Politics, Poetry and Reviews

Tag: australia day

National Holiday

I was born and live on Wurundjeri land.

That probably tells you everything you need to know about my views on Australia Day and whether we should change the date, but when did that ever stop me from writing a blog post?

I don’t actually know a lot about the history of this country before European settlers arrived (which was not, incidentally, on January 26, 1788.  Though apparently that *was* the date the French arrived at Botany Bay, so we should probably be putting snails, not snags, on the barbie, if barbecues are our thing…).

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Australia Day

The National Australia Day Council (we have a council for this?) apparently think that we ought to stop everything at midday today and sing the Australian National Anthem.

It’s hard to know where to start, frankly.  The satire practically writes itself.

I mean, I love the idea of asking the nation to pause for a minute of silence and then to sing a song that includes the line ‘for those who’ve come across the seas we’ve boundless plains to share’.  We should absolutely do that.  Actually, I’ve been to quite a few rallies and the like for asylum seekers that have done just that.  I’m a little surprised to see Tony Abbott getting in on the idea, but hey, how can this be a bad thing..?

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