tag:theconversation.com,2011:/au/topics/australia-day-2159/articlesAustralia Day – The Conversation2024-02-04T20:09:51Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2222572024-02-04T20:09:51Z2024-02-04T20:09:51ZLabor’s Newspoll lead unchanged since December as 62% support stage three changes<p>A national <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/newspoll-electoral-status-quo-as-voters-back-tax-cuts-but-no-reward-for-labor-on-broken-promise/news-story/73a1403b8c6b4f92dd4cf63b377e526c">Newspoll</a>, conducted January 31 to February 3 from a sample of 1,245, gave Labor a 52–48 lead, unchanged since the <a href="https://theconversation.com/labor-regains-lead-in-newspoll-after-tie-but-freshwater-has-a-50-50-tie-219404">previous Newspoll</a> in mid-December. Primary votes were 36% Coalition (steady), 34% Labor (up one), 12% Greens (down one), 7% One Nation (steady) and 11% for all Others (steady).</p>
<p>Anthony Albanese’s net approval dropped one point to -9, while Peter Dutton’s net approval was down four points to -13. Albanese led Dutton as better PM by an unchanged 46–35. The <a href="https://www.pollbludger.net/2024/02/04/newspoll-52-48-to-labor-open-thread-3/">Poll Bludger</a> has the Newspoll figures.</p>
<p>On the stage three tax cut modifications, 62% thought the government did the right thing by changing the tax cuts to give lower- and middle-income people a greater share, while 29% thought the government should have kept its promise and implemented the tax cuts without changes.</p>
<p>On whether voters would be personally better or worse off under the changes, 38% said they would be better off, 37% about the same and 18% worse off.</p>
<p>Here is a graph of Albanese’s net approval in Newspoll. His net approval is still well below zero, and hasn’t recovered to its level before the Voice referendum defeat.</p>
<p>In economic news, the Australian Bureau of Statistics released the <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/economy/price-indexes-and-inflation/consumer-price-index-australia/latest-release">December 2023 quarter inflation report</a> last Wednesday. Headline annual inflation was 4.1%, down from a peak of 7.8% in December 2022. The December quarter inflation was 0.6%, down from 1.2% in the September quarter, and the lowest quarterly inflation since March 2021. Lower inflation should assist Labor.</p>
<h2>Essential poll: 48–46 to Labor</h2>
<p>In last week’s <a href="https://essentialreport.com.au/reports/federal-political-insights">federal Essential poll</a>, conducted January 24–28 from a sample of 1,201, Labor led by 48–46 including undecided (49–46 in December). Labor has led by one-to-three points in all Essential polls since late October. </p>
<p>Primary votes were 34% Coalition (steady), 32% Labor (up one), 13% Greens (steady), 7% One Nation (up one), 2% UAP (steady), 7% for all Others (down two) and 5% undecided (steady). Analyst <a href="https://twitter.com/kevinbonham/status/1752176539029148047">Kevin Bonham said Labor</a> would have about a 53–47 lead in this poll by 2022 election preference flows. Essential’s respondent preferences have favoured the Coalition.</p>
<p>Albanese had a 47–41 <a href="https://essentialreport.com.au/reports/30-january-2024">disapproval rating</a> (47–42 in November), while Dutton was at 43–38 disapproval (42–39 previously).</p>
<p>On the stage three tax changes, 47% (up six since November) said they should be revised so they mostly benefit those on low and middle incomes, 22% (up two) go ahead as originally planned, 19% (down three) deferred for those earning over $200,000 and 13% (down three) thought they should be cancelled altogether. I had more on <a href="https://theconversation.com/extra-senators-for-act-and-nt-will-benefit-left-but-increase-malapportionment-218708">these questions in November</a>.</p>
<p>On the Israel-Palestine conflict, 67% (up five since November) said Australia should stay out entirely, 17% (steady) said it should provide active assistance to Israel while 16% (down five) believed Australia should provide active assistance to Palestine.</p>
<p>By 47–12, respondents thought things had improved for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the past ten years (42–10 in January 2023). On a separate national day to recognise Indigenous Australians, 40% (up seven since January 2023) did not support a separate day, 31% (down two) supported a separate day and keeping Australia Day and 18% (down eight) supported replacing Australia Day.</p>
<p>On the ABC, 39% thought news reporting and comment independent and unbiased, and 39% thought otherwise. On artificial intelligence (AI), 65% thought regulation should be mandatory. On AI opportunities and risks, 45% thought it carries more risk than opportunity, 21% more opportunity than risk and 33% that risk and opportunity are about the same.</p>
<h2>Morgan poll and a second Queensland byelection</h2>
<p>In last week’s <a href="https://www.roymorgan.com/findings/9449-federal-voting-intention-january-29-2024">federal Morgan poll</a>, conducted January 22–28 from a sample of 1,688, Labor led by 50.5–49.5, a two-point gain for the Coalition since the previous week. Primary votes were 37.5% Coalition (up 1.5), 31% Labor (down 1.5), 13% Greens (up 0.5), 5.5% One Nation (up 0.5) and 13% for all Others (down one).</p>
<p>I covered the March 16 Queensland state byelection in Inala <a href="https://theconversation.com/trump-wins-new-hampshire-primary-and-closes-in-on-republican-nomination-labor-gains-in-australian-polls-221406">last fortnight</a>. A second Queensland byelection will also occur on March 16 after <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/elections/bcc/2024/guide/ipwe">Ipswich West’s</a> Labor member Jim Madden resigned to contest the Ipswich local government elections on March 16. </p>
<p>At the 2020 state election, Labor defeated the Liberal Nationals by a 64.3–35.7 margin in Ipswich West. One Nation had finished second in 2017. While normally a safe Labor seat, One Nation won Ipswich West in 1998 and the LNP in 2012.</p>
<h2>Biden wins 96% in South Carolina Democratic primary</h2>
<p>At Saturday’s United States <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/02/03/us/elections/results-south-carolina-democratic-primary.html">Democratic presidential primary</a> in South Carolina, Joe Biden won 96.2% of the vote, Marianne Williamson 2.1% and Dean Phillips 1.7%. This result makes it all but certain that Biden will be the Democratic presidential nominee.</p>
<p>In the Republican presidential contest, Donald Trump leads Nikki Haley nationally by 73.6–17.2 in the <a href="https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/president-primary-r/2024/national/?ex_cid=abcpromo">FiveThirtyEight aggregate</a>. The next important contest is the February 24 Republican primary in South Carolina, Haley’s home state. Trump leads by 61.8–31.7 in <a href="https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/president-primary-r/2024/south-carolina/">South Carolina polls</a>.</p>
<p>Trump is very likely to effectively seal the Republican nomination on Super Tuesday March 5, when many states vote. By this date, 47.4% of <a href="https://www.thegreenpapers.com/P24/ccad.phtml">Republican delegates</a> to their July nominating convention will have been determined.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222257/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adrian Beaumont does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>While two-party preferred polling is steady, a majority of Australians support Labor’s changes to the stage 3 tax cuts.Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2216122024-01-25T20:48:09Z2024-01-25T20:48:09ZSupport for Australia Day celebration on January 26 drops: new research<p>The decision by several major retailers to stop stocking Australia Day merchandise has become the latest flashpoint in an ongoing debate over whether the nation should be celebrated on January 26.</p>
<p>In response to this decision, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has called for a boycott of Woolworths and criticised those who oppose Australia Day as “woke CEOs” and “whingers”. But what do the Australian public actually think about January 26?</p>
<p>In 2021, we conducted <a href="https://theconversation.com/60-of-australians-want-to-keep-australia-day-on-january-26-but-those-under-35-disagree-175503">a study</a> that showed while 60% of Australians continued to support the celebration of Australia Day on January 26, these figures were significantly lower among younger Australians. We predicted support for the day would continue to decline.</p>
<p>We tested this prediction as part of the latest wave of the Deakin Contemporary History survey, undertaken 20 months after our initial survey. In June 2023, we polled a representative, random sample of more than 3,500 Australians.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/D9D-uSDhhJo?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>Given that other, smaller polls, less representative of the Australian population, grab media attention on this question, it is important to note that, as with our earlier survey, data were carefully gathered to represent a cross-section of Australian society. Participants from all Australian states and territories were randomly selected and data were weighted to ensure they reflected the broader Australian adult population. In short, it is the biggest and best data set we have.</p>
<p>In November 2021, we posed the same proposition: we should not celebrate Australia Day on January 26. We also asked other questions about respondents’ attitudes to Australian and world history.</p>
<p>We thought Australians might change their opinions within a 20-month period, given this question was a dynamic one shaped partly by factors such as the looming Voice referendum and public reporting of the destruction of Indigenous heritage. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/60-of-australians-want-to-keep-australia-day-on-january-26-but-those-under-35-disagree-175503">60% of Australians want to keep Australia Day on January 26, but those under 35 disagree</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Our findings supported this thinking. In 2021, 60% of those surveyed stated they strongly disagreed or disagreed with the statement. In 2023, 56% of those surveyed strongly disagreed or disagreed with the statement.</p>
<p>The one other <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-research-reveals-our-complex-attitudes-to-australia-day-110035">survey undertaken in the same manner as ours was in 2019</a>, when 70% of Australians favoured retaining January 26 as Australia Day. The shift in support from 70% in 2019 to 56% in 2023 is very pronounced.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/new-research-reveals-our-complex-attitudes-to-australia-day-110035">New research reveals our complex attitudes to Australia Day</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>We can conclude that while a small majority of Australians continue to support the celebration of Australia Day on January 26, support for this position is declining.</p>
<p>When we break down the responses by age, it is clear there are significant differences between cohorts on this question. In both surveys, the majority of respondents under 35 agreed we should not celebrate Australia Day on January 26. In 2021, 53% of those under 35 did not want to celebrate on 26 January. In 2023, this figure rose to 57%.</p>
<p>However, agreement that we should not celebrate Australia Day on January 26 increased in every age group. The most significant shift occurred in the 35-54 age group, where agreement with the statement increased from 35% to 42%. Given the short time between surveys, this is a statistically significant shift in public opinion.</p>
<p>Notably, while younger Australians might be leading the push for change, there is a shift towards change in all age groups.</p>
<p>Of course, agreement with this statement may reflect a variety of attitudes to Australia Day. Within the broader debates around January 26, there are those who believe the nation should be celebrated on a different day (represented by the slogan “Change the Date”) and those who believe it is not appropriate to celebrate the nation on any day (reflected in the slogan “Change the Date, We Still Won’t Celebrate”).</p>
<p>Our survey provides evidence that many of those who oppose celebrations on the 26 January are not opposed to national pride or celebration. When we asked respondents whether history should celebrate the nation’s past, 74% of respondents agreed. This suggests a strong desire among many Australians to promote a positive view of Australia. </p>
<p>As with the Australia Day question, however, there were significant differences between the age groups. While 65% of those aged 18-34 answered that history should celebrate the nation, this view increased by age, with 84% of those over 75 agreeing.</p>
<p>These surveys suggest that at this time, only a small – and declining – majority of Australians still support the celebration of Australia Day on January 26. Certainly, it is already inaccurate to argue that this is only the province of the “elite”, the “entitled” or the “woke”. </p>
<p>Further, given that the majority of those under 35 already support changing or abolishing the date, it is highly likely that within the next five to ten years a majority of Australians will hold this view.</p>
<p>There might not be clarity on what we celebrate and when we do it, but the momentum shift away from January 26 is clear. Younger Australians may be leading the push for change but – contrary to what some suggest – there is also a broader and growing discomfort around this much-debated date.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221612/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Lowe receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the Australian Department of Veterans' Affairs. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Singleton receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joanna Cruickshank receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>New polling shows a significant drop in support for January 26 in just two years.David Lowe, Chair in Contemporary History, Deakin UniversityAndrew Singleton, Professor of Sociology and Social Research, Deakin UniversityJoanna Cruickshank, Senior Lecturer in History, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2219812024-01-25T10:31:32Z2024-01-25T10:31:32ZMelanoma treatment pioneers joint Australians of the Year<p>Pioneers in melanoma treatment, professors Georgina Long and Richard Scolyer, are the joint 2024 Australians of the Year. </p>
<p>The Sydney-based professors are the co-directors of Melanoma Institute Australia, and their partnership is credited with saving thousands of lives. </p>
<p>Their work on immunotherapy, which activates the patient’s own immune system to fight the cancer, advanced melanoma from a fatal disease to one that is curable. </p>
<p>Around 18,000 Australians are <a href="https://www.canceraustralia.gov.au/cancer-types/melanoma/statistics#:%7E:text=In%202021%2C%20melanoma%20of%20the,958%20males%20and%20497%20females">diagnosed</a> with melanoma each year, with the cancer killing <a href="https://melanoma.org.au/about-melanoma/">1,300 people</a> a year. However the chance of death from melanoma has declined rapidly over the past decade. </p>
<p>Scolyer, 57, was diagnosed last year with incurable, stage four brain cancer. He made himself a guinea pig for high-risk treatment for brain cancer and, using the team’s melanoma breakthroughs, became the world’s first brain cancer patient to have combination immunotherapy before surgery. </p>
<p>Scolyer has now exceeded the median time for recurrence. “Still no recurrence of my supposedly incurable #glioblastoma!,” he wrote this week on his <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ProfRScolyer">Facebook page</a>, My Uncertain Path, where he publicly documents his cancer journey. “Median time to recurrence for all patients is 6 months; I’m now out to 8 months!” </p>
<p>Sculler told ABC’s Australian Story program, “Brain cancer doctors were so worried this would kill me quicker or result in terrible side effects. But so far so good.”</p>
<p>He said for him the medical decision was “not a hard decision to make when you’re faced with certain death. I’m more than happy to be the guinea pig to do this.” </p>
<p>Long told the program, “We’ve taken everything, absolutely every bit of knowledge … that we’ve pioneered in melanoma and we’ve thrown it at Richard’s tumour.”</p>
<p>The pair hope the lessons they’ve learnt from Scolyer’s treatment journey can inform future treatments for melanoma. Their goal is to eventually see the melanoma death toll fall to zero and to impact other cancers as well. </p>
<p>Long and Scolyer have also highlighted the need to design better clinical trials and ensure patient have greater access, as well as embedding more research into clinical care. </p>
<p>The 2024 Senior Australian of the Year, Yalmay Yunupiŋu, is a teacher, linguist and community leader from Yirrkala, Northern Territory.</p>
<p>Young Australian of the Year is Emma Mckeon, described as “the most successful Australian Olympian of all time”. At the 2020 Summer Olympics, she became the first female swimmer and 2nd woman in history to win seven medals in a single Olympics. </p>
<p>The Local Hero of the Year, David Elliott, is the co-founder of the Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum in Queensland. His discovery of a dinosaur fossil while mustering sheep in 1999 led to the revival of Australia’s palaeontology field and “the creation of a palaeo-tourism industry that put outback Queensland on the map.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221981/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Pioneers in melanoma treatment, professors Georgina Long and Richard Scolyer, are the joint 2024 Australians of the Year.Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2202882024-01-25T04:32:17Z2024-01-25T04:32:17ZThe more you know: people with better understanding of Australia’s colonial history more likely to support moving Australia Day<p>There have been calls to change the date of Australia Day/Invasion Day since <a href="https://aiatsis.gov.au/explore/day-of-mourning">as far back as 1938</a>. </p>
<p>January 26 marks the day in 1788 when the First Fleet landed in Australia to establish the colony of New South Wales. This is a day of mourning for most Aboriginal people and is <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-day-i-dont-feel-australian-that-would-be-australia-day-36352">seen by many as an inappropriate</a> and offensive day to celebrate as a nation. </p>
<p>This year’s debate around the date has added context of the recent Voice to Parliament referendum. The failure of the Voice referendum demonstrated the reluctance of many Australians to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ aspirations for social and political change.</p>
<p>Changing the date of Australia Day and the proposed Voice to Parliament have both been calls for Australia to <a href="https://srcentre.com.au/bbqsandblackarmbands/Barbeques%20and%20black%20armbands%20-%20A%20Life%20in%20Australia%20report%20by%20D%20Pennay%20and%20F%20Bongiorno.pdf">acknowledge</a> Australia’s history and the enduring legacy of colonisation.</p>
<p>Many explanations have been offered for the resounding No vote from non-Indigenous people in the referendum. Our new research to be published later this year, suggests community ignorance and apathy towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander issues may lie at the core of the No vote. This could also drive reluctance to change the date of Australia Day.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/change-the-date-debates-about-january-26-distract-from-the-truth-telling-australia-needs-to-do-197046">'Change the date' debates about January 26 distract from the truth telling Australia needs to do</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Our research findings</h2>
<p>Following the Voice to Parliament referendum, our team of Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers conducted a survey with a representative sample of around 2,500 non-Indigenous Australians. This survey addressed how they felt about issues including changing the date of Australia Day, displaying Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags in official and public places, and Acknowledgement of Country and Welcome to Country ceremonies.</p>
<p>More than two-thirds (68.6%) of No voters were opposed to changing the date of Australia Day (compared with only 21.6% of Yes voters). No voters were more likely to support the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags and were less supportive of Welcome to and Acknowledgement of Country ceremonies. </p>
<p><iframe id="AnAK6" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/AnAK6/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p><iframe id="VrpVl" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/VrpVl/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p><iframe id="c0SFX" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/c0SFX/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p><iframe id="BJNuw" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/BJNuw/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Our survey also explored how people’s views on the lasting impacts of colonisation and their knowledge of Australian history, particularly regarding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, shape their support of these issues. </p>
<p>In an initial survey two weeks before the Voice vote, we asked our representative sample of non-Indigenous Australians about their views on a range of issues and perspectives relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. We also gave them a short quiz on their knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history. This included questions about Australia’s colonial history (such as self-determination policies, native title, and the 1967 referendum).</p>
<p>We found that on average Australians fared poorly on our quiz – with almost three-quarters (72.9%) of our sample failing to correctly answer more than half of our multiple-choice questions correctly. </p>
<p>Interestingly, there was a clear pattern whereby Yes voters had a better knowledge of colonial history. </p>
<p><iframe id="0PDwM" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/0PDwM/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>Knowledge is a large factor in attitudes towards First Nations people</h2>
<p>Our research found the more historical knowledge people have, the more strongly they support changing the date of Australia Day, implementing the rest of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, and rejecting calls to remove Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags or to ban Acknowledgement of and Welcome to Country.</p>
<p><iframe id="T2zgu" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/T2zgu/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p><iframe id="9r7ck" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/9r7ck/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p><iframe id="bDaZM" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/bDaZM/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>People who knew more of the nation’s history also tended to agree that colonisation has an ongoing impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and that reparations are needed to address these impacts. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12818">Research</a> has also shown people who participate in Invasion Day rallies to protest Australia Day are more likely to acknowledge the ongoing impact of colonisation.</p>
<p>These results suggest knowledge of Australia’s history influenced how people voted in the Voice referendum, and people’s support for changing the date of Australia Day. </p>
<p><a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0956797612451466">Research</a> in the United States has shown that ignorance of racial oppression throughout history is linked to present-day denial of racism. Our research suggests a similar pattern may be evident here in Australia.</p>
<h2>So what now?</h2>
<p><a href="https://ulurustatement.org/the-statement/view-the-statement/">The Uluru Statement from the Heart</a> calls for a Makarrata Commission to begin the process of Truth Telling about Australia’s history at a national level. Our findings highlight how the establishment of formal truth telling will be vital to the process of education, reconciliation and healing in Australia.</p>
