Bravo to the Fremantle Councillors who junked January 26 as Australia Day.

How would the Poles take it if Germany designated September 01 "Germany Day" after the day in 1939 in which the Huns (not today's German people) launched the Blitzkrieg invasion of Poland?

Yet we celebrate the day when the British (not today's Australian people) invaded the continent we now all live on and were soon massacring the local population.

The day to commemorate as Australia Day is December 03, the day in 1954 when people from many birthplaces came together and fought as one against the British - an event crucial to the progress towards the modern Australia to which all ethnicities in our land belong today.

December 03 1854 not 1954

The fact is January 26th is New South Wales Day, as it was on this day in 1788 Governor Arthur Phillip proclaimed New South Wales as a British colony in the name of George III. There was no mention of Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, Western Australia, Northern Territory or Tasmania.
Until some time around 1901 the other colonies had little regard for events of 26th January 1788. So why call it Australia Day?

Come now, Julian, Eureka was a rising by mainly foreign men,temporarily in Australia in the hope of getting rich.

It has very little significance for Australia, absolutely none for Republicanism and has been hi-jacked for causes that were of some good and others that were nutty.

Read, Peter Fintan Lalor and Raffaello Carboni, they were both there.

Well it's at least 1/2 Australia Day as Philip took NSW to 135 longitude east, up the centre . But at Eureka it was not so clear-cut. Californian Rangers Revolver Brigade was 200 strong and just missed out on the action by 120 Irish and other colonials. With a bit more skill they could have made a run on Melbourne with all the public support and had New South California .

Re Is Mise

Foreigners who came to Australia to get rich could be described in today's terms as hardworking small businessmen. They formed a joint resistance against British laws and practices designed to bleed them white financially, to interfere with their work by a campaign of bullying (e.g. explore the British practice of frequent demands on miners to stop work and come to the surface to show their licences). The harassment was meant to provoke them, and it did at cost to the British gentry - leading to an organised rebellion with the effect of culminating quickly in the enfranchisement of the men as participants in evolving democratic society and Australian self-identification.

There's a good summary at http://www.sbs.com.au/gold/story.php?storyid=86 of what led to the rebellion against the British and its implications for Australian development - without having to become an academic scholar steeped in lengthy eyewitness accounts in order to come to valid conclusions.