you will just have to grin and bear it, and put it down to history.

says Paul as he types on his computer.

"We must be the only country in the world that marks
it's national day not by celebrating its identity,
but by questioning it."
(Ken Boundy).

I've come across a very interesting link that discusses
the topic of "Australia Day."

I'd like to just quote a little from it to broaden
this discuiion further. I'll give the link at the end .

"Australia Day is arguably the most unique national day
in the world, because rather than unite, it seems to
divide Australians into different viewpoints. It is
celebrated on January 26th, which is the anniversary of
the arrival of the First Fleet of criminals in 1788.
Ironically, Australian governments have been reluctant
to acknowledge this history with any prescriptive
symbolism or speeches."

"Without any prescriptive symbolism, the majority of
Australians just use the day to have a barbeque or do
some other pastime that takes advantage of the great things
about the Australian lifestyle."

"While the lack of prescription is embraced by some, it
concerns some of the more sombre-minded Australians who
have interpreted it to mean that the government is
celebrating the invasion of Australia and the dispossession
of Aborigines. These Australians usually use the day to
participate in an Aboriginal protest march or call for the
date to be changed."

The link then goes on to give examples of some typical
views. It continue with :

"For convicts,January 26th 1788 was not a happy time.
It marked the establishment of a penal colony that
suffered some of the worst human rights violations
that the world had ever seen. Women were packed raped by
officers on transport ships and then assigned to free
settlers as if cattle. Men were flogged until their
backbones were exposed to flies ..."

cont'd ...

cont'd ...

It's worth reading the entire article.

It ends up by stating that:

"Australia is a nation united by the idea that all
are welcome who want to call the country home.
Inevitably this assumption is abused by people
intent on imposing their version of how this country
should be, some whose families have been here for
many generations and others but one. We saw the
disgraceful outcome of these attitudes in the
circumstances surrounding the December 2005 Cronulla
Riots."

"But, Australia has welcomed nearly seven million
migrants since 1945, demonstrating that the vast
majority of us have an expansive idea of who can be
included among "all" Australians."

http://www.convictcreations.com/culture/traditions.htm

I shall be celebrating Australia Day as usual.