<p>It’s widely acknowledged that school curricula often fall short in addressing historical narratives and experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Many students graduate with a <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/how-indigenous-history-is-taught-in-nsw-schools-20200616-p5534w.html">limited understanding</a> of the ongoing impacts of colonisation on Indigenous communities. Efforts to incorporate Indigenous knowledge in education curricula are <a href="https://indigenousknowledge.unimelb.edu.au/curriculum#project-team">continuing</a>. However progress is often slow and <a href="https://lens.monash.edu/@education/2021/07/09/1383496/invasion-or-reconciliation-what-matters-in-the-australian-curriculum">politically fraught</a>. </p>
<p>Ignorance of the past is not only a product of failed school curricula though, as suggested in historian Henry Reynolds’ old question “<a href="https://www.penguin.com.au/books/why-werent-we-told-9780140278422">why weren’t we told?</a>”. The history is now more available than ever, so there is no excuse for Australians to remain unaware of the past. </p>
<p>Public support to change the date has been <a href="https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/8061205/many-australians-support-changing-the-date-acm-survey/">steadily growing</a>. Some changes in national celebrations have happened at the local government level. The <a href="https://www.fremantle.wa.gov.au/news-and-media/one-day-truth-telling">City of Fremantle</a> was the first in the country not to celebrate Australia Day, and in 2024 is instead focusing on a <a href="https://www.fremantle.wa.gov.au/news-and-media/one-day-truth-telling#:%7E:text=In%202024%2C%20the%20City%20of,inclusive%20alternative%20to%20Australia%20Day.">year-long program of Truth Telling</a>. </p>
<p>Some public institutions have made similar changes, such as radio station <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/triplej/news/triple-j-hottest-100-is-moving-to-a-new-date-and-heres-why/9197254">Triple J</a> moving its annual Hottest 100 to the fourth weekend of January each year instead of January 26. Federal and state governments, though, have shown little appetite for change. </p>
<p>As Australians come together to protest or celebrate Australia Day this year, it will be a clear reminder that we remain divided over how to commemorate the past. </p>
<p>This country’s colonial history needs to be understood and acknowledged by all Australians if we are to move forward together as a nation.</p>
<p><em>The authors acknowledge their fellow research team members Michael Platow and Aseel Sahib for their invaluable contributions.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220288/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Olivia Evans receives funding from Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Iain Walker has received funding from the Australian Research Council and the Medical Research Future Fund. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kate Reynolds receives funding from the Australian Research Council and ACT Government. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tegan Cruwys receives research funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council and the Australian Research Council</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hema Preya Selvanathan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>After the Voice to Parliament referendum, researchers asked a sample of Australians how they felt about issues including changing the date of Australia Day.Olivia Evans, Indigenous Research Fellow, Australian National UniversityHema Preya Selvanathan, Lecturer, School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, The University of QueenslandIain Walker, Professor of Psychology, The University of MelbourneKate Reynolds, Professor of Educational Psychology & Learning, Faculty of Education, The University of MelbourneTegan Cruwys, Professor and Clinical Psychologist, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2217432024-01-24T19:06:04Z2024-01-24T19:06:04ZWhat’s behind Woolworths, Aldi and Kmart distancing themselves from Australia Day?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571029/original/file-20240124-19-hrfn7d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=6%2C613%2C4345%2C2448&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/aussie-thongs-beach-254045218">Kairosing/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Earlier this month, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01-11/woolworths-big-w-shops-australia-day-merch-sales-decision/103309612">Woolworths</a> announced it would no longer stock merchandise promoting Australia Day on January 26, a date surrounded by controversy.</p>
<p>While observed as a national public holiday for more than 90 years, a 2021 <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/jan/17/conservative-politicians-stoking-australia-day-debate-online-with-paid-ads-analysis-finds">ABC social survey</a> found 55% of Australians supported changing the date.</p>
<p><a href="https://insiderguides.com.au/why-is-australia-day-so-controversial/">January 26</a> marks the beginning of the colonisation of Australia, bringing violence, theft and oppression to the First Nations peoples who had lived on the land for more than 50,000 years. It is also called Invasion Day, Survival Day or Day of Mourning.</p>
<p>Many <a href="https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/other-industries/more-aussie-businesses-adopt-woke-australia-day-stance/news-story/f31514b039e81173118174bf01215435">workplaces</a> including ANZ, Telstra and Woodside have encouraged the shift away from celebrating the date as Australia Day by offering employees an alternative day off.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-we-should-celebrate-australia-day-on-march-3-the-day-we-became-a-fully-independent-country-221015">Why we should celebrate Australia Day on March 3 – the day we became a fully independent country</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Woolworths is <a href="https://www.bandt.com.au/the-date-is-not-the-issue-kmart-jumps-on-board-australia-day-boycott/">not the only retailer</a> to distance itself from the date this year with Aldi announcing it will not stock Australia-themed products under its Special Buys promotion. Kmart has not sold items specific to January 26 since last year.</p>
<h2>The message the retailers are trying to send the community</h2>
<p>When corporations wade into sociopolitical activism, they commonly overplay social motivations and underplay expected gains to the bottom line. What is unusual about Woolworths’ position is that the company has defended this as a business decision first and foremost. </p>
<p>This raises questions about big retailers shying away from Australia Day merchandise for business rather than social reasons.</p>
<p>Why pursue a business-first, activism-second strategy? Does this appease shareholders? How does the public interpret “activism without activism” and is it authentic? Is this just a move to deflect away from exorbitant prices?</p>
<h2>A business case for activism</h2>
<p>Opposition leader Peter Dutton quickly labelled this as “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/jan/11/woolworths-big-w-australia-day-merchandise-dropped-sale-peter-dutton-boycott-calls">peddling woke agendas</a>”. But a Woolworths Group spokesperson cited a “<a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01-11/woolworths-big-w-shops-australia-day-merch-sales-decision/103309612">gradual decline</a>” in demand for Australia Day-themed products. They also acknowledged the broader discussion of January 26th’s significance to different communities.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571030/original/file-20240124-27-vlojmg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Large group of men and women protesting against Australia Day" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571030/original/file-20240124-27-vlojmg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571030/original/file-20240124-27-vlojmg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571030/original/file-20240124-27-vlojmg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571030/original/file-20240124-27-vlojmg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571030/original/file-20240124-27-vlojmg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571030/original/file-20240124-27-vlojmg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571030/original/file-20240124-27-vlojmg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A 2021 survey found 55% of Australians supported changing the date.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/search/australia-day-protest?image_type=photo">Shutterstock/Dave Hewison Photography</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A key reason to make a business case for corporate activism lies with <a href="https://www.smartcompany.com.au/business-advice/politics/shareholders-companies-yes-campaign-funding/">shareholders</a>. They typically oppose companies taking a stand on social justice issues believing businesses should “stay in their lane”.</p>
<p>Indeed, when Woolworths supported the Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum, it resulted in a <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/8e057289-2aa9-49b1-a1cf-e1de85c769a8">backlash</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0022242920937000">Academic research</a> indicates a brand’s activist position can harm shareholder returns. Investors view this as a misallocation of resources that threatens profit maximisation. Perceived <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0022243720947682">risk of corporate activism</a> is heightened for businesses with large market share, like Woolworths. They have more customers to lose and fewer to gain. </p>
<p>In this instance, Woolworths took a business-first, activism-second approach. This likely appeases shareholders because making merchandising decisions is well within Woolworths’ remit. Also, by the retailer cloaking its activism as profit maximisation, shareholders are less likely to be concerned. </p>
<p>As for customers, they increasingly understand the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0363811111001561">duality of a brand’s motives</a>. If there are perceptions of sufficient social impact, self-serving motives are also deemed acceptable. Woolworths illuminated the profit-making motive while subtly bringing to light the problematic history of Australia Day. </p>
<h2>Activism without activism?</h2>
<p>While Woolworths led with business reasons rather than support of First Nations peoples, it was interpreted by the public as a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/jan/15/peter-dutton-woolworths-australia-day-boycott-blamed-teneriffe-store-vandalism-metro-teneriffe">political act</a>, eliciting debate and grandstanding. </p>
<p>A company of this stature with significant marketing intelligence could have correctly predicted this reaction and made a calculated decision to take a stand on an issue at the front of the public’s mind. Yet this looks like activism without activism. Woolworths brought a sociopolitical issue to the fore but operated behind the curtain of dollars and cents. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/change-the-date-debates-about-january-26-distract-from-the-truth-telling-australia-needs-to-do-197046">'Change the date' debates about January 26 distract from the truth telling Australia needs to do</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Consumers are discerning about corporate activism, requiring companies to move beyond marketing rhetoric and demonstrate meaningful actions. Usually activism attracts criticism when brands are perceived to be <a href="https://theconversation.com/post-gillette-other-brands-are-better-at-matching-practice-with-talk-but-dont-get-the-publicity-110595">woke washing</a> - that is, misleading consumers about prosocial corporate practices. Brand activism is therefore sometimes viewed as a “<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0016328722001793">fake marketing trick</a>” because brands are not backing up their stance on social justice issues.</p>
<p>Woolworths by contrast has taken concrete action - not capitalising on the “Australia Day” term and imagery in its marketing and merchandise on January 26.
This move falls short of <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0743915620947359">authentic brand activism</a>.</p>
<h2>A deflection tactic?</h2>
<p>Australia’s fraught socioeconomic climate has put retailers in the spotlight. Currently, brands like Woolworths are facing media and political scrutiny for price gouging. In Queensland, there is a <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01-19/qld-grocery-prices-parliamentary-inquiry-woolworths-coles/103367088">parliamentary inquiry</a> into the discrepancy between prices paid to suppliers and those paid at the checkout. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and Senate are also holding inquiries.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571058/original/file-20240124-25-b1td3b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Signs promoting Aldi and Woolworths" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571058/original/file-20240124-25-b1td3b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571058/original/file-20240124-25-b1td3b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571058/original/file-20240124-25-b1td3b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571058/original/file-20240124-25-b1td3b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571058/original/file-20240124-25-b1td3b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571058/original/file-20240124-25-b1td3b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571058/original/file-20240124-25-b1td3b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Is the stance against Australia Day a move to distract from the pricing inquiries?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Rob1037/Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Aside from making room for more profitable merchandise or advancing the reconciliation agenda, is Woolworths deflecting attention from its role in these problems? Changing the conversation to something time-bound (that is, likely to die down January 27th) may be beneficial. </p>
<p>Research speaks to such a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0363811194900558?ref=pdf_download&fr=RR-2&rr=849d29c54d921f66">values-based strategy</a>. Brands call on social initiatives to deflect from negative issues and improve future discourse about their business. In this case, directing discussion to their social responsiveness, even if secondary, enables Woolworths to <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13563467.2021.1926954">divert attention away</a> from potentially exploitative practices. </p>
<h2>Corporate activism: an expanding and evolving strategy</h2>
<p>Woolworths’ approach to activism warrants examination. While the company took action that ostensibly opposes the celebration of Australia Day on January 26, they communicated a profit motive fitting for the largest grocery chain in Australia by market share. They skirted full-blown corporate sociopolitical activism, an approach that was possibly more digestible for shareholders and customers (politicians less so).</p>
<p>However, this approach is also less authentic. Woolworths states its <a href="https://mumbrella.com.au/what-brands-can-learn-from-the-woolworths-australia-day-debacle-812136">commitment to reconciliation</a> through the support of the Indigenous Voice to Parliament and the Uluru Statement from the Heart. So where in this most recent decision was the marketing rhetoric that embraces and respects Indigenous Australians? This represents a lost opportunity to elevate the brand and promote the <a href="http://changethedate.org/">Change the Date </a>movement.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/welcome-to-may-9-the-true-australia-day-204555">Welcome to May 9 – the true Australia Day</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221743/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Profits, not social justice, appear to be why the big grocers are dropping support for Australia Day. But creating a distraction when they’re being criticised for high prices is also possible.Amanda Spry, Senior Lecturer of Marketing, RMIT UniversityDaniel Rayne, Marketing lecturer, RMIT UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2214062024-01-24T04:47:33Z2024-01-24T04:47:33ZTrump wins New Hampshire primary and closes in on Republican nomination; Labor gains in Australian polls<p>Former President Donald Trump has defeated former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley in the New Hampshire Republican presidential primary with a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/01/23/us/elections/results-new-hampshire-republican-primary.html?action=click&pgtype=Article&state=default&module=election-results&context=election_recirc&region=NavBar">projected 11-point margin</a>.</p>
<p>This was Trump’s second big win in a week after he triumphed in the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/01/15/us/elections/results-iowa-caucus.html?action=click&pgtype=Article&state=default&module=election-results&context=election_recirc&region=PrimaryResultsLinksFooter">January 15 Iowa caucuses</a>) with 51% of the vote, far ahead of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis at 21.2% and Haley at 19.1%.</p>
<p>After the caucuses, DeSantis <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/21/us/politics/desantis-drops-out.html?smtyp=cur">quit the presidential race</a> and endorsed Trump, leaving Haley as Trump’s sole challenger for the Republican nomination. DeSantis had been seen as Trump’s main opponent, but he slumped from 34% in the <a href="https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/president-primary-r/2024/national/?ex_cid=abcpromo">FiveThirtyEight aggregate</a> of national Republican polls in January 2023 to 11% when he withdrew a year later. Trump rose from 45% to 66% during the same time.</p>
<p>Haley now <a href="https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/president-primary-r/2024/national/">trails</a> Trump by 68–12% nationally. It’s likely New Hampshire was her best opportunity to win a state. In Haley’s home state of <a href="https://www.thegreenpapers.com/P24/ccad.phtml">South Carolina</a>, which votes on February 24, Trump leads by a massive 62–25% in <a href="https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/president-primary-r/2024/south-carolina/">FiveThirtyEight’s polling aggregate</a>.</p>
<p>President Joe Biden will easily win the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/01/23/us/elections/results-new-hampshire-democratic-primary.html?action=click&pgtype=Article&state=default&module=election-results&context=election_recirc&region=NavBar">Democratic New Hampshire primary</a> despite not being on the ballot owing to the state’s decision to hold its primary earlier than Democrats wanted.</p>
<p>In the US, voters can often write in someone’s name on the ballot paper. Once the “unprocessed write-ins” are counted, Biden will win around 65%, with Minnesota Congressman Dean Phillips a distant second on 20%.</p>
<p>In national <a href="https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/president-primary-d/2024/national/">Democratic primary polls</a>, Biden has 71%, Marianne Williamson 5% and Phillips 3%. </p>
<p>Both Biden and Trump should effectively seal their parties’ nominations by <a href="https://www.thegreenpapers.com/P24/ccad.phtml">Super Tuesday</a> on March 5, when many states hold their primary contests. By this date, 41.6% of Democratic delegates and 47.4% of Republican delegates will be determined.</p>
<p>I covered New Hampshire and the upcoming February 14 Indonesian election for <a href="https://www.pollbludger.net/2024/01/24/us-new-hampshire-primary-live/">The Poll Bludger</a> today. I covered Trump’s big win at the Iowa caucuses and other recent international electoral developments <a href="https://www.pollbludger.net/2024/01/16/us-iowa-republican-presidential-caucus-live/">last week</a>.</p>
<p>The US general election will be held on November 5. <a href="https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/president-general/2024/national/">Recent national polls</a> have Trump leading Biden in a potential match-up by mid-single-digit margins. I also wrote in December that Trump has a slight advantage over the national margin owing to the Electoral College voting system that is used for presidential elections.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/us-elections-2024-a-biden-vs-trump-rematch-is-very-likely-with-trump-leading-biden-219093">US elections 2024: a Biden vs Trump rematch is very likely, with Trump leading Biden</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Biden’s ratings are currently 55.7% disapprove, 38.9% approve in the <a href="https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/biden-approval-rating/">FiveThirtyEight aggregate</a> (net -16.7). His ratings have improved slightly since my December article, when he was at net -17.3. </p>
<p><a href="https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/favorability/donald-trump/">Trump’s ratings</a> are 51.8% unfavourable, 43.1% favourable (net -8.7). His ratings have also improved since December, when he was at net -9.9.</p>
<h2>Australian YouGov poll: 52–48% to Labor</h2>
<p>A federal Australian <a href="https://au.yougov.com/politics/articles/48430-labor-support-rises-to-52-two-party-preferred-vote">YouGov poll</a> conducted January 12–17 from a sample of 1,532 people, gave Labor a 52–48% lead over the Coalition, a one-point gain for Labor since the previous YouGov poll in <a href="https://au.yougov.com/politics/articles/48095-latest-yougov-poll-labors-primary-vote-is-the-lowest-since-1901">early December</a>. </p>
<p>Primary votes were 37% Coalition (steady), 32% Labor (up three), 13% Greens (down two), 7% One Nation (steady) and 11% for all Others (down one).</p>
<p>Applying 2022 election preference flows to the primary votes gives a two-party estimate of 51.2–48.8% to Labor, suggesting that rounding was in Labor’s favour.</p>
<p>Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s net approval improved three points to -13, while Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s was down two points to -11. Albanese led Dutton by 45–35% as better prime minister, with the 10-point margin unchanged since December.</p>
<p>On Dutton’s call to <a href="https://au.yougov.com/politics/articles/48416-only-1-in-5-australians-back-duttons-call-to-boycott-woolworths">boycott Woolworths</a> over not stocking Australia Day merchandise, 20% supported Dutton, 14% supported Woolworths and 66% said their main concern with supermarkets is excessive price rises.</p>
<p>On Australia Day, 49% said it should remain on January 26 only, 30% thought it should become a two-day public holiday that celebrates First Australians and new Australians, and 21% wanted it changed to a different day.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1748118704255328589"}"></div></p>
<h2>Morgan polls and the republic debate</h2>
<p>I <a href="https://theconversation.com/freshwater-national-poll-holds-steady-at-a-50-50-tie-between-labor-and-the-coalition-as-trump-set-for-big-win-in-iowa-caucus-220286">previously covered</a> the federal Morgan poll conducted January 2–7 that gave the Coalition a 51–49% lead over Labor. In the <a href="https://www.roymorgan.com/findings/9429-federal-voting-intention-january-15-2024">Morgan poll</a> conducted January 8–14, Labor led the Coalition by 51.5–48.5%.</p>
<p>In the <a href="https://www.roymorgan.com/findings/9439-federal-voting-intention-january-22-2024">Morgan poll</a> conducted January 15–21 from a sample of 1,675 people, Labor led by 52.5–47.5%. Primary votes were 36% Coalition (down one since the previous week), 32.5% Labor (up one), 12.5% Greens (up 0.5), 5% One Nation (up 0.5) and 14% for all Others (down one).</p>
<p>In a <a href="https://www.roymorgan.com/findings/9422-roy-morgan-australia-day-survey-january-22-2024">separate Morgan SMS poll</a> conducted January 17–19 from a sample of 1,111 people, 68.5% said January 26 should be known as “Australia Day” while 31.5% thought it should be known as “Invasion Day” (compared to 64–36% in January 2023). By 58.5–41.5%, respondents wanted Australia Day to be kept on January 26.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.pollbludger.net/2024/01/19/friday-miscellany-culture-war-edition/">Poll Bludger</a> reported last Friday that a DemosAU poll showed 47–39% support for a republic referendum in the next five years, but suggested that a specific republic model would struggle. The most popular model was “direct election with open nomination”, which trailed the status quo by 41–38%.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-we-should-celebrate-australia-day-on-march-3-the-day-we-became-a-fully-independent-country-221015">Why we should celebrate Australia Day on March 3 – the day we became a fully independent country</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Upcoming byelections</h2>
