Then we can all be treated equally, eh?  No more preferential treatment for special interest groups and minorities..... you know who I mean...

Grappler Deep State Feller wrote on Dec 21^st, 2022 at 10:09pm:


certainly, but the huge gap based on skin colour will need to be closed.

philperth2010 wrote on Dec 22^nd, 2022 at 10:39am:


And neither did any colonising/conquering groups or nations throughout the human history of the globe. But those countries grew & changed with the times.

The Indonesians are still committing genocide & oppressing the Melanesians of West Papua.

Aboriginals may have been here first but they had no discernable nation/s or civilization to the British observers at the time. They were scattered tribal groups of people.

They had no notion of "nation" or "ownership".


I'm indigenous to this land dopey .... I was born here.


First Peoples would be OK .... but there are none left ..... just as there are no British Capts, Governors, Troops or convicts left...

just descendants thereof.

You are just a guilt ridden over emotive SJW wanker.

Gnads wrote on Dec 22^nd, 2022 at 12:53pm:


You are not a decendant of the "First Nation" people you cock sucker....You are a racist right wing wanker with no credability and no argument....Using the argument that other people were treated worse shows what a racist dickhead you are....If history doesn't matter why do you cling to Mother f@cking England you closet POME bastard???

Grappler Deep State Feller wrote on Dec 22^nd, 2022 at 12:35pm:


Priceless ...but wouldn't you feel silly saying she is "black"?

Prior to 1888, 26 January was very much a New South Wales affair, as each of the colonies had its own commemoration for its founding. In Tasmania, Regatta Day occurred initially in December to mark the anniversary of the landing of Abel Tasman.[34] South Australia celebrated Proclamation Day on 28 December. Western Australia had its own Foundation Day (now Western Australia Day) on 1 June.[25]

The decision to mark the occasion of the First Fleet’s arrival in 1788 at Sydney Cove and Captain Arthur Phillip’s proclamation of British sovereignty over the eastern continent on 26 January was first made outside NSW by the Australian Natives' Association (ANA), a group of white "native-born" middle-class men formed in Victoria in 1871.[35] They dubbed the day "ANA Day".[5]

In 1888, all colonial capitals except Adelaide celebrated "Anniversary Day". In 1910, South Australia adopted 26 January as "Foundation Day",[25] to replace another holiday known as Accession Day, which had been held on 22 January to mark the accession to the throne of King Edward VII, who died in May 1910.[36]

The first Australia Day was established in response to Australia's involvement in World War I. In 1915, Ellen "Ellie" Wharton Kirke MBE, née Clements, mother of four servicemen, thought up the idea of a national day, with the specific aim of raising funds for wounded soldiers,[37] and the term was coined to stir up patriotic feelings.[38][36] In 1915 a committee to celebrate Australia Day was formed, and the date chosen was 30 July,[39] on which many fund-raising efforts were run to support the war effort.[40] It was also held in July in subsequent years of World War I: on 28 July 1916,[40] 27 July 1917,[41] and 26 July 1918.[42]

The idea of a national day to be celebrated on 26 January was slow to catch on, partly because of competition with Anzac Day.[43] Victoria adopted 26 January as Australia Day in 1931,[28] and by 1935, all states of Australia were celebrating 26 January as Australia Day (although it was still known as Anniversary Day in New South Wales).[25] The name "Foundation Day" persisted in local usage.[44]

1936–1960s
Sesquicentenary parade in Sydney, 26 January 1938

The 150th anniversary of British settlement in Australia in 1938 was widely celebrated. Preparations began in 1936 with the formation of a Celebrations Council. In that year, New South Wales was the only state to abandon the traditional long weekend, and the annual Anniversary Day public holiday was held on the anniversary day – Wednesday 26 January.[25]

The Commonwealth and state governments agreed to unify the celebrations on 26 January as "Australia Day" in 1946,[45] although the public holiday was instead taken on the Monday closest to the anniversary.[46]

Historian Ken Inglis wrote in 1967 that Australia Day was not celebrated publicly in Canberra at that time.[43]

1988: Bicentenary

In 1988, the celebration of 200 years since the arrival of the First Fleet was organised on a large scale as the Australian Bicentenary, with many significant events taking place in all major cities.[25] Over 2.5 million people attended the event in Sydney.[28] These included street parties, concerts, including performances on the steps and forecourt of the Sydney Opera House and at many other public venues, art and literary competitions, historic re-enactments, and the opening of the Powerhouse Museum at its new location. A re-enactment of the arrival of the First Fleet took place in Sydney Harbour, with ships that had sailed from Portsmouth a year earlier taking part.[25][28]

Everybody likes to talk about Australia Day as if it has always been set in stone.  It hasn't.  It has only existed as a National Holiday since 1988.  How about we talk realistically about it, instead of all the emotional appears to national pride we have seen, or is that too hard for some here?  Tsk, tsk, tsk...