<p>The federal byelection in the Victorian <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/elections/dunkley-by-election-2024">Labor-held seat of Dunkley</a> to replace the deceased Peta Murphy will be held on March 2. Labor won Dunkley by 56.3–43.7% against the Liberals at the 2022 election. Nominations close on February 8.</p>
<p>The Queensland state <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/elections/inala-by-election-2024">byelection in Inala</a> to replace former Labor premier Annastacia Palaszczuk will be held on March 16, in conjunction with Brisbane City Council elections. Palaszczuk won Inala by 78.2–21.8% over the Liberal Nationals at the 2020 election.</p>
<p>Former Liberal Prime Minister Scott Morrison <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01-23/scott-morrison-to-resign-from-politics/101277260">announced on Tuesday</a> that he would resign from parliament at the end of February. A byelection will be needed in <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/elections/cook-by-election-2024">Morrison’s seat of Cook</a>, which he won by a 62-4–37.6% margin over Labor at the 2022 election.</p>
<p>Former South Australian Liberal Premier Steven Marshall said on Wednesday he would also resign this year. Marshall only won his seat of <a href="https://antonygreen.com.au/sa-state-seat-of-dunstan-set-for-a-by-election/">Dunstan</a> by a 50.5–49.5% margin against Labor at the 2022 state election.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221406/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adrian Beaumont does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The former president leads his only remaining Republican rival, Nikki Haley, by 68% to 12% in an aggregate of national polls.Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2210152024-01-23T18:59:42Z2024-01-23T18:59:42ZWhy we should celebrate Australia Day on March 3 – the day we became a fully independent country<p>Every year, there are debates over the appropriateness of January 26 for a national holiday. </p>
<p>Australia Day has been celebrated on <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-day-wasnt-always-january-26-but-it-was-always-an-issue-198389">different dates</a> since its inception as a fundraiser for the war effort in 1915. The choice of January 26, the day in 1788 when the British flag was raised in New South Wales, attracted significant protest from First Nations, especially at the sesquicentenary in 1938 and bicentenary in 1988.</p>
<p>In recent years, January 26 has become a date that divides Australians. More than <a href="https://www.news.com.au/national/politics/80-local-council-areas-cancel-australia-day-citizenship-ceremonies/news-story/6cd87d8ca47fb6914f489902d66a7fd3">80 local councils</a> have chosen not to have it as a day of celebration, and Triple J <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-27/hottest-100-wont-be-held-on-australia-day-triple-j-says/9197014">stopped</a> using the date to hold its Hottest 100 competition in 2018. This year, Woolworths’ commercial decision not to stock Australia Day merchandise was met with <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/jan/11/woolworths-big-w-australia-day-merchandise-dropped-sale-peter-dutton-boycott-calls">calls to protest</a> the supermarket giant. </p>
<p>If the purpose of Australia Day is to unite Australians and celebrate our achievements as a nation, then would our Independence Day – March 3 1986 – be a better choice?</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-day-wasnt-always-january-26-but-it-was-always-an-issue-198389">Australia Day wasn't always January 26, but it was always an issue</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Wasn’t Australia independent before the 1980s?</h2>
<p>You might be thinking, hang on, surely Australia was already independent in the 1980s? </p>
<p>To give a typical historian’s answer, yes, but it’s more complex than that. </p>
<p>In 1901, Australia federated and became a nation, but not an independent one. Its initial status was a Dominion of the British empire, self-governing but with its foreign affairs dictated from Westminster. </p>
<p>The Imperial Conference of 1923 gave majority-white Dominions such as Australia control over foreign affairs, while the 1926 <a href="https://www.foundingdocs.gov.au/item-sdid-95.html">Balfour Declaration</a> asserted that Dominions were “autonomous Communities within the British Empire, equal in status”. </p>
<p>The passage of the 1931 <a href="https://www.foundingdocs.gov.au/item-sdid-96.html">Statute of Westminster</a> confirmed that the Dominions were not subordinate to Britain. While this might seem like the independence moment, Australia saw no need for the change and did not <a href="https://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/sowaa1942379/schthe.html">ratify it until 1942</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570274/original/file-20240119-25-bz3blx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C105%2C979%2C752&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Queen Elizabeth II signing paper at a desk while a man in a suit stands over and watches" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570274/original/file-20240119-25-bz3blx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C105%2C979%2C752&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570274/original/file-20240119-25-bz3blx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570274/original/file-20240119-25-bz3blx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570274/original/file-20240119-25-bz3blx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570274/original/file-20240119-25-bz3blx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=756&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570274/original/file-20240119-25-bz3blx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=756&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570274/original/file-20240119-25-bz3blx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=756&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Then-Prime Minister Bob Hawke and Queen Elizabeth II signed the Australia Acts in 1986.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.naa.gov.au/students-and-teachers/learning-resources/learning-resource-themes/government-and-democracy/prime-ministers-and-politicians/queen-elizabeth-ii-signs-proclamation-australia-act-cth-1986">National Archives of Australia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The second world war convinced the Australian government it needed its own diplomats and embassies in foreign nations. Then, in the 1960s, Britain’s attempts to join the European common market and its decision to remove its military from South-East Asia (known as <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/10357719708445209">East of Suez</a>) prompted Australia to show greater independence in its trade and security policies. </p>
<p>Even if the Commonwealth government was independent from 1931 (or 1942, technically), colonial anomalies remained and would not be addressed until 1986.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/welcome-to-may-9-the-true-australia-day-204555">Welcome to May 9 – the true Australia Day</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Wait, so Australia wasn’t <em>fully</em> independent?</h2>
<p>When the Hawke government took office in 1983, the state governments retained their colonial constitutions and were still answerable to the British government.</p>
<p>Further, those unhappy with a ruling in their state supreme court could challenge it in Britain’s Privy Council. These colonial hangovers were not harmless relics, but had real consequences. </p>
<p>While protocol dictates that the monarch must accept the prime minister’s advice when appointing the governor general, at state level, British ministers felt free to reject the advice of premiers. </p>
<p>This was seen in 1975 when Queensland premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen had his attempts to extend the term of governor Sir Colin Hannah <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Senate/Powers_practice_n_procedures/pops/pop48/battlesovereignty#_ftn23">blocked</a>. </p>
<p>Similarly, the Privy Council continued to hear cases from Australia. In 1984, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/760463">14 appeals</a> from Australia were received, with a further ten in 1985. One of these was instigated by West Indies cricket captain Clive Lloyd, who was awarded damages after an <a href="https://justinian.com.au/featurettes/inside-tom-hughes-defamation-machine.html">article in The Age</a> implied his team deliberately lost a match. The NSW Court of Appeal overturned the verdict but Lloyd successfully challenged the decision in the Privy Council, undermining the power of the state legal system.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.foundingdocs.gov.au/item-did-32.html">Australia Acts</a> are twin legislation passed in the UK and Australian parliaments (hence Acts not Act), matched by consenting legislation from each state parliament. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569756/original/file-20240117-21-glc0we.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A black and white gazette article from 1986 from Bob Hawke" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569756/original/file-20240117-21-glc0we.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569756/original/file-20240117-21-glc0we.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569756/original/file-20240117-21-glc0we.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569756/original/file-20240117-21-glc0we.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569756/original/file-20240117-21-glc0we.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569756/original/file-20240117-21-glc0we.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569756/original/file-20240117-21-glc0we.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A special edition of the Commonwealth Gazette was published when the Australia Acts had been finalised.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/240546297?browse=ndp%3Abrowse%2Fdate%2F1986%2F03%2F02%2Ftitle%2F1292%2Fissue%2F2436980%2Fpage%2F26059975%2Farticle%2F240546297">Office of Parliamentary Counsel (OPC)/National Library of Australia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>They were the result of years of complex negotiations but were aided by political goodwill from both major parties and the UK government. The Australia Acts ended all remaining powers of the UK parliament over Australian states and confirmed that the High Court of Australia is the final court of appeal.</p>
<p>Australian independence did not come as a result of a dramatic struggle or revolutionary war. Instead, it was a gradual evolution. Queen Elizabeth II commented that “surely no two independent countries could bring to an end their constitutional relationship in a more civilised way” (though, we would continue to share the same head of state).</p>
<p>Despite the significance of the occasion, the passage of the Australia Acts had only limited public interest. The various developments were noted in newspapers in Australia and Britain but usually in the back pages.</p>
<p>For example, when the British legislation passed the House of Lords in December 1985, The Age informed its readers that “the sun sets today on the shreds of colonial bondage” on page 24, next to the daily crossword and a cartoon. </p>
<p>When the Acts came into effect on March 3 1986, the Australian media presented it as a mundane piece of constitutional upkeep, which perhaps explains why the date is not well known today.</p>
<h2>A better choice for Australia Day?</h2>
<p>Australia does not have a single independence moment. It has no equivalent to the War of Independence in the United States or the storming of the Bastille in France. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, as legal expert Anne Twomey <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/we-only-became-independent-of-britain-on-this-day-in-1986/news-story/524a277d666ca0614eedcb39a43a9e12">has concluded</a>, it is indisputable that full legal independence was achieved through the Australia Acts. </p>
<p>While historians have been more opaque, Deborah Gare <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/10314619908596101#:%7E:text=be%20discussed%20below%2C%201%20January,a%20new%20and%20united%20country.&text=process%20of%20elimination%20to%20determine,of%20Westminster%20in%20December%201931.">argues convincingly</a> that despite the increased freedoms after 1931, a nation can hardly be called independent without sovereignty over its own judiciary. </p>
<p>January 26 is engulfed in a culture war. It does not satisfy those who want it to be a day of contemplation or those who want it to be a day of united celebration. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/change-the-date-debates-about-january-26-distract-from-the-truth-telling-australia-needs-to-do-197046">'Change the date' debates about January 26 distract from the truth telling Australia needs to do</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>For all the commentary, however, few Australians <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/most-dont-care-when-australia-day-is-held-poll-finds-20180116-h0j0w9.html">really care</a> what day it is held. Most simply want an opportunity to take a day off work and celebrate the achievements of the country, individually and collectively. </p>
<p>January 26 will always be a significant historical date, but its meaning is contested. By contrast, few would dispute that Australia achieving its full legal independence was a positive development, worthy of celebration.</p>
<p>There is no requirement that Australia Day be celebrated on a historically significant date. The last Friday in January is sometimes suggested to ensure a long weekend. </p>
<p>But for those who do want history to guide the national celebrations, the Australia Acts provide an uncontroversial alternative.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221015/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Benjamin T. Jones does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Many believe Australia became it’s own country at federation in 1901, but that’s not strictly true. Instead, it happened more than 80 years later. Why don’t we celebrate it?Benjamin T. Jones, Senior Lecturer in History, CQUniversity AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2045552023-05-08T20:11:09Z2023-05-08T20:11:09ZWelcome to May 9 – the true Australia Day<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524726/original/file-20230506-27-ufbtp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=432%2C432%2C4360%2C1971&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>We missed out on a holiday for the king’s coronation. </p>
<p>Early next month we are about to get one for his <a href="https://publicholidays.com.au/2023-dates/">birthday</a> in most states of Australia, on a day that <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/what-is-the-future-of-queens-birthday-public-holiday-in-australia-and-around-the-world/0m6qni4yh">isn’t actually his birthday</a>.</p>
<p>That holiday was Australia’s first, declared by NSW Governor Arthur Phillip in <a href="https://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/australia/kings-birthday">1788</a> to mark the birthday of George III. It must have seemed as strange to the new arrivals as to the Australians on whose land they had arrived.</p>
<p>It didn’t mark their safe arrival, it didn’t mark the raising of the Union Jack on Australian shores and it didn’t mark the founding of Sydney. Nor did it acknowledge the first peoples already on the continent.</p>
<p>These days the king’s birthday is even less relevant than it was.</p>
<p>The king no longer has the power to enact laws governing Australia. That finished when his mother Queen Elizabeth signed the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2004A03181">Australia Act 1986</a>, which ended the ability of the United Kingdom to make laws with respect to Australian states and the ability of Australian states to take disputes to the UK Privy Council.</p>
<p>But hiding in plain sight, just a month before the king’s birthday holiday, is a date most of us have a much better reason to celebrate – it’s <a href="http://exhibitions.senate.gov.au/pogg/opening/opening_day.htm">May 9</a>, which this year also happens to be <a href="https://budget.gov.au/index.htm">budget day</a>.</p>
<h2>May 9 is the real Australia Day</h2>
<p>Australia’s constitution was proclaimed on January 1 1901, but only had full effect when our first federal parliament met on <a href="http://exhibitions.senate.gov.au/pogg/opening/opening_day.htm">May 9 1901</a>, in the Exhibition Building in Melbourne. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524592/original/file-20230505-19-el0xnf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524592/original/file-20230505-19-el0xnf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524592/original/file-20230505-19-el0xnf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=305&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524592/original/file-20230505-19-el0xnf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=305&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524592/original/file-20230505-19-el0xnf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=305&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524592/original/file-20230505-19-el0xnf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524592/original/file-20230505-19-el0xnf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524592/original/file-20230505-19-el0xnf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Opening, Commonwealth Parliament, Charles Nuttall, oil, 1901-1902.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/items/250568">Museums Victoria</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When the parliament moved to Canberra in 1927, the new temporary parliament house was again opened on <a href="https://www.moadoph.gov.au/exhibitions/the-opening-day/#">May 9</a>. </p>
<p>Six decades later, when the new and permanent parliament house was opened on Canberra’s Capital Hill in 1988, the date chosen was again <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Visit_Parliament/Art/Exhibitions/Exhibition/Turning_the_Key">May 9</a>.</p>
<p>It is not simply these events that make May 9 the real Australia Day. </p>
<p>In his speech on May 9 1988, Prime Minister <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/25th_Anniversary_Chronology/The_official_opening">Bob Hawke</a> said the new building would</p>
<blockquote>
<p>become for our nation both the forum for our differences and the instrument of our unity – a building for all Australians, a parliament reflecting the diversity of our entire society and responding to the needs of the whole community.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>And it has. In parliament, our local members and Senators take up issues that concern us and debate and resolve them. The legislation they have created ranges from the everyday to the extraordinary. </p>
<p>The 1918 Electoral Act required all electors to vote. The 1973 Medicare Act gave us the healthcare card we take for granted.</p>
<p>More exceptionally, the 2017 Marriage Amendment Act gave same-sex couples the right to marry, in accordance with the wishes of the majority of the population.</p>
<p>The 1967 referendum allowed the parliament to legislate for Indigenous Australians for the first time. If the Voice Referendum is passed, Indigenous Australians will get a constitutionally enshrined mechanism for making representations to it.</p>
<h2>Our parliament is worth celebrating</h2>
<p>What legitimates decisions made in Australia is that they come from a process that involves the Australian people, through the Australian parliament, rather than a structure outside Australia or beyond the ability of Australians to control.</p>
<p>We have changed the political complexion of the parliament many times, yet through it all the parliament has become more representative of us over time.</p>
<p>The first two women were elected in 1943. By 2022, we had 58 women in the House of Representatives, including 19 elected for the first time, and a female majority in the Senate. </p>
<p>The first Indigenous senator, Neville Bonner, was elected in 1971. By 2022, eight senators and three members of the House of Representatives identified as being Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. </p>
<p>Ten of our members of parliament are first-generation migrants, including government ministers Tanya Plibersek and Penny Wong. Among the children of immigrants is Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/white-male-and-straight-how-30-years-of-australia-day-speeches-leave-most-australians-out-130279">White, male and straight – how 30 years of Australia Day speeches leave most Australians out</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>I was born a British subject in 1945, in Sydney, to Australian-born parents. The 1948 Citizenship Act made me an Australian citizen alongside all British subjects living in Australia.</p>
<p>The Act also opened the way for “aliens” – those born outside the Commonwealth – to become naturalised Australian citizens. The king’s birthday can have little meaning for them or their locally born children. </p>
<p>Most migrants become citizens, and what has made this possible is an act of the Australian parliament.</p>
<h2>How to make it happen</h2>
<p>Making May 9 a public holiday is easy. It doesn’t require legislation and doesn’t require a referendum. January 26 was only proclaimed a national holiday in 1994. </p>
<p>May 9 has a much longer, more illustrious history. It is a date “made in Australia” and demonstrates our commitment to our democracy like no other day can.</p>
<p>By May 9 2026, our parliament will have been in place for 125 years. That makes 2026 a good year to become a republic. Should a referendum be successful, the first parliament of the Australian republic could meet on May 9 2026.</p>
<p>If it takes another year, the first parliament of the Australian republic could meet on the centenary of the opening of the first parliament house in Canberra, on May 9 2027.</p>
<p>I hope I live to celebrate that day. In the meantime, I’ll forego this year’s king’s birthday holiday and instead celebrate on May 9. The weather in most places should be okay for a barbecue, so why not join me, before it becomes official?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204555/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anna Howe is a member of the Australian Labor Party and the Australian Republican Movement </span></em></p>May 9 is the date the first Australian parliament met, and when the first parliament in Canberra and the first on Capital Hill opened. It means far more than the King’s birthday, or January 26.Anna Howe, Honorary Professor, Department of Sociology, Macquarie University, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1970462023-01-25T20:21:38Z2023-01-25T20:21:38Z‘Change the date’ debates about January 26 distract from the truth telling Australia needs to do<p>“Australia Day”, January 26, brings an annual debate of whether celebrations should continue or be moved to a different date. This <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11610979/Lidia-Thorpe-Australia-Day-tweet-causes-outrage.html">clash of views</a> means Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have to brace themselves every year for the annual influx of racism and hate on the streets, online and in the <a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/australia-day-debate-andrew-laming-post-racism-accusations-response/5ff2bb24-d2e5-4a81-9812-28c0119cd977">media</a>. And we’re tired of it. </p>
<p>Australia knows this is a <a href="https://aiatsis.gov.au/explore/day-of-mourning">Day of Mourning</a> for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people because it is the day the attempted genocide of Indigenous peoples began. </p>
<p>However we still see a number of opinions get rolled out to defend “Australia Day”, some even saying Aboriginal people need to “<a href="https://www.news.com.au/national/breaking-news/get-over-it-pauline-hanson-takes-brutal-swipe-at-invasion-day-protesters/news-story/246d869f717ab2a7dc726a24997db021">get over it</a>”. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1486183381041823744"}"></div></p>
<p>Despite this, every year more and more individuals, <a href="https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/at-work/major-companies-allow-employees-option-to-work-on-australia-day/news-story/6bcbf4a199e250af8d0d0ab8fa7082b6">organisations</a>, and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/dec/08/melbourne-council-moves-to-abandon-australia-day-citizenship-ceremonies">local councils</a> are joining the growing dissatisfaction with celebrating Australia Day on January 26, and choosing <a href="https://www.miragenews.com/new-respectful-work-arrangement-for-australia-925683/">not to celebrate</a> or <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jan/09/not-a-day-to-celebrate-wollongong-university-staff-given-option-to-work-on-australia-day-holiday">not acknowledging</a> it as a public holiday. </p>
<p>This encourages conflict about a date, as opposed to engaging in truth-telling about the arrival of the First Fleet and the <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/tv-series/the-australian-wars?/?cx_cid=od:search:sem:convert:alwayson::prog&gclid=Cj0KCQiAiJSeBhCCARIsAHnAzT9BhgJKOe7H3K5lyZELfCTa3KrMdKaKjbM74oFT17WGrjTi9HxZYuAaAmiWEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds">conflict and violence</a> that followed. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1608007878618796034"}"></div></p>
<h2>‘Bread and circuses’</h2>
<p>The (largely white) <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5250/0095182x.35.1.104#metadata_info_tab_contents">mainstream media</a> began early this year, <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/voice-more-important-than-warm-and-fuzzy-push-to-change-australia-day-megan-davis-20230102-p5c9vd.html">publishing articles</a> likely to drive the usual pro-Australia Day conversations and encourage conflict. </p>
<p>The Roman poet Juvenal said all that was needed to distract attention away from a problem was to offer people food or entertainment, “<a href="https://wordhistories.net/2018/09/01/bread-circuses-origin/">bread and circuses</a>”. The Australia Day debate is a circus that attempts to distract from the truth telling this country really needs.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1612733306893922304"}"></div></p>
<p>A common diversion tactic is to attack Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people for daring to protest against Australia Day when we have so many other “<a href="https://indigenousx.com.au/debunking-there-are-more-important-things-to-talk-about-than-australia-day/">more important</a>” concerns we should be worrying about. As if Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people can’t think about what Australia Day represents while also addressing other issues we face.</p>
<p>By this logic, non-Indigenous people should not be discussing the Australia Day debate either, until they have addressed the horrific <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/domestic-violence/family-domestic-and-sexual-violence">violence against women</a> in their own communities.</p>
<p>It is a privilege only offered to non-Indigenous people to air concerns about matters of their choosing and not be criticised for ignoring other concerns. </p>
<p>Another tactic is to find an Indigenous person willing to publicly agree and <a href="https://www.ladbible.com/news/melbourne-votes-to-change-the-date-of-australia-day-20220902">frame them as a leader</a> speaking for all Indigenous peoples.</p>
<p>Conservative commentators <a href="https://www.skynews.com.au/australia-news/trashing-australia-day-keeps-us-stuck-in-the-past/video/6962367a7e40b89cc4309abb3603c9e7">Andrew Bolt</a> and <a href="https://omny.fm/shows/the-alan-jones-breakfast-show/australia-day-under-threat-latham-says-there-was-n">Alan Jones</a> have used their columns and shows to fight against a date change and any critique of Australia Day. Bolt has suggested we should stop “nursing resentment” because from his position “this society is so rich, free and equal”.</p>
<p>Telling us we need to stop being “stuck in the past” infers our issue is just with what happened in 1788. This completely ignores the ongoing suffering many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples still endure.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/60-of-australians-want-to-keep-australia-day-on-january-26-but-those-under-35-disagree-175503">60% of Australians want to keep Australia Day on January 26, but those under 35 disagree</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>The violence of invasion is not in the past</h2>
<p>On any given day there are stories about racism and violence towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/dec/30/advocates-call-for-urgent-action-after-two-incredibly-tragic-aboriginal-deaths-in-custody">Deaths in custody</a>, <a href="https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/law-crime/2020/06/20/failure-justice-indigenous-people/159257520010003#hrd">punitive policing</a>, <a href="https://aiatsis.gov.au/publication/35890">barriers within employment</a> and <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-22/broome-high-school-indigenous-students-speak-out-over-racism/13252688">education systems</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/racism-is-still-an-everyday-experience-for-non-white-australians-where-is-the-plan-to-stop-this-179769">cultures that tolerate racism</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jul/30/archie-roach-australian-singer-songwriter-and-campaigner-dies-aged-66">early deaths</a>. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1611259873311985665"}"></div></p>
<p>As I reflect on 2022 I am devastated by the violent death of <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/cassius-turvey-killing-clearly-racially-motivated-says-pm-as-extra-charges-laid-on-murder-accused/ae5rt02av">Cassius Turvey</a>, aged only 15, who died on October 23 as a result of injuries received in an attack while walking after school with friends in a Perth suburb. </p>
<p>The boys who were with Cassius allege they were approached by a group of men in a car who racially abused them and set upon them with weapons including a metal pole. Turvey sadly sustained serious injuries and later died. </p>
<p>A 21-year-old man was charged with Turvey’s murder, however the WA Police Commissioner <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/cassius-turvey-killing-clearly-racially-motivated-says-pm-as-extra-charges-laid-on-murder-accused/ae5rt02av">stated</a>: “We are not operating on any principles of racism or motivation at this point”. <a href="https://nit.com.au/19-01-2023/4765/three-more-people-charged-with-murder-of-cassius-turvey">Three further people</a> have since been charged with Cassius’ murder.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1585119171662467072"}"></div></p>
<p>This is what lies behind the Australia Day debate for Indigenous people all over the country. Not just the <a href="https://aiatsis.gov.au/publication/35772">historic violence</a> associated with January 26, but the ongoing violence.</p>
<p>If you are finding it hard to understand why Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have a problem with Australia Day, I suggest you read more <a href="https://indigenousx.com.au">opinion pieces</a> from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors, pick up <a href="https://aiatsis.gov.au/publication/35064">a book</a>, or even enrol in <a href="https://www.mq.edu.au/faculty-of-arts/departments-and-schools/department-of-indigenous-studies">a unit of study</a>.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1609747520896503809"}"></div></p>
<h2>Is not celebrating January 26 being ‘UnAustralian’?</h2>
<p>We are told Australia Day is about <a href="https://www.australiaday.com.au/about/">reflecting on our past</a>, respecting all Australians and celebrating our unique Australian identity. However reflecting on our past should include a past that involves Indigenous peoples.</p>
<p>People who don’t consider the anniversary of invasion as a time to celebrate are often labelled as being “<a href="https://www.news.com.au/national/changing-the-date-of-australia-day-wont-help-indigenous-people/news-story/7ce26854186046a63523c0f404af89f7">unAustralian</a>”.</p>
<p>The term un-Australian emerged around 1855 as a tool to ostracise non-whites, the Irish, <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/yellow-peril-racism-rears-its-ugly-head-20100402-rjsc.html">Chinese migrants</a> and other foreigners, as well as communism, radicalism, pacifism and trade unions.</p>
<p>It has its roots in the <a href="https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/white-australia-policy">White Australia policy era</a>. It re-emerged again in the 1990s and has remained in popular use, particularly by <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/its-un-australian-and-it-must-stop-scott-morrison-tells-australians-to-cease-panic-buying/mh96gmvso">politicians</a>, often attempting to avoid having to explain themselves or their actions, or to shift blame.</p>
<p>It’s even the topic for the new <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bq3UpFAwPbA">lamb ad</a>, which humourously takes the piss out of this ridiculous and ultimately meaningless notion.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/for-an-indigenous-perspective-on-australia-day-heres-a-quick-guide-to-first-nations-media-platforms-174704">For an Indigenous perspective on 'Australia Day', here's a quick guide to First Nations media platforms</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Changing the date isn’t enough</h2>
<p>Changing the date won’t necessarily make a difference as a stand-alone gesture. To truly have something to celebrate we need to firstly address the past, engage in truth-telling and make reparations. Treaty or treaties need to be negotiated and then a shared vision can be established. As Aboriginal researcher and epidemiologist <a href="https://indigenousx.com.au/truth-telling-to-reimagine-our-nations-histories/">Joanne Luke writes</a>, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>We know that truth-telling has the potential to provide Aboriginal people who experience injustices a voice, as evidenced by the Royal commissions into Aboriginal deaths in custody and the National Enquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families. But we also know that without political leadership that listens to these truths, the nation does not learn from these injustices, and trauma continues to be inflicted upon Aboriginal people and communities.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In the meantime, if you’re looking for something to celebrate on January 26, head on over to the <a href="https://yabun.org.au">Yabun Festival</a> on <a href="https://aiatsis.gov.au/explore/map-indigenous-australia">Gadigal Country</a> in Sydney. There are also a range of Invasion/Survival Day events across the continent.</p>
<p>Every year Yabun recognises the truly amazing accomplishment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people caring for each other and this continent for over 60,000 years despite the concerted efforts of violent racist policies and practices that continue to harm us.</p>
<p>Now that’s something worth celebrating.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1087961556569206784"}"></div></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/197046/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bronwyn Carlson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>January 26 brings debate about whether the day of invasion should be celebrated. People seem to ignore it was just the beginning of the oppression of Indigenous peoples.Bronwyn Carlson, Professor, Indigenous Studies and Director of The Centre for Global Indigenous Futures, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1983892023-01-25T20:21:24Z2023-01-25T20:21:24ZAustralia Day wasn’t always January 26, but it was always an issue<p>January 26 is a date that sparks mixed emotions in Australia. For some, it’s a day to celebrate all the good things about living in Australia. For others, it’s a painful reminder of the beginning of British colonisation and the dispossession of First Nations.</p>
<p>Increasingly, January 26 is becoming a date that divides the nation even as it attempts to unite it. Some local councils have <a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/australia-day-citizenship-ceremony-window-widened-ban-overturned/bc76fadf-d39a-443b-ae8d-1b4a119a70cc">stopped holding citizenship ceremonies</a> on the date. In 2018, Triple J <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-27/hottest-100-wont-be-held-on-australia-day-triple-j-says/9197014">stopped hosting its Hottest 100</a> on Australia Day, and this year Victoria announced it will <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/victoria-quietly-axes-australia-day-parade-sparking-both-praise-and-disappointment/b2nrkslud">no longer hold its Australia Day parade</a>.</p>
<p>An <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jan/24/guardian-essential-poll-albanese-approval-rating-dips-in-sign-of-gruelling-political-year-ahead">Essential Poll this week</a> suggests around a quarter of Australians would now prefer January 26 to be a day to recognise First Nations people with a national holiday on a separate day.</p>
<p>Those who defend the status quo often appeal to tradition, but it’s important to recognise Australia Day has not always been celebrated on January 26, and the meaning of the date has long been contested.</p>
<h2>When did Australia Day begin?</h2>
<p>In the early 19th century, January 26 was a Sydney-centric celebration, sometimes called “Foundation Day”. These were initially informal gatherings and parties, but by 1838, it was declared a <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/230385624?searchTerm=%22Anniversary%20day%22">public holiday</a> to mark the 50th anniversary of the colony. As the other colonies were established, they celebrated their own foundation, rather than January 26.</p>
<p>During the Federation debates of the 1880s and 1890s, there was a push for a single national holiday. But some objected to January 26 on the grounds it was focused on New South Wales. Nevertheless, by the centenary of the British arrival in 1888, all colonies except South Australia <a href="https://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/australia-day-south-australia">observed the day</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Fundraising ribbon for Australia Day, July 30, 1915." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506236/original/file-20230125-22-7xw2oq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506236/original/file-20230125-22-7xw2oq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1009&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506236/original/file-20230125-22-7xw2oq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1009&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506236/original/file-20230125-22-7xw2oq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1009&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506236/original/file-20230125-22-7xw2oq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1268&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506236/original/file-20230125-22-7xw2oq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1268&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506236/original/file-20230125-22-7xw2oq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1268&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fundraising ribbon for Australia Day, July 30, 1915.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Courtesy Australian War Memorial</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>However, even after Federation in 1901, the primary national holiday was not January 26 but “Empire Day”, celebrated on May 24. The choice of date (the late Queen Victoria’s birthday) and the form of celebrations were more imperial than nationalist in flavour. </p>
<p>It was only in 1915 that Australia Day emerged, as a fundraising effort for the first world war. Held on <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/topics/voices/culture/article/2018/01/23/many-different-dates-weve-celebrated-australia-day">July 30</a>, the first Australia Day was directly shaped by the experience of the Gallipoli landing. It continued to be held in July for the remainder of the war.</p>
<p>By 1935, the states all agreed to use the name Australia Day and celebrate it on January 26. But it was a decision that caused controversy and protest. The 150th anniversary in 1938 was celebrated nationally but also saw First Nations declare the date to be a “<a href="https://aiatsis.gov.au/explore/day-of-mourning">day of mourning</a>”.</p>
<p>Similarly, the 1988 bicentenary epitomised the contested meaning of January 26. It saw both sides – the largest party in Australia’s history and the largest protest since the Vietnam moratorium.</p>
<p>It was <a href="https://www.australiaday.com.au/about/history-of-australia-day/">only in 1994</a> that Australia Day became a public holiday in every state and territory. </p>
<h2>What are we celebrating?</h2>
<p>Technically, January 26 does not mark the arrival of the First Fleet to Australia. Leaving England on May 13, 1787, the first ships <a href="https://guides.sl.nsw.gov.au/convicts-bound-for-australia/first_fleet">arrived at Botany Bay</a> on January 18, but Arthur Phillip decided it was not a suitable site. January 26 marks the day the British flag was hoisted at Sydney Cove. </p>
<p>Throughout the 19th century, January 26 was a celebration of Britishness held by people who largely identified as Australian Britons. As Australian national identity evolved in the middle of the 20th century, the narrative around Australia Day became more exclusively nationalistic. Civic rituals like the Australian of the Year (first awarded in 1960) helped give January 26 a national focus.</p>
<p>Today, Australia Day is presented as a day to “<a href="https://www.australiaday.org.au/">celebrate our nation</a>”. But for many First Nations people and their allies, it’s considered “<a href="https://www.commonground.org.au/articles/australia-day">Invasion Day</a>” or “Survival Day”. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"824817112275259392"}"></div></p>
<h2>If not January 26, then when?</h2>
<p>Most countries hold their national holiday on the date they became independent. It’s a quirk of Australian history that the date the British flag was raised has taken this role, but it demonstrates how malleable national symbols can be. </p>
<p>If the date of Australia Day was to change, there’s no clear alternative, although some argue that if Australia becomes a republic, that should be the new date. A pragmatic alternative is simply to hold Australia Day on the last Friday of January. A more humorous suggestion is <a href="http://may8.com.au/#:%7E:text=Though%20May%208%20has%20no,a%20greater%20Nation%20for%20it.">May 8</a>, which pronounced with a broad Australian drawl sounds like the word “mate”.</p>
<p>Historic suggestions are the anniversary of the Eureka Stockade (December 3), the Mabo judgement (June 3), or the passage of the Australia Acts (March 3).</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/for-an-indigenous-perspective-on-australia-day-heres-a-quick-guide-to-first-nations-media-platforms-174704">For an Indigenous perspective on 'Australia Day', here's a quick guide to First Nations media platforms</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>For all their wisdom, it could be argued the constitution writers did Australia a disservice by having the Commonwealth form on January 1, 1901. Had it been almost any other day of the year, the legal creation of Australia would be the obvious choice for a national holiday.</p>
<p>As emotive as the topic is, Australians should be free to debate what January 26 means and if it should continue to be the national holiday. The ability to openly debate tough issues without fear is, after all, one of the many freedoms Australia Day is supposed to celebrate.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198389/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Benjamin T. Jones does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Australia Day has not always been celebrated on January 26, and the meaning of the date has been contested historically and today.Benjamin T. Jones, Senior Lecturer in History, CQUniversity AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1985132023-01-25T10:05:06Z2023-01-25T10:05:06ZBody image campaigner Taryn Brumfitt is 2023 Australian of the Year<p>Taryn Brumfitt, a body image campaigner whose work has been recognised internationally, is the 2023 Australian of the Year. </p>
<p>A writer and film maker from Adelaide, Brumfitt’s 2016 documentary Embrace, about women’s body loathing and her path of accepting her own body, has been seen by millions of people in 190 countries. </p>
<p>She founded the <a href="https://bodyimagemovement.com/">Body Image Movement</a> in 2012, and in 2018 she was named in the Australian Financial Review’s 100 Women of Influence, in the global category.</p>
<p>The Body Image Movement describes its mission as being to “educate our global community and provide tools to promote positive body image; celebrate body diversity in shape, size, ethnicity and ability; promote positive physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health, [and] combat toxic messaging in media and advertising”.</p>
<p>Last year Brumfitt, who is 45, released Embrace Kids, a documentary aimed at teaching children aged nine to 14 to move, nourish and respect their bodies. </p>
<p>She collaborated with body image expert Dr Zali Yager to produce an Embrace Kids parenting book. They have also created the Embrace Hub, a resource for teachers, parents, children and communities to encourage “body positivity”.</p>
<p>“Taryn’s work has reached more than 200 million people. She is an internationally-recognised keynote speaker whose work is recognised by UN Women,” the announcement of her award said. </p>
<p>The senior Australian of the Year is Tom Calma, 69, Chancellor of the University of Canberra, who has an extensive record as an advocate for human rights and social justice. He was formerly a long-serving public servant, including having postings in India and Vietnam. </p>
<p>He served on the Human Rights Commission as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner and Race Discrimination Commissioner. </p>
<p>A leader in driving Indigenous advancement, Calma has had a particular focus on education, health and reconciliation. He has urged changing Australia Day to “a new date for a truly unifying national day of reflection and celebration”. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506297/original/file-20230125-20-us5cl2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506297/original/file-20230125-20-us5cl2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506297/original/file-20230125-20-us5cl2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506297/original/file-20230125-20-us5cl2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506297/original/file-20230125-20-us5cl2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506297/original/file-20230125-20-us5cl2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506297/original/file-20230125-20-us5cl2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mick Tsikas/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Calma, from the ACT, co-chaired with Marcia Langton the senior advisory group that produced the report to the former government on an Indigenous Voice. </p>
<p>Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who presented the Australian of the Year awards in Canberra on Wednesday night, repeatedly refers to the report when pressed about the detail of the proposed Voice referendum. </p>
<p>Albanese used Wednesday night’s ceremony to declare the referendum, to be held in the second half of the year, would be “an uplifting moment of national unity”. </p>
<p>The Young Australian of the Year is Australian Socceroo and co-founder of <a href="http://barefoottoboots.org/">Barefoot to Boots</a> Awer Mabil, from South Australia. Barefoot to Boots is a not-for-profit organisation promoting better health, education, policies and gender equality for refugees. Mabil, 27, grew up in a Kenyan refugee camp after his family fled the civil war in Sudan; he was 10 when he came to Australia. </p>
<p>The Local Hero award has gone to Amar Singh, 41, from NSW, who founded <a href="https://www.t4a.org.au/">Turbans 4 Australia</a> after suffering racial slurs because of his Sikh turban and beard. </p>
<p>Turbans 4 Australia delivered hay to drought-striken farmers; supplies to Lismore flood victims and to those hit by bushfires on the NSW south coast; food to vulnerable people during COVID lockdowns, and supplies to the Salvation Army in central Queensland after Cyclone Marcia. It regularly delivers hampers to people in need in western Sydney.</p>
<p>Chair of the National Australia Day Council, Danielle Roche, said the four recipients “share a common bond – using their life experience as a power for good, helping others around them and making the world a better place.</p>
<p>"Taryn has inspired millions of women around the world to be more comfortable in their own skin.</p>
<p>"Tom has dedicated his life and career to being a champion of equality for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, lighting the path towards reconciliation.</p>
<p>"Awer fled conflict and went on to represent Australia at the highest level as a Socceroo – an extraordinary achievement. He has used his success to co-found Barefoot for Boots, a not-for-profit that supports and advocates for other refugees.</p>
<p>"Amar has turned his own experience of discrimination into a positive, and sparked a movement that helps thousands of people put food on the table.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198513/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The four recipients “share a common bond – using their life experience as a power for good, helping others around them and making the world a better placeMichelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1755032022-01-24T19:11:42Z2022-01-24T19:11:42Z60% of Australians want to keep Australia Day on January 26, but those under 35 disagree<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442079/original/file-20220123-21-1ursq5t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dean Lewins/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The issue of when or whether to celebrate Australia Day seems to have become stuck in a loop of <a href="https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/news-life/should-we-change-the-date-of-australia-day-have-your-say/news-story/865d5bfd16663cfcf7c136c5097058db">fierce debate</a> without resolution. </p>
<p>There are those who want to mark January 26 as the start of modern Australia, while others view it as the start of systematic dispossession of Indigenous Australians. </p>
<p>What does the broader public think? A new national survey shows at the moment, the majority of Australians want the day left as it is. But it also suggests a groundswell for change is in the works. </p>
<h2>Our study</h2>
<p>During November 2021, we polled a representative, random sample of more than 5,000 Australians as part of the Deakin Contemporary History Survey.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Fireworks go off over the Opera House, illuminated with the Aboriginal Flag." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442080/original/file-20220123-25-1akujgk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442080/original/file-20220123-25-1akujgk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442080/original/file-20220123-25-1akujgk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442080/original/file-20220123-25-1akujgk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442080/original/file-20220123-25-1akujgk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442080/original/file-20220123-25-1akujgk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442080/original/file-20220123-25-1akujgk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The debate about the date has become a part of Australia Day each year.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dan Himbrechts/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In contrast to previous surveys, which have focused on <a href="http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/8621-roy-morgan-survey-australia-day-january-25-2021-202101250620">what to call</a> Australia Day, we asked a more general question – is January 26 the right date for something called Australia Day?</p>
<p>We also asked other questions about respondents’ knowledge of and interest in Australian history. Our collective understanding of history can explain why some stories seem more important than others. For example, consider how frequently, and in how many different forms, we learn of Australian military history due to ANZAC Day. </p>
<h2>Our findings</h2>
<p>Overall, 60% of our respondents want to continue celebrating “Australia Day” on January 26.</p>
<iframe src="https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/8503557/embed" title="Interactive or visual content" class="flourish-embed-iframe" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="width:100%;height:500px;" sandbox="allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-scripts allow-downloads allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<div style="width:100%!;margin-top:4px!important;text-align:right!important;"><a class="flourish-credit" href="https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/8503557/?utm_source=embed&utm_campaign=visualisation/8503557" target="_top"><img alt="Made with Flourish" src="https://public.flourish.studio/resources/made_with_flourish.svg"> </a></div>
<p>But the generational differences are significant. More than half (53%) of millennials (those born between 1986 and 2002) think we should not celebrate Australia Day on January 26.</p>
<p>By contrast, 74% of those over 75 said “disagree” or “strongly disagree” to any change with 70% of baby boomers (born 1946–65) also against change. The generation X cohort (born 1966–1985) was also decisively against change (64%), revealing a gulf between millennials and the rest of those surveyed.</p>
<p>One possible explanation for this is older people being <a href="https://theconversation.com/hard-evidence-do-we-become-more-conservative-with-age-47910">more resistant</a> to change. Their familiarity with Australia Day as an established end-of-summer day for social gathering is possibly stronger than their interpretation of the day’s historical significance or a political stance on the debate. </p>
<h2>What does this mean?</h2>
<p>These results also mirror other polls (with smaller sample sizes of about 1,200), including one by <a href="http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/8621-roy-morgan-survey-australia-day-january-25-2021-202101250620">Roy Morgan</a> in January 2021 and another by <a href="https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2022/01/22/australia-day-divides-nation/">CoreData</a> released over the weekend. </p>
<p>Younger Australians are more readily accepting of marriage equality, gender diversity and other kinds of progressive social change. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tZ9qeX4gUeo?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>Recognising and responding to past injustices or complicated histories is familiar terrain for them. Rap group A.B. Original’s call-out of Australia Day, “January 26th,” came 16th place in Triple J’s Hottest 100 songs of 2016.</p>
<p>In 2018, the Hottest 100 <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/triplej/news/musicnews/triple-j-hottest-100-is-moving-to-a-new-date-and-heres-why/9197254">was moved</a> from the traditional January 26, after listeners expressed discomfort with holding the celebration on this date.</p>
<h2>Other differences</h2>
<p>Beyond generational differences, we also found gender and geography matter when it comes to attitudes about Australia Day. </p>
<p>Women were significantly more likely than men to want to change the date of Australia Day (43% compared to 33% men).</p>
<p>This is in keeping with <a href="https://theconversation.com/young-women-are-more-left-wing-than-men-study-reveals-95624">studies</a> showing women are <a href="https://theconversation.com/could-the-morrison-governments-response-to-sexual-assault-claims-cost-it-the-next-election-156939">more progressive</a> than men.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, about 66% of those living outside capitals cities were opposed to changing Australia Day. This reduces to 60% opposed to change in capitals. This is driven by boomers in regional areas, who are significantly more opposed than boomers in cities. </p>
<h2>More history, please</h2>
<p>Importantly for the Australia Day question, we also asked about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history. More than 80% of those polled agreed more of this history should be taught in schools. Here there is less of a generation gap: almost 90% of millennials want more of this education, for boomers, it is nearly 80%.</p>
<iframe src="https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/8503916/embed" title="Interactive or visual content" class="flourish-embed-iframe" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="width:100%;height:500px;" sandbox="allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-scripts allow-downloads allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<div style="width:100%!;margin-top:4px!important;text-align:right!important;"><a class="flourish-credit" href="https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/8503916/?utm_source=embed&utm_campaign=visualisation/8503916" target="_top"><img alt="Made with Flourish" src="https://public.flourish.studio/resources/made_with_flourish.svg"> </a></div>
<p>Women and non-binary interviewees were still more likely to agree than men, by eight percentage points, and those in cities were six points ahead of those in regions. </p>
<p>But Australians are relatively united in their enthusiasm for greater teaching of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history.</p>
<h2>Change is coming</h2>
<p>We suggest our findings indicate a slow burn to change the date, based on strong foundations. While there remain differences among Australians, the combination of younger generational desire for change to Australia Day and strong enthusiasm among the broader population for more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history may suggest that change is not so far off.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-australia-day-survives-despite-revealing-a-nations-rifts-and-wounds-89768">Why Australia Day survives, despite revealing a nation's rifts and wounds</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>This slow pace for change probably suits the major political parties (but not so much the Greens).</p>
<p>A growing appetite for change may also indicate a discomfort with celebrating “Australia Day” at all. Luke Pearson, Gamilaroi man and founder of media organisation IndigenousX opposes simply changing the date. As he <a href="https://indigenousx.com.au/why-i-no-longer-support-changethedate/">explained</a> in 2019, there is still too little recognition of the harmful impact of colonisation and too little justice for Indigenous peoples for there to be any day to celebrate. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>So, change the country first and then we can talk about a date.</p>
</blockquote><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/175503/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Lowe receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Singleton receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the Gandel Foundation. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joanna Cruickshank receives funding from the Australian Research Council.
</span></em></p>A new national survey shows the majority of Australians want the day left as it is. But it also suggests a groundswell for change is in the works.David Lowe, Chair in Contemporary History, Deakin UniversityAndrew Singleton, Associate Professor of Sociology and Social Research, Deakin UniversityJoanna Cruickshank, Senior Lecturer in History, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1747042022-01-24T19:11:29Z2022-01-24T19:11:29ZFor an Indigenous perspective on ‘Australia Day’, here’s a quick guide to First Nations media platforms<p>First Nations people generally refer to January 26 as the beginning of invasion and subsequent dispossession of Country. It marks the start of much violence and 234 years of resistance. </p>
<p>Every year, as “Australia Day” nears, there is a sense of foreboding among First Nations people, which is widely expressed on social media. The lead-up to the day is always accompanied by <a href="https://theconversation.com/indigenous-voices-are-speaking-loudly-on-social-media-but-racism-endures-94287">high levels of confrontation and racism</a>, especially online.</p>
<p>The mainstream media can fuel harmful debates, such as the comments about the 2019 Invasion Day marches by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/31/the-passive-racism-of-australian-media-is-borne-of-arrogance-ignorance-fear-and-fragility">Kerri-Anne Kennerley on breakfast television</a> that prompted protests outside Channel 10 and complaints to the regulator.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1482953925586468865"}"></div></p>
<p>First Nations media, on the other hand, provide information from Indigenous communities, journalists and experts that better reflects what is happening in response to events like “Australia Day”.</p>
<p>Indigenous media provide a wide range of coverage and programming on and leading up to the day. From <a href="https://www.3cr.org.au/survivalday">community radio live broadcasts</a> of Invasion Day speakers to <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/2020/01/13/nitv-presents-always-was-always-will-be">NITV’s week of dedicated programming #AlwaysWasAlwaysWillBe</a>, First Nations media present self-determination in action. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1484266985324113920"}"></div></p>
<h2>Recent changes to what January 26 represents</h2>
<p>In recent years, there has been a significant push across the continent to change the date as a way of recognising it is not a day of celebration for First Nations peoples. </p>
<p>In 2017, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/nov/27/triple-j-moves-hottest-100-from-australia-day-after-protests">Triple J announced</a> it would move the Hottest 100 music countdown, which had always been on Australia Day. They did so after consultations with listeners and a poll of 65,000 people, in which a significant number voted in favour of moving the countdown to another day.</p>
<p>Also that year, <a href="https://theconversation.com/changing-the-date-and-a-state-of-mind-from-the-westerly-edges-69555">Fremantle’s city council</a> decided it would replace its usual Australia Day celebrations with a “One Day” celebration on January 28 out of respect for First Nations people. The Darebin, Yarra and Moreland councils in Naarm (Melbourne) did the same. </p>
<p>In 2019, <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/sydney-s-inner-west-council-scraps-australia-day-celebrations-to-recognise-indigenous-australians/3b81d0c5-71f0-4b5b-be7d-c7faa6e02124">Sydney’s Inner West council</a> encouraged residents to attend the <a href="https://www.sydneypoint.com.au/events/yabun-festival/">Yabun festival</a> instead of local Australia Day celebrations.</p>
<p>First Nations people and growing numbers of allies attend <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/2021/01/26/thousands-people-turn-invasion-day-rally-melbourne">Invasion Day rallies</a> on January 26, with the resurgent campaign to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/dec/06/beyond-heartbreaking-500-indigenous-deaths-in-custody-since-1991-royal-commission">stop Black deaths in custody</a> increasingly at the forefront. </p>
<p>First Nations media have contributed to the growing awareness of issues like this, which disproportionately affect Indigenous people and communities. First Nations media also speak to the strength and tenacity of Indigenous people. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/media-inclusion-of-indigenous-peoples-is-increasing-but-there-is-still-room-for-improvement-172130">Media inclusion of Indigenous peoples is increasing but there is still room for improvement</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Sovereign voices on the airwaves</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://firstnationsmedia.org.au/">First Nations media sector</a> is extensive and vibrant. Like Aboriginal community-controlled legal and medical services, Indigenous community broadcasting emerged from political struggles for self-determination in the 1970s and ‘80s. Today, there are more than 130 Indigenous community-controlled radio stations across the continent. </p>
<p>Community radio is a bedrock of First Nations media and provides one of the easiest and most accessible ways to hear a diverse range of sovereign First Nations voices — on <em>every</em> day of the year, not just January 26. </p>
<h2>A look at some of what’s available this week and beyond</h2>
<p><strong>Invasion Day events</strong></p>
<p><a href="https://kooriradio.com/">Koori Radio</a> will present a livestream from the <a href="https://kooriradio.com/koori-radio-presents-yabun-livestream">Yabun festival</a> on Gadigal Country (Sydney). Now in its 20th year, it celebrates First Nations people’s survival and resilience. </p>
<p>Meeanjin (Brisbane) station <a href="http://www.989fm.com.au/">Triple A Murri Country</a> presents the Original 100 “Always Was Always Will Be” countdown. This features music and songs that articulate the histories, experiences, struggles and strengths of First Nations peoples.</p>
<p>In the lead up to the annual <a href="https://songlines.net.au/share-the-spirit-festival/">Share the Spirit Festival</a> in Naarm (Melbourne), <a href="https://www.3knd.org.au/">3KND</a> showcases conversations with <a href="https://www.3knd.org.au/news-events">Indigenous artists and performers</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.3cr.org.au">3CR</a> features <a href="https://www.3cr.org.au/survivalday">annual special programming</a> by Indigenous broadcasters, live coverage of speeches from the Naarm rally, and news from local and interstate Survival/Invasion Day events and concerts.</p>
<p>Lastly, there are hourly Indigenous news bulletins broadcast nationally via the <a href="https://nirs.org.au/">National Indigenous Radio Service</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Online streaming for every day</strong> </p>
<p>The online media platform <a href="https://www.indigitube.com.au/">Indigitube</a> (also available as an app) hosts a smorgasbord of First Nations music, news, interviews, special features and more.</p>
<p>Indigitube also streams content from almost 30 contributing stations, including:</p>
<ul>
<li><p><a href="https://www.ngaardamedia.com.au/ngaarda-radio">Ngaarda radio</a></p></li>
<li><p><a href="http://www.tsima4mw.org.au/">TSIMA Radio</a></p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://www.pawmedia.com.au/radio">PAW radio</a></p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://bbm987.com.au/">Bumma Bippera</a> </p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://www.caama.com.au/">CAAMA radio</a> (which has been on the air for over 40 years. CAAMA is part of one of the longest-running and largest Aboriginal media organisations in the country).</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Find your local Indigenous station <a href="https://nirs.org.au/category/locations/">here</a> or tune in online via station websites.</p>
<p><strong>Blak podcasts</strong></p>
<p>A few podcasts that provide a First Nations perspective of what “Australia Day” really means are:</p>
<ul>
<li><p><a href="https://boespearim.podbean.com/">Frontier War Stories</a> from <a href="https://twitter.com/boeknow">Boe Spearim</a></p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://soundcloud.com/radio-skid-row/232-the-last-day-of-freedom">232: The Last Day of Freedom</a> from <a href="https://radioskidrow.org/">Radio Skid Row’s</a> Lorna Munro. </p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/take-it-blak-podcast/id1492390872?i=1000463518060">Take it Blak Episode 1 January 26</a> hosted by journalists Jack Latimore (@LatimoreJack) and Rae Johnston, featuring podcaster Spearim, researcher Clare Land, professor Marcia Langton, and feminist writer Celeste Liddle.</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>First Nations voices across media</h2>
<p>Beyond the extensive community radio sector, Indigenous voices are centred in diverse forms of First Nations media. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://koorimail.com/about-koori-mail/">Koori Mail</a> is a fortnightly national Indigenous newspaper wholly owned by five Bundjalung Aboriginal community organisations. This platform aims to give Indigenous Australians a voice often missing in mainstream media. There is the Koori Mail print and online editions, and also the <a href="https://koorimail.com/podcasts/">podcasts</a> Koori Mail News and The Big Dorrie.</p>
<p><a href="https://indigenousx.com.au/">IndigenousX</a> is an online platform and rotating Twitter handle (@IndigenousX) showcasing a wide diversity of First Nations voices. Founder and CEO <a href="https://indigenousx.com.au/contributor/lukepearsonx/">Luke Pearson</a> has shifted the focus from #changethedate to <a href="https://indigenousx.com.au/why-i-no-longer-support-changethedate/">#changethenation</a>. </p>
<p>The IndigenousX Twitter host this week is Spearim of <a href="https://989fm.com.au/">Triple A Murri Country</a>. This Invasion Day, the IndigenousX website also features young First Nations contributors, alongside regular authors and an ongoing article collection <a href="https://indigenousx.com.au/category/invasion-day/">debunking myths about Invasion Day</a>. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1482225734051831812"}"></div></p>
<p>First Nations journalists are also increasingly setting the agenda in some mainstream media outlets, including <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/profile/lorena-allam">Lorena Allam</a>, a Walkley award-winning Indigenous Affairs editor for The Guardian Australia. </p>
<p>The Guardian Australia has a track record of expanding boundaries in <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17512786.2021.1874484">Indigenous news</a> by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/indigenous-australians">providing space</a> for First Nations opinions and voices every day and covering protests and rallies as they happen. </p>
<p>Over at The Age, <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/by/jack-latimore-p4ywbz">Latimore</a> is the Indigenous affairs journalist. He recently covered <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/blackfishing-alt-right-pushes-to-co-opt-aboriginal-tent-embassy-to-cause-20220105-p59lzj.html">attempts</a> by alt-right groups to hijack the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra, <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-short-history-of-the-aboriginal-tent-embassy-an-indelible-reminder-of-unceded-sovereignty-174693">the longest-running protest</a> for Indigenous land rights, sovereignty and self-determination in the world, as it approaches its 50th anniversary on January 26. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/first-nations-kids-make-up-about-20-of-missing-children-but-get-a-fraction-of-the-media-coverage-171666">First Nations kids make up about 20% of missing children, but get a fraction of the media coverage</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/">NITV</a> offers dedicated programming from January 19-26 under the slogan, #AlwaysWasAlwaysWillBe, which dates back to the Aboriginal land rights movement in far-western New South Wales in the 1970s. </p>
<p>NITV’s <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/guide/channel/NITV">programming</a> includes a live broadcast of the 2022 sunrise ceremony, rolling news reports, a film premiere, online content and its flagship current affairs programs The Point and Insight. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1481136356352933890"}"></div></p>
<p>So, if you want to hear the conversation and change the nation, <a href="https://989fm.com.au/listen/topics/news/features/the-original-100-always-was-always-will-be-2020/">#ChangeTheStation</a> and <a href="https://indigenousx.com.au/we-must-build-upon-the-foundations-of-black-media/">listen up to Black media</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/174704/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tanja Dreher receives funding from the Australian Research Council. Research that contributed to the development of this article was funded by an ARC Future Fellowship grant (<a href="https://www.listeninginproject.org/">https://www.listeninginproject.org/</a>). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Poppy de Souza works for Tanja Dreher, and has received funding from Dreher's ARC Future Fellowship.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bronwyn Carlson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>First Nations media are leading better conversations about the significance of the day – and issues facing Indigenous communities every day of the year.Tanja Dreher, Associate Professor, UNSW SydneyBronwyn Carlson, Professor, Indigenous Studies and Director of The Centre for Global Indigenous Futures, Macquarie UniversityPoppy de Souza, Research Assistant / Research Fellow, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1747682022-01-23T19:09:59Z2022-01-23T19:09:59ZThere have always been arguments about who gets what: the surprising history of Australia’s honours system<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441643/original/file-20220120-21-zxglk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australia Day honours will be announced this week, and, if recent announcements are any indication, they are likely to generate considerable public debate.</p>
<p>In 2014, there was the <a href="https://theconversation.com/knights-dames-be-honest-australia-you-love-it-24875">reestablishment</a> of knighthoods and damehoods in the Order of Australia under then prime minister Tony Abbott. The next year, Prince Philip was <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/tony-abbott-defends-decision-to-make-prince-philip-a-knight-20150126-12y5ce.html">infamously awarded</a> one of the revived titles.</p>
<p>The past decade has seen increasing scrutiny of the <a href="https://www.wgea.gov.au/newsroom/its-time-for-australian-states-and-territories-to-act-on-equal-honours-this-queens-birthday">gender balance</a> in the awards, while individual honours, such as those given to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jan/25/bettina-arndt-awarded-australia-day-honour-for-services-to-gender-equity">writer Bettina Arndt</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/jan/22/margaret-court-australia-day-honours-2021-list-daniel-andrews-backlash">tennis champion Margaret Court</a>, have also drawn criticism. </p>
<p>This is not necessarily out of keeping with the longer history of the honours system. Australians have long been arguing about both the shape of the honours system, and how it ought to be used. </p>
<p>In my new book, <a href="http://doi.org/10.22459/HN.2022">Honouring a Nation</a>, I provide the first detailed history of honours in Australia, from the First Fleet to 2021. </p>
<h2>Should Australia have titles?</h2>
<p>Australians have always been ambivalent about having an honours system that sets some people above others. </p>
<p>In particular, the question of whether titles of honour — like knighthood and damehood — are appropriate in an egalitarian democracy has been a mainstay of debates. A common argument in the Australian colonies before Federation was that such titles did not belong here. As the South Australian Kapunda Herald <a href="http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article108354061">put it</a> in 1890, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>titular distinctions are not in sympathy with the spirit of young democracies, in which the reputation of known achievements is the most, if not the only, valued one. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Opposition to titles was not merely rhetorical. David Buchanan, a member of the New South Wales House of Assembly, tried on several occasions to get the house to pass resolutions against them. In April 1884, for instance, he made an unsuccessful <a href="https://api.parliament.nsw.gov.au/api/hansard/search/daily/searchablepdf/HANSARD-290296563-9910">motion</a> that granting titles was</p>
<blockquote>
<p>inconsistent with the spirit of our democratic institutions, and ought to be discontinued.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Of course, not everyone agreed — particularly if titles were merited rewards for real service or achievement, which might inspire others. Rockhampton’s Morning Bulletin in 1887, for example, <a href="http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article52009502">considered</a> it entirely appropriate </p>
<blockquote>
<p>[t]o mark out a man who has distinguished himself above his fellows in the public service […] because it provokes emulation. </p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Women under-recognised</h2>
<p>The paper’s reference to “a man” was not coincidental. In the 19th century, women were largely ineligible to receive honours or titles in their own right. By the final years of the century, some were advocating for this to change. </p>
<p>With the establishment of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Most-Excellent-Order-of-the-British-Empire">Order of the British Empire</a> — created in Britain as a means to reward the war services of the population in 1917 — women began to enter the honours system in significant numbers. Australians, too, received this new honour, as Australians received awards solely through the British system until 1975, when the <a href="https://www.gg.gov.au/australian-honours-and-awards/order-australia">Order of Australia</a> was established. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Women sitting in a meeting." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441644/original/file-20220120-21-1peg1jd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441644/original/file-20220120-21-1peg1jd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441644/original/file-20220120-21-1peg1jd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441644/original/file-20220120-21-1peg1jd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441644/original/file-20220120-21-1peg1jd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441644/original/file-20220120-21-1peg1jd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441644/original/file-20220120-21-1peg1jd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Concerns about women’s under-representation in honours are more than 100 years old.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Eerily familiar complaints about women’s poor treatment in honours lists were soon appearing, however. In 1930, Australian newspapers <a href="http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article129008940">reported</a> protests from women’s activists in Britain, who argued aviator Amy Johnson wasn’t given an award commensurate with her achievement of flying solo from England to Australia. The Women’s Freedom League described this as “inadequate and inappropriate”, while also expressing “disappointment” that “so few honors have been conferred on women”.</p>
<p>Such criticisms have been increasingly evident in Australia in recent years. In 2017, lobby group <a href="https://honourawoman.com/about/">Honour a Woman</a> was established to seek gender parity in the system. </p>
<p>While there is still some way to go, there have been signs of change. The proportion of recipients who are women <a href="https://hfordsa.github.io/who-do-we-think-we-are.html">has increased</a> from 21% of the total in 1975 to 42% in 2020. And in June 2018 <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/jun/11/more-women-than-men-top-queens-birthday-honours">women outnumbered men</a> in appointments to the highest grade, the Companion (AC), for the first time. </p>
<h2>What type of service gets honoured?</h2>
<p>One factor explaining women’s unequal experience of the honours system has been the tendency for local community service to be rewarded at the lower levels of the system. Meanwhile, contributions in professional fields like politics and business, which have historically been dominated by men, tended to attract higher-level awards. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/whitlam-didnt-really-end-our-old-honours-system-were-still-handing-orders-of-australia-to-the-wrong-people-130800">Whitlam didn't really end our old honours system. We're still handing Orders of Australia to the wrong people</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Calls for better recognition of community work, and especially volunteers, are a common thread in conversations about honours. Research conducted for a federal government review of the system in 1995, for instance, showed Australians wanted the system to reward those who served the community, acted with heroism, or achieved medical or scientific advances – rather than those who simply did a prominent job.</p>
<p>Others across the decades have expressed their desire to see particular occupational fields attract more awards. Teachers, doctors and nurses, clergy, and those in the arts — as well as, more recently, those working on the COVID-19 frontlines — are among those who have been suggested at various times to deserve greater numbers of honours. </p>
<h2>When the Queen visited in 1954</h2>
<p>One of the most distinctive aspects of Australia’s experience of honours was the divide over their use between Labor and non-Labor parties for many years. While non-Labor governments regularly recommended Australians for British honours prior to the creation of the Order of Australia in 1975, Labor governments tended not to do so. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Queen Elizabeth in Hobart in 1954." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441645/original/file-20220120-23-swwvxt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441645/original/file-20220120-23-swwvxt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441645/original/file-20220120-23-swwvxt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441645/original/file-20220120-23-swwvxt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441645/original/file-20220120-23-swwvxt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=626&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441645/original/file-20220120-23-swwvxt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=626&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441645/original/file-20220120-23-swwvxt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=626&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip made a high-profile visit to Australia in 1954.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This divide led to a short but intense controversy in 1954, during the highly anticipated tour of Australia by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. As was common during such tours, the Queen issued a number of awards in connection with her visit, including to some involved in organising it. </p>
<p>In Victoria, however, then Labor premier John Cain blocked decorations for royal tour staff in his state. While Cain cited Labor’s “long-standing” <a href="http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18414102">policy</a> against imperial honours in explanation, the leader of the Victorian Liberal Party, Henry Bolte, <a href="http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article26601021">lambasted</a> the decision as “stupid and ridiculous”.</p>
<h2>Proxies for larger debates</h2>
<p>The history of honours in Australia shows that, both before and after the creation of the Order of Australia as the nation’s own unique honour, Australians have been debating the system’s form, function and fairness. </p>
<p>These debates have often been proxies for other, larger conversations about identity and values, the country’s relationship to its British heritage, and concepts of merit and recognition. </p>
<p>The history of honours is, in many ways, a history of Australia itself.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/174768/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Karen Fox does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A new book provides the first detailed history of honours in Australia. It turns out Australians have long been debating how the system should work.Karen Fox, Senior Research Fellow at the National Centre of Biography, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1543702021-02-01T03:10:56Z2021-02-01T03:10:56ZPolls say Labor and Coalition in a 50-50 tie, Trump set to be acquitted by US Senate<p>The <a href="https://www.news.com.au/national/politics/newspoll-scott-morrison-support-dips-labors-best-result-in-six-months/news-story/02ea1cdc15379603da6c3c625e7f4177">first Newspoll of 2021</a> has the major parties tied at 50-50 on two-party preferred, a one-point gain for Labor since the <a href="https://theconversation.com/morrison-remains-very-popular-in-newspoll-as-the-coalition-easily-retains-groom-in-byelection-151094">final 2020 Newspoll</a> in late November. The <a href="https://www.pollbludger.net/2021/01/31/newspoll-50-50-19/">poll</a> was conducted January 27-30 from a sample of 1,512 people.</p>
<p>Primary votes were 42% Coalition (down one point), 36% Labor (steady), 10% Greens (down one) and 3% One Nation (up one).</p>
<p>63% were satisfied with PM Scott Morrison’s performance (down three) and 33% were dissatisfied (up three), for a net approval of +30 points. While this is still very high, <a href="https://twitter.com/kevinbonham/status/1355832578486353926">analyst Kevin Bonham</a> says it is Morrison’s lowest net approval since April.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1355832578486353926"}"></div></p>
<p>Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese had a net approval of -2, down five points. Morrison led Albanese by 57-29 as better prime minister (60-28 in November).</p>
<p>While much commentary has written off Labor for the next election, a source of hope for the opposition is that while the Coalition has usually been ahead since the COVID crisis began, the two-party-preferred margin has been close.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/view-from-the-hill-coal-push-from-nationals-is-a-challenge-for-scott-morrison-154078">View from The Hill: Coal push from Nationals is a challenge for Scott Morrison</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Morrison’s great approval ratings have not translated into big leads for the Coalition. It is plausible that by the middle of this year COVID will not be a major threat owing to a global vaccination program.</p>
<p>A return to a focus on normal issues could assist Labor in undermining Morrison’s ratings and the Coalition’s slender lead on voting intentions.</p>
<p>Albanese has come under attack from the left owing to <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/labor-reshuffle-sees-bowen-take-on-climate-portfolio-20210128-p56xh6.html">Thursday’s reshuffle</a> in which Chris Bowen took the climate change portfolio from Mark Butler.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1354906712680095750"}"></div></p>
<p>But the Greens lost a point in Newspoll rather than gaining. With the focus on COVID, climate change appears to have lost salience.</p>
<h2>On Australia Day and climate change</h2>
<p>In an <a href="https://www.ipsos.com/en-au/ipsos-australia-day-poll-report">Ipsos poll</a> for Nine newspapers, taken before January 25 from a sample of 1,220 people, 48% disagreed with changing Australia Day from January 26, while 28% agreed.</p>
<p>But by 49-41 voters thought it likely Australia Day would be changed within the next ten years.</p>
<p>In a <a href="https://www.roymorgan.com/findings/8621-roy-morgan-survey-australia-day-january-25-2021-202101250620">Morgan SMS poll</a>, conducted January 25 from a sample of 1,236 people, 59% thought January 26 should be known as Australia Day, while 41% thought it should be known as Invasion Day.</p>
<p>In an <a href="https://essentialvision.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Essential-Report-180121.pdf">Essential poll</a> conducted in mid-January, 42% (down 20 since January 2020) thought Australia was not doing enough to address climate change, 35% (up 16) thought we were doing enough and 10% (up two) thought we were doing too much.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/toxicity-swirls-around-january-26-but-we-can-change-the-nation-with-a-voice-to-parliament-153623">Toxicity swirls around January 26, but we can change the nation with a Voice to parliament</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>But there was a slight increase in those thinking climate change was caused by human activity (58%, up two since January 2020), while 32% (steady) thought we are just witnessing a normal fluctuation in the earth’s climate.</p>
<h2>Trump set to be acquitted in impeachment trial</h2>
<p>I related on <a href="https://theconversation.com/after-riots-donald-trump-leaves-office-with-under-40-approval-153442">January 20</a> that Donald Trump was impeached by the US House of Representatives over his role in inciting the January 6 riots with his baseless claims of election fraud.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381570/original/file-20210201-15-3cyz55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Donald Trump boarding a helicopter as he leaves the White House." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381570/original/file-20210201-15-3cyz55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381570/original/file-20210201-15-3cyz55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381570/original/file-20210201-15-3cyz55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381570/original/file-20210201-15-3cyz55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381570/original/file-20210201-15-3cyz55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381570/original/file-20210201-15-3cyz55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381570/original/file-20210201-15-3cyz55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Donald Trump departs the White House.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alex Brandon/AP/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Senate is tied at 50-50, with Vice President Kamala Harris giving Democrats the majority with her casting vote. But it requires a two-thirds majority to convict a president, so 17 Republicans would need to join the Democrats for conviction.</p>
<p>On January 26, a vote was called on whether it was constitutional to try a former president. The <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/26/trump-impeachment-republicans-senate-vote-to-dismiss">Senate ruled it constitutional</a> by 55-45, but just five Republicans joined all Democrats.</p>
<p>That is far short of the 17 required to convict, so Trump is set to be acquitted at the Senate trial that begins February 8.</p>
<p>Only ten of over 200 House Republicans supported impeachment. It is clear the vast majority of Congressional Republicans consider it more important to keep the Trump supporters happy than to hold Trump accountable for the rioters that attacked Congress.</p>
<p>In a late January <a href="https://www.monmouth.edu/polling-institute/reports/monmouthpoll_us_012521/">Monmouth University</a> poll, 56% approved of the House impeaching Trump while 42% disapproved. When asked whether the Senate should convict, support dropped to 52-44.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/biden-faces-the-world-5-foreign-policy-experts-explain-us-priorities-and-problems-after-trump-149805">Biden faces the world: 5 foreign policy experts explain US priorities – and problems – after Trump</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>FiveThirtyEight has started an <a href="https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/biden-approval-rating/">aggregate of polls to track</a> new President Joe Biden’s ratings. His current ratings are 54.3% approve and 34.6% disapprove for a net approval of +19.7 points.</p>
<p>While Biden’s ratings are better than Trump’s at any stage of his presidency, they are worse on net approval than all presidents prior to Trump this early in their terms.</p>
<p>Prior to Trump, presidents were given a honeymoon even by opposition party supporters, but it is unlikely the 30% or so who believe <a href="https://www.monmouth.edu/polling-institute/reports/monmouthpoll_us_012521/">Biden’s win illegitimate</a> will ever approve of him.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/154370/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adrian Beaumont does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>There is good news and bad news for Prime Minister Scott Morrison in the first Newspoll for 2021.Adrian Beaumont, Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1536232021-01-24T18:53:43Z2021-01-24T18:53:43ZToxicity swirls around January 26, but we can change the nation with a Voice to parliament<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380123/original/file-20210122-15-x3x366.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lukas Coch/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>We are on the eve of the nation’s <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01-24/opinions-on-australia-day-split-on-generational-lines/13081322">annual ritual</a> of celebrating the arrivals, while not formally recognising the ancient peoples who were dispossessed.</p>
<p>Each year the tensions spill over, rendering Australia Day/Invasion Day/Survival Day <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jan/13/invasion-day-protest-in-sydney-set-to-go-ahead-despite-coronavirus-restrictions">a protest</a> as much as a celebration. </p>
<p>But there is a quiet process underway, aimed at achieving substantive recognition of the First Nations that has so far eluded Australia. </p>
<h2>A new report on an Indigenous Voice</h2>
<p>This process of constitutional recognition is now in its second decade — yes, it has been ten years since the process began. In early January, to kick off the second decade, Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt released the <a href="https://voice.niaa.gov.au/sites/default/files/2021-01/indigenous-voice-codesign-process-interim-report-2020.pdf">Indigenous Voice Co-design Process Interim Report</a>. </p>
<p>It runs to almost 300 pages and offers First Nations peoples <a href="https://haveyoursay.voice.niaa.gov.au">about three months</a> to provide a response. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380314/original/file-20210124-19-19nt2kd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380314/original/file-20210124-19-19nt2kd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380314/original/file-20210124-19-19nt2kd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380314/original/file-20210124-19-19nt2kd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380314/original/file-20210124-19-19nt2kd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380314/original/file-20210124-19-19nt2kd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380314/original/file-20210124-19-19nt2kd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt has just released a paper on an Indigenous Voice.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">David Mariuz/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The genesis for the Voice lies in the historic 2017 <a href="https://theconversation.com/constitutional-reform-made-easy-how-to-achieve-the-uluru-statement-and-a-first-nations-voice-116141">Uluru Statement from the Heart</a> and First Nations’ preference for a constitutionally enshrined Voice.</p>
<p>The report is a solid first run at designing a Voice. It brings Australia a step closer to realising the <a href="https://ulurustatement.org/">Uluru Statement</a>. But it falls short of the Voice to parliament sought by those consulted in the lead up to the Uluru Statement and the statement itself. </p>
<h2>A Voice for the voiceless</h2>
<p>Previously, <a href="https://theconversation.com/constitutional-recognition-for-indigenous-australians-must-involve-structural-change-not-mere-symbolism-131751">I have set out</a> the lengthy and complex process that has led us to this point.</p>
<p>I have also explained why First Nations people chose a constitutionally protected Voice as both symbolic and substantive recognition — and why a legislated voice is not able to deliver the transformative change communities so desperately need. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Young Indigenous woman holds her fist to the sky." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380313/original/file-20210124-15-1qtxhc0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380313/original/file-20210124-15-1qtxhc0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380313/original/file-20210124-15-1qtxhc0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380313/original/file-20210124-15-1qtxhc0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380313/original/file-20210124-15-1qtxhc0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380313/original/file-20210124-15-1qtxhc0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380313/original/file-20210124-15-1qtxhc0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The process of constitutional recognition for First Nations peoples is now in its second decade.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mick Tsikas/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The push for a Voice came from the voiceless — those less likely to be afforded a seat at the table in Indigenous affairs — because the <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjAn_fc-LPuAhVywTgGHQsKDnIQFjABegQIBhAC&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.aph.gov.au%2FDocumentStore.ashx%3Fid%3Db66a382a-d3b2-4030-a52f-2b0c6492f644%26subId%3D662832&usg=AOvVaw1HPdhFxa0XO-IzPl1bxkH9">regional dialogues</a> privileged their participation. </p>
<p>It was their view that those who filled the leadership vacuum left by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (<a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/Publications_Archive/CIB/Current_Issues_Briefs_2004_-_2005/05cib04">abolished in 2005</a>) were unrepresentative. This includes ever-present and overbearing Commonwealth bureaucracy on Indigenous affairs and other organisations who purport to represent community but are not accountable back to community.</p>
<p>In 2018, the <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/constitutionalrecognition">joint parliamentary committee</a> on the Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Peoples — chaired by Labor’s Pat Dodson and Liberal MP Julian Leeser — found the Voice was the only viable constitutional option. But it also found the concept required more meat on the bones before Australians could vote at a referendum. It said this should be done through “co-design” with First Nations peoples. </p>
<p>The 2019 budget saw <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/federal-budget-money-for-indigenous-voice">$7.3 million </a>for a co-design process for the Voice and <a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22library%2Fpartypol%2F6725182%22;src1=sm1">$160 million</a> for a future referendum once a model is determined. The Coalition’s 2019 election policy also reflected the two-step approach:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>A referendum will be held once a model has been settled, consistent with the recommendations of the [Dodson/Leeser] Committee. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The interim Voice report is the settling of that model.</p>
<h2>A Voice to government only?</h2>
<p>Wyatt has been clear in the past he is only designing a “<a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-11-15/ken-wyatt-wants-indigenous-voice-laws-to-pass-before-election/12885306">Voice to government</a>”, which aligns with his worldview as a career public servant. </p>
<p>However, the Voice <a href="https://voice.niaa.gov.au/sites/default/files/2021-01/indigenous-voice-codesign-process-interim-report-2020.pdf">interim report</a> expressly sets out two components for comment: a Voice to government and a Voice to parliament. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ken-wyatts-proposed-voice-to-government-marks-another-failure-to-hear-indigenous-voices-126103">Ken Wyatt's proposed 'voice to government' marks another failure to hear Indigenous voices</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The Voice to government component is one for First Nations communities to contemplate. </p>
<p>Only First Nations people on the ground can tell the inquiry whether the various local and regional mechanisms function in the way the report suggests they do. Only they can tell the government whether they feel their voices are represented effectively by the structures and entities that exist. This is why their input is so crucial to this report.</p>
<p>It is important to note that at the regional dialogues that led to the Uluru Statement, there was not a single existing entity that communities identified as representing their voices. National peak bodies and constituent organisations, were expressly singled out in regional dialogues as not representing grassroots voices. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/constitutional-recognition-for-indigenous-australians-must-involve-structural-change-not-mere-symbolism-131751">Constitutional recognition for Indigenous Australians must involve structural change, not mere symbolism</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>They were also criticised for being unaccountable and not reporting back to communities about what they say and do in Canberra. </p>
<p>Even so, the interim report has some alignment with the Uluru dialogue’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-uluru-statement-is-not-a-vague-idea-of-being-heard-but-deliberate-structural-reform-142820">deliberative method </a>, this includes the proposed transitional arrangements for local and regional entities, allowing communities to conceive of and design new entities. </p>
<p>However, it is difficult to gauge whether this can give voice to the voiceless.</p>
<h2>Voice to parliament falls short</h2>
<p>The Voice to parliament component of the interim report opens the door to submissions on a constitutional Voice. There is no other way to assess the efficacy of the legislated approach, which unsurprisingly <a href="https://ulurustatement.org/our-story">falls short of the voice</a> sought by delegates at the <a href="https://www.referendumcouncil.org.au/event/first-nations-regional-dialogue-in-uluru.html">regional dialogues</a>, the <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/rp1617/Quick_Guides/UluruStatement">national constitutional convention</a> and in the Uluru Statement. </p>
<p>This is because the Uluru Statement sought a mandated place at the table with the force of law. The interim report falls short of this by studiously <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/indigenous-voice-to-parliament-will-get-no-veto-power-under-interim-proposal">avoiding power</a>. </p>
<p>While the proposal suggests there is an “obligation to consult” on race power matters and “expectation to consult” on broader matters, there is no power that animates an actual obligation. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Invasion Day protesters" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380315/original/file-20210124-21-tfwj4r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380315/original/file-20210124-21-tfwj4r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380315/original/file-20210124-21-tfwj4r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380315/original/file-20210124-21-tfwj4r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380315/original/file-20210124-21-tfwj4r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380315/original/file-20210124-21-tfwj4r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380315/original/file-20210124-21-tfwj4r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">January 26 is as much about protest as it is about BBQs and a public holiday.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">James Ross/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>After all, it is based on legislation that can be overridden by subsequent legislation, which is par for the course in Indigenous affairs. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jan/09/indigenous-voice-to-parliament-to-have-no-veto-power-under-interim-plans">Media reports</a> talk of the “obligation to consult” on race power as if it is hard law, but this Voice is mediated by the government of the day and therefore the antithesis of what people sought. </p>
<p>It carefully crafts a process that still renders the voice supine to government. This is both in terms of reporting to a parliamentary committee and the transparency mechanisms, where inevitably, the government becomes the Indigenous Voice to parliament.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-day-invasion-day-survival-day-a-long-history-of-celebration-and-contestation-70278">Australia Day, Invasion Day, Survival Day: a long history of celebration and contestation</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The most prominent misalignment with the dialogues was they wanted a voice protected by the Constitution via a referendum, so it could survive successive governments and avoid being subject to the whim of the government of the day. </p>
<p>This would give our communities the certainty and security they need to make long-term plans for the future. First Nations peoples understand our affairs are a political football. And that our working and community lives are subject to a three-year cycle of one government to the next. It is a driver of disadvantage. </p>
<p>This is why so many <a href="https://alc.org.au/newsroom/media-releases/voice-proposal-good-start-but-falls-short-of-uluru-aspirations/">Indigenous organisations</a> are expressing disappointment at this proposal. The “anything is better than nothing” approach does not apply when the change is akin to the status quo; it just looks more officious with more squiggly flow charts. </p>
<h2>A path to friendship</h2>
<p>This is now an opportunity for Australians and First Nations peoples to make their views clearly heard. It is only an interim report, and it requires the feedback of many.</p>
<p>All Australians want to find a way through the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-day-i-dont-feel-australian-that-would-be-australia-day-36352">annual debates</a> about Captain Cook, the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jan/22/cant-compare-cathy-freeman-blasts-scott-morrisons-26-january-first-fleet-comments">First Fleet</a> and national identity, to a more inclusive and nuanced narrative of who we are. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/an-indigenous-voice-must-be-enshrined-in-our-constitution-heres-why-153635">An Indigenous 'Voice' must be enshrined in our Constitution. Here's why</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Survey research shows a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/jul/12/essential-poll-majority-of-australians-want-indigenous-recognition-and-voice-to-parliament">clear majority</a> of Australians want to recognise a First Nations Voice in the Constitution. </p>
<p>As we approach yet another national day replete with swirling toxicity, the path to friendship offered by the Uluru Statement — an expression of peace — provides a roadmap for Australia. </p>
<p>This is not about changing the date, but changing the nation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/153623/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Megan Davis receives funding from the Australian Research Council and is affiliated with the Indigenous Law Centre, UNSW and was a Referendum Council member.</span></em></p>There is a quiet process underway, aimed at achieving the recognition of the First Nations that has so far eluded Australia.Megan Davis, Pro Vice-Chancellor Indigenous UNSW and Professor of Law, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1536332021-01-24T18:53:23Z2021-01-24T18:53:23ZIt’s not just cricket: Australia Day isn’t the commercial winner it used to be<p>Australia Day used to be an obvious and uncontroversial occasion for brands to endear themselves to Australian consumers. No longer.</p>
<p>There has been a decided shift over the past decade in commercial attitudes to January 26, acknowledging the problematic nature of the date’s choice as our day of national celebration to our First Nations. </p>
<p>Nothing demonstrates this more conclusively than Cricket Australia dropping references to Australia Day in its promotions of Big Bash League fixtures. </p>
<p>It’s a significant step. The BBL doesn’t need to appease inner-urban lefties. Its customer base is as middle-Australia as you can get. Nor can this be dismissed as corporate timidity, running for cover lest woke activists on social media make a fuss. Indeed the decision has likely excited more controversy than would have business as usual.</p>
<p>“Well, it’s not cricket,” declared Prime Minister Scott Morrison when <a href="https://www.pm.gov.au/media/press-conference-yarwun-qld">asked about the move</a>. “I think Australian cricket fans would like to see Cricket Australia focus a lot more on cricket and a lot less on politics.” </p>
<p>News Corp’s outrage machine has been running even hotter. “The greatest betrayal of this country by a sporting body,” fumed <a href="https://www.skynews.com.au/details/_6224736102001">Sky News host Chris Smith</a>.</p>
<p>Both Morrison and News Corp know something about appealing to core audiences. In this case, Cricket Australia’s attunement to its stakeholders is probably a better barometer of national feeling.</p>
<h2>Identity commerce</h2>
<p>Brands have never been shy about using national holidays for commercial gain.</p>
<p>Take Anzac Day – a date (on April 25) far less controversial than Australia Day, but one still fraught with sensitivities. </p>
<p>The Australian Football League has leveraged the “Anzac spirit” since 1995 through its Anzac Day match betweeen Collingwood and Essendon. Though not without its critics, the league has mostly managed to avoid running afoul of community sentiments in balancing commodification with commemoration.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/379752/original/file-20210120-15-1jz3dls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/379752/original/file-20210120-15-1jz3dls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379752/original/file-20210120-15-1jz3dls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379752/original/file-20210120-15-1jz3dls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379752/original/file-20210120-15-1jz3dls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379752/original/file-20210120-15-1jz3dls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379752/original/file-20210120-15-1jz3dls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fresh in our memories.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Other brands have not been so artful. Woolworths, for example. In 2015 the “Fresh Food People” ran an Anzac Day campaign involving an <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-14/woolworths-picture-generator/6393044?nw=0">image generator</a> by which people could upload a photo of a relative who served in World War I “or a more recent war” to create a social media profile picture – overlaid with the phrase “Fresh in our Memories” and a Woolworths logo. </p>
<p>Woolworths executives were shocked to discover many people <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-14/woolworths-under-fire-for-anzac-promotion/6392848?nw=0">thought this distasteful</a>, and quickly <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-14/woolworths-under-fire-for-anzac-promotion/6392848?nw=0">dropped the promotion</a>.</p>
<p>But it generally takes a lot for brands to back away from commercialisation opportunities. Carlton & United Breweries also copped criticism in 2015 over its Victoria Bitter beer brand’s “Raise a Glass” campaign (running since 2009) but was unapologetic. </p>
<p>It defended <a href="https://www.afr.com/companies/victoria-bitter-says-it-entitled-to-anzac-connection-as-target-pulls-some-items-from-shelves-20150417-1mn0vz">its association</a> with Anzac Day – citing a photo of Australian soldiers serving in Egypt during World War II who made a “VB” made out of Victoria Bitter beer bottles, and the <a href="https://www.afr.com/companies/victoria-bitter-says-it-entitled-to-anzac-connection-as-target-pulls-some-items-from-shelves-20150417-1mn0vz">money it contributed</a> to the Returned & Services League and Legacy. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A Victoria Bitter 'Raise a Glass' campaign advert." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380131/original/file-20210122-13-sn6d0v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380131/original/file-20210122-13-sn6d0v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380131/original/file-20210122-13-sn6d0v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380131/original/file-20210122-13-sn6d0v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380131/original/file-20210122-13-sn6d0v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380131/original/file-20210122-13-sn6d0v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380131/original/file-20210122-13-sn6d0v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Victoria Bitter ‘Raise a Glass’ campaign advert.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">CUB</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It did, however, <a href="https://mumbrella.com.au/vb-scraps-anzac-day-raise-a-glass-campaign-after-seven-years-361742">drop the campaign in 2016</a>. And now, of course, CUB is owned by Japanese conglomerate Asahi, which makes such promotions somewhat awkward.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/should-we-be-consuming-more-than-just-patriotism-on-national-days-13655">Should we be consuming more than just patriotism on national days?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Cashing in on Australia Day</h2>
<p>This may explain why VB has clung to its Australia Day promotions.</p>
<p>It used January 25 in 2018 to launch “<a href="https://campaignbrief.com/victoria-bitter-celebrates-aus/">Knock Off Times</a>” campaign. Last year it marketed <a href="https://mumbrella.com.au/victoria-bitter-thongs-the-ultimate-aussie-fashion-accessory-released-ahead-of-australia-day-613627">VB-branded thongs</a> – the “ultimate fashion accessory for the Australia Day long weekend”. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Mercedes Benz's 2018 Australia Day advert." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380146/original/file-20210122-17-6bxbzl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380146/original/file-20210122-17-6bxbzl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=873&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380146/original/file-20210122-17-6bxbzl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=873&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380146/original/file-20210122-17-6bxbzl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=873&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380146/original/file-20210122-17-6bxbzl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1097&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380146/original/file-20210122-17-6bxbzl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1097&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380146/original/file-20210122-17-6bxbzl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1097&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mercedes Benz’s 2018 Australia Day advert.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.bestadsontv.com/ad/91915/Mercedes-Benz-Australia-Day">www.bestadsontv.com</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The reason is simple: it’s a sales opportunity.</p>
<p>The national public holiday is a day to have a party with family and friends. Barbecues are popular. It’s a useful date for alcohol brands and others to time promotional campaigns that position themselves as dinky-di. </p>
<p>Coopers, now the largest Australian-owned brewery, has also used the day to promote its true-blue credentials. In 2017 it ran a national <a href="https://campaignbrief.com/coopers-celebrates-australia-d/">billboard campaign </a> with the slogan: “Australia Day. Australian-owned. Perfect.”</p>
<p>Even brands with tenuous connections to barbecues (or Australia) have gotten in on the act. A Mercedes-Benz promotion in 2018 featured sausages on a grill in the style of the German luxury car brand’s <a href="https://www.bestadsontv.com/ad/91915/Mercedes-Benz-Australia-Day">three-pointed badge</a></p>
<h2>Shifting sentiments</h2>
<p>But for brands attuned to middle Australia, waving the flag around Australia Day is losing its explicit appeal as community attitudes change. </p>
<p>Let’s not forget the date has never been universally embraced. Marking the date of arrival of the First Fleet at Port Jackson in 1788, January 26 was only nationally adopted as Australia Day in the mid-1930s. Given the date’s association with colonisation and dispossession, Indigenous Australians have lamented the choice ever since. In 1938 the first <a href="https://aiatsis.gov.au/explore/day-of-mourning">Aboriginal Day of Mourning</a> and Protest was held in Sydney. Counter-commemorations of the day as Survival Day and Invasion Day are hardly new.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380148/original/file-20210122-23-mi3xni.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="The first Aboriginal Day of Mourning, in Sydney in 1938." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380148/original/file-20210122-23-mi3xni.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380148/original/file-20210122-23-mi3xni.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380148/original/file-20210122-23-mi3xni.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380148/original/file-20210122-23-mi3xni.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380148/original/file-20210122-23-mi3xni.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380148/original/file-20210122-23-mi3xni.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380148/original/file-20210122-23-mi3xni.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The first Aboriginal Day of Mourning, in Sydney in 1938.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://aiatsis.gov.au/explore/day-of-mourning">AIATSIS</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Follow the lamb</h2>
<p>To appreciate how attitudes have shifted, think about lamb.</p>
<p>No advertiser has leveraged Australia Day more adroitly than Meat and Livestock Australia. It has pegged its advertising campaign promoting lamb as the “national meat” to the holiday for two decades, with former AFL player and “lambassador” Sam Kekovich fronting the campaign from 2005 to 2014. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZtWVJikNnx4?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>The longevity of the campaign’s timing with January 26 indicates the strategy’s <a href="https://mumbrella.com.au/australia-day-get-in-or-get-out-of-the-way-561638">success</a>. </p>
<p>The campaigns have been consistently irreverent, appealing to the larrikan sense of humour. But in recent years they’ve also become far less “politically incorrect”. Gone are explicit appeals to nationalism and skewering of easy targets such as vegans. Instead their messages are about sharing and togetherness. </p>
<p>This year’s campaign, “Make lamb, not walls”, is a comical take on border closures. Notably it makes no mention of Australia Day.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aCIMYjqWxwA?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Australian Lamb: Make Lamb, Not Walls.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Waning attachment</h2>
<p>Last week pollster Essential Research, which has been surveying Australians annually since 2015 about their feelings of Australia Day – and celebrating it on January 26 – <a href="https://essentialvision.com.au/category/essentialreport">published data</a> showing 53% of Australians regard it as just another public holiday (compared with 40% in January 2015).</p>
<p>Opposition to moving Australia Day to another day is still quite significant (35%) but, tellingly, just 17% of those aged 18-35 are opposed, compared with 55% of those 55 or older. Even among Coalition voters, more support a separate day than oppose it (49% to 45%).</p>
<p>The waning attachment of market-sensitive mainstream brands such as MLA to the day may be just as telling, in the same way betting markets are a useful adjunct to polls to accurately measure the popular mood.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/new-research-reveals-our-complex-attitudes-to-australia-day-110035">New research reveals our complex attitudes to Australia Day</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Reading the room</h2>
<p>Cricket Australia’s detachment may be the most significant of all barometers. It’s hard to think of a brand more acutely aligned with Australian identity. </p>
<p>True, not all the BBL’s franchise teams are on board. The commercial and marketing manager of the two Melbourne teams, Nick Cummins, is batting on with promoting this year’s January 26 fixtures at the MCG as Australia Day matches. It was, <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/melbourne-bbl-teams-to-defy-ca-and-stick-with-australia-day-20210121-p56vxh.html">he said</a> “a complex issue that needs time and extensive engagement”.</p>
<p>But the writing is on the wall. As Indigenous cricketer Dan Christian put it, there comes a time to “<a href="https://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/blood-was-spilled-anthony-mundine-applauds-cricket-s-australia-day-move-20210122-p56w5u.html">to read the room</a>”.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/153633/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>It takes a lot for brands to back away from commercialisation opportunities. Cricket Australia’s backing away from Australia Day is significant.Sarah Duffy, Lecturer, School of Business, Western Sydney UniversityMichelle O'Shea, Senior Lecturer, School of Business, Western Sydney UniversityPatrick van Esch, Senior Lecturer in Marketing, AUT Business School, Auckland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1304622020-01-26T19:07:49Z2020-01-26T19:07:49ZYes, this continent was invaded in 1788 – an international law expert explains<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/311489/original/file-20200123-32188-1wx6w59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=16%2C16%2C5447%2C3620&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption"></span> </figcaption></figure><p>Should we remember January 26 1788 as “Invasion Day”?</p>
<p>The colonisation of Australia was an invasion from an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspective.</p>
<p>But critics of the name “Invasion Day” object that it emphasises just one side of the story – that from a European perspective the British merely “settled” land they did not think belonged to anyone, and there was no invasion in the strict legal sense. That is, similar to the way Germany invaded Belgium in 1914.</p>
<p>This objection is misplaced. The name “Invasion Day” does not just reflect an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspective. It also reflects the meaning of “invasion” within a European system of law – international law as it operated in the 18th and 19th centuries.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-day-invasion-day-survival-day-a-long-history-of-celebration-and-contestation-70278">Australia Day, Invasion Day, Survival Day: a long history of celebration and contestation</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>International law and colonialism</h2>
<p>International law played a central role in colonialism that is sometimes overlooked today.</p>
<p>Debates about our history often focus instead on the domestic law that applied inside Britain and its empire. This law denied the pre-colonial peoples of Australia had either property rights in land (the issue that the <a href="https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/mabo-decision">High Court of Australia reassessed in 1992 in the Mabo case</a>) or sovereignty (meaning the authority to govern territory). </p>
<p>But international law is a separate legal system. It is concerned with whether one nation has sovereignty in relation to other nations. And that is what matters here because it underpins the meaning of “invasion”.</p>
<p>International law in the colonial period, unlike today, had nothing to say about human rights, self-determination or genocide. It was shaped by and for Europeans, who used it to legitimise colonialism.</p>
<p>In the 1880s, for example, Henry Morton Stanley journeyed up the Congo River in Africa and made more than 200 treaties with chiefs in which they ceded their sovereignty to the king of the Belgians in exchange for trinkets or pieces of cloth.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-a-separate-holiday-for-indigenous-australians-misses-the-point-103835">Why a separate holiday for Indigenous Australians misses the point</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Some international lawyers at the time even divided the world into a hierarchy based on supposed levels of “civilisation”, with Europeans at the top and peoples of Africa and Australia at the bottom.</p>
<p>But even within this system – European, colonialist and sometimes racist – there was pressure to accord a legal status to the supposedly least “civilised” peoples. </p>
<p>Take the African chiefs who signed Stanley’s treaties. The king of the Belgians wanted to be able to exhibit the treaties to rival colonial powers to show he had acquired sovereignty from the chiefs. </p>
<p>To advance his self-interest in this way, however, the king had to accept implicitly that the chiefs had originally had sovereignty themselves. This approach to acquiring colonial territory was common.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/311493/original/file-20200123-32136-j1p1xi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/311493/original/file-20200123-32136-j1p1xi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311493/original/file-20200123-32136-j1p1xi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311493/original/file-20200123-32136-j1p1xi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311493/original/file-20200123-32136-j1p1xi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311493/original/file-20200123-32136-j1p1xi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311493/original/file-20200123-32136-j1p1xi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Invasion Day protesters during the Australia Day celebrations in Brisbane last year.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Glenn Hunt/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The test for sovereignty</h2>
<p>International lawyers of the time disagreed about how to explain evidence that the supposedly least “civilised” peoples had sovereignty. Some denied they really had it. As usual with legal issues that were never litigated, we cannot be completely certain. </p>
<p>But a new analysis of the various explanations (<a href="https://law.unimelb.edu.au/mjil/issues/forthcoming-issue">published this month in the Melbourne Journal of International Law</a>) shows, on the most convincing view, these peoples generally did have sovereignty.</p>
<p>The key factor was either whether they were politically organised or whether they had an understanding of sovereignty that was compatible with the European understanding.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/rough-seas-ahead-why-the-governments-james-cook-infatuation-may-further-divide-the-nation-110275">Rough seas ahead: why the government's James Cook infatuation may further divide the nation</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The pre-colonial peoples of Australia passed the test for having sovereignty. In fact, they passed it comfortably. </p>
<p>An early 20th-century anthropologist, <a href="https://archive.org/details/tribeintertribal00wheeuoft">Gerald Wheeler</a>, observed:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The evidence we have been able to collect from the Australian tribes shows us many of the ideas of International Law clearly developed – territorial sovereignty, the sacredness of messengers and envoys, a normal and recognized intercourse over wide areas […]</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>So, was Australia invaded in a legal sense?</h2>
<p>This allows us to answer the question of whether Australia was invaded in a strict legal sense.</p>
<p><a href="https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5432857z.texteImage">Carlos Calvo, in his dictionary of international law of 1885</a>, gave three overlapping definitions of invasion: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>occupation by force of the territory of others </p></li>
<li><p>irruption by an army or a large multitude of people into another land in order to seize it</p></li>
<li><p>the action of invading a country by force of arms. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>As these definitions suggest, the central meaning of the word “invasion” in international law was the entry by force by one sovereign into the territory of another sovereign.</p>
<p>This happened on January 26 1788, when agents of the British government, including military officers and marines, entered the sovereign territory of the Gadigal people at Sydney Cove. </p>
<p>It happened again and again over the following century, whenever British governmental forces entered the territory of another Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people to seize that territory.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/311494/original/file-20200123-32159-1x35md6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/311494/original/file-20200123-32159-1x35md6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311494/original/file-20200123-32159-1x35md6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311494/original/file-20200123-32159-1x35md6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311494/original/file-20200123-32159-1x35md6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311494/original/file-20200123-32159-1x35md6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311494/original/file-20200123-32159-1x35md6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Indigenous protesters have long sought to change the date of Australia Day.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">James Ross/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Why ‘Invasion Day’ is a fitting term</h2>
<p>International law is, of course, only one point of view. </p>
<p>For advocates of the name “Invasion Day”, it is more important that Australia was invaded from an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspective. We do not need European law to validate that perspective, especially not law from the 18th and 19th centuries that is tainted by colonialism and racism.</p>
<p>But if Australia was invaded even from the perspective of this system of law, there is little room left for critics to argue. </p>
<p>The name “Invasion Day” cannot be dismissed as one-sided or legally inaccurate. It might even be seen as a neutral description, in that it accords both with the views of colonised peoples and with a system of law accepted by the colonisers at the time.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/130462/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rowan Nicholson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Even by the European-centric standards of 18th and 19th century international law, Indigenous people here passed the test for having sovereignty.Rowan Nicholson, Associate Lecturer and Co-director of the Sydney Centre for International Law, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1302792020-01-24T01:23:17Z2020-01-24T01:23:17ZWhite, male and straight – how 30 years of Australia Day speeches leave most Australians out<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/311265/original/file-20200121-117962-1m8trgm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Scott Morrison emphasised national unity in his Australia Day address last year, but this is not the message that everyone wants to hear.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=651526615267631">Facebook</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Last year on Australia Day, Prime Minister Scott Morrison <a href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=651526615267631">used Facebook to describe Australia</a> as a place “made up of so many peoples”. But he also stressed the importance of January 26 as the day Australia “did change forever” and said all Australians “must come together” on this day. </p>
<p>He didn’t mention the calls by many Indigenous people to <a href="https://indigenousx.com.au/why-i-no-longer-support-changethedate/">change the date and change the nation</a>.</p>
<p>Australia Day provides prime ministers with a platform to talk about national identity. Our leaders typically seize the opportunity to communicate their personal understanding of what “Australianness” is. They do so by mobilising the history of the nation, the politics of the moment and the ideology of their party.</p>
<p>But Australia Day also provokes fierce public debate over Indigenous dispossession, disenfranchisement and discrimination. The holiday doesn’t mean the same thing to all people, just as national identity doesn’t mean the same thing.</p>
<p>In a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10361146.2019.1706720">new research project</a>, we used content analysis to examine all prime ministerial speeches on Australia Day from 1990-2017. This allowed us to quantitatively see how prime ministers represent Australian national identity through language over time.</p>
<p>Our study found that prime ministers have consistently described Australianness as being male, heterosexual, white and having few class divisions. We found this pattern across both time and party.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/311524/original/file-20200123-162216-1b81wqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/311524/original/file-20200123-162216-1b81wqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311524/original/file-20200123-162216-1b81wqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311524/original/file-20200123-162216-1b81wqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311524/original/file-20200123-162216-1b81wqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311524/original/file-20200123-162216-1b81wqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311524/original/file-20200123-162216-1b81wqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Australia Day has typically been a time for leaders to stress unity and traditional Australian values.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mick Tsikas/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Let’s not talk about class</h2>
<p>Australia is a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10361146.2017.1364342">class-divided society</a>. But prime ministers do not acknowledge this fact on Australia Day, regardless of their party. </p>
<p>John Howard is the only prime minister to <a href="https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-15152">explicitly mention class on Australia Day</a>. But he did so by claiming that social mobility was attainable for everyone: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>We believe very deeply that a person’s worth is determined by their character and by the effort they put into being a good citizen, not according to their social class.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The tendency of leaders to avoid class can be partly explained by <a href="https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/books/academic-professional/communication-studies/Being-Australian-Catriona-Elder-9781741149289">Australia’s culture of egalitarianism and the “fair go”</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-australia-day-survives-despite-revealing-a-nations-rifts-and-wounds-89768">Why Australia Day survives, despite revealing a nation's rifts and wounds</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>But prime ministers also avoid class as it hampers the myth-making of a unified Australian society. This undermines their rhetorical attempts to bring the nation together.</p>
<h2>A bloke’s Australia</h2>
<p>The overall tone of leaders’ speeches on Australia Day consistently refers to a patriarchal and heteronormative view of Australian identity. </p>
<p>For instance, we found male Australia Day award winners are mentioned in prime minister speeches at a rate of 3:2 compared to female recipients. </p>
<p>Howard dedicated large parts or whole Australia Day addresses to the achievements of Australian male cricketers such as Don Bradman (<a href="https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-10216">1997</a>), Mark Taylor (<a href="https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-11381">1999</a>), and Steve Waugh (<a href="https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-21080">2004</a>). But he only managed two sentences when female sprinter <a href="https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-10947">Cathy Freeman won Australian of Year in 1998</a>. </p>
<p>We also found men are consistently portrayed as strong and brave nation builders. In contrast, women are described as passive carers and mothers serving the nation.</p>
<p>In 2011, Julia Gillard described Queensland Premier Anna Bligh as having “steel in her backbone” yet also “occasional tears in her eyes” in her response to devastating floods. </p>
<p>Gillard also emphasised the <a href="https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-17614">protective masculinity</a> of the Defence Forces, describing the “brave man […] who waded through chest high water to rescue an elderly lady” in the floods, as well as the diggers in Afghanistan who were “protecting the weak and allowing little girls to learn to read”.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-day-invasion-day-survival-day-a-long-history-of-celebration-and-contestation-70278">Australia Day, Invasion Day, Survival Day: a long history of celebration and contestation</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Malcolm Turnbull frequently portrayed the <a href="https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-41424">stereotype of women as carers of the nation</a>, such as in 2018: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Here in this country […] we are as new as the little baby in the arms of her migrant mother. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>It’s important to note, too, there has only been a single mention of queer identity on Australia Day since 1990. This was when LGBTI+ rights advocate <a href="https://twitter.com/RodneyCroome">Rodney Croome</a> was nominated for Australian of the Year in 2015. </p>
<p><a href="https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-24144">Tony Abbott described Croome’s nomination</a> in a single sentence, noting he was an:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>activist who more than anyone else ended legal sanctions against gay people in this country.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/311528/original/file-20200123-162210-1j9leac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/311528/original/file-20200123-162210-1j9leac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311528/original/file-20200123-162210-1j9leac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311528/original/file-20200123-162210-1j9leac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311528/original/file-20200123-162210-1j9leac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311528/original/file-20200123-162210-1j9leac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311528/original/file-20200123-162210-1j9leac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Julia Gillard emphasised the masculine bravery of the Defence Forces on Australia Day, while her successors also employed gendered language.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lukas Coch/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Minimising Indigenous viewpoints and violent history</h2>
<p>When it comes to Indigenous people, prime ministers have been largely silent in their speeches. They have either minimised the racial violence in Australia’s history and the dispossession many Indigenous people feel – or haven’t mentioned it at all.</p>
<p>Paul Keating famously <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09512740802457344">tried to reconceptualise Australian identity</a> by offering symbolic reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. But he was the exception to the rule.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/first-reconciliation-then-a-republic-starting-with-changing-the-date-of-australia-day-89955">First reconciliation, then a republic – starting with changing the date of Australia Day</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Prime ministers may well now conduct Acknowledgements of Country. But they have also have legitimised <a href="https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/the-white-possessive">white possession</a> through their descriptions of the importance of the day. <a href="https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-23213">In 2014, Tony Abbott said</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>We are the grateful inheritors of two rich strands of history: a British heritage and an Aboriginal one […] we have become one people sharing the one land. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Abbott’s “one people” ignored colonial violence and contested sovereignties in favour of promoting national unity and white possession. </p>
<p>Morrison used similar rhetoric last year when <a href="https://www.pm.gov.au/media/national-flag-raising-and-citizenship-ceremony">speaking to an audience of new citizens</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>While our beginnings were marked with the cruelties and dispossession of empire, they were also accompanied by the idealism of the Enlightenment age. Australia was to be a great project. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Morrison acknowledged dispossession of Aboriginal land, but the dovetailing reference to Western Enlightenment undermined any potential recognition of colonialism’s brutal legacy.</p>
<h2>Reproducing dominant Australian identities</h2>
<p>Prime ministers do not challenge these <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1057/9781137318367">rhetorical patterns</a> on Australia Day because nationalism is seen as a non-partisan way to emphasise unity. </p>
<p>Further, those who see themselves reflected in prime ministers’ Australia Day speeches <a href="https://www.srcentre.com.au/bbqsandblackarmbands">continue to support</a> the day. This, too, draws boundaries around what is safe territory for prime ministers when highlighting national unity around Australianness.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/new-research-reveals-our-complex-attitudes-to-australia-day-110035">New research reveals our complex attitudes to Australia Day</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Indigenous people continue to challenge these patterns by reconceptualising the celebration of Australia Day as a day of <a href="https://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=341995259289589;res=IELAPA">invasion and continuing dispossession</a>. </p>
<p>But without a radical restructuring of the values, traditions and practices surrounding Australia Day, we can expect to see a continuation of these dominant conceptions of Australianness and the marginalisation of identities and peoples that fall outside these parameters.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/130279/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New research shows how prime ministers typically frame national identity on Australia day: it’s largely male, heterosexual, white and lacking class distinctions.Nicholas Bromfield, Lecturer, University of SydneyAlexander Page, Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1107072019-03-04T19:01:15Z2019-03-04T19:01:15ZThe Uluru statement showed how to give First Nations people a real voice – now it’s time for action<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/258418/original/file-20190212-174880-113eysz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The challenge on Indigenous rights is to achieve reform that goes beyond limited understandings of these issues as being symbolic or practical.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Dan Peled</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In December 2018, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) <a href="https://www.coag.gov.au/meeting-outcomes/coag-meeting-communique-12-december-2018">resolved to</a> “work collaboratively and in genuine, formal partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples”. This commitment was in response to issues arising from the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-02-08/closing-the-gap-review-finds-policy-effectively-abandoned-by-gov/9405100">national review</a> of Indigenous affairs policy. </p>
<p>COAG noted in its <a href="https://www.coag.gov.au/sites/default/files/communique/coag-statement-closing-the-gap-refresh.pdf">Closing the Gap statement</a> that it was responding to a “Special Gathering of prominent Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians”. It was this group that called for “the next phase of Closing the Gap to be guided by the principles of empowerment and self-determination”. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-indigenous-community-deserves-a-voice-in-the-constitution-will-the-nation-finally-listen-107710">The Indigenous community deserves a voice in the constitution. Will the nation finally listen?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>This unfinished business is an important challenge for all Australians, regardless of the outcome of this year’s federal election. </p>
<p>Labor and the Greens have committed to reforms called for by the <a href="https://www.referendumcouncil.org.au/sites/default/files/2017-05/Uluru_Statement_From_The_Heart_0.PDF">Uluru Statement from the Heart</a>. These reforms would enable Indigenous empowerment and self-determination. However, the Coalition government, yet to respond to the <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Joint/Constitutional_Recognition_2018">Joint Select Committee Report on Constitutional Recognition</a>, has demurred on a First Nations Voice in favour of “practical” concerns. </p>
<p>The relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians is a responsibility beyond political divisions. It extends beyond policy concerns to the presumptions that inform them. </p>
<p>The continued interpretation of Indigenous concerns about Australia Day as simple demands to “change the date” exemplifies this issue. It is not the case that Indigenous people protesting Australia Day don’t care about “practical” issues. They live with these issues every day. They know all too well the challenges they face.</p>
<p>Rather, the issue remains the deeply ingrained and negative attitude toward Indigenous people and their experiences within Australian society. This includes:</p>
<ul>
<li>the denial of Indigenous history and experience</li>
<li>the failure to establish legitimate mechanisms for the recognition of this history and agreement making</li>
<li>the continued denial of legitimate Indigenous rights and demands. </li>
</ul>
<h2>The problems with Indigenous affairs policy</h2>
<p><a href="https://closingthegap.pmc.gov.au/">Closing the Gap</a> guides Indigenous affairs policy along with the <a href="https://www.pmc.gov.au/indigenous-affairs/indigenous-advancement-strategy">Indigenous Advancement Strategy</a>. This policy apparatus has focused on areas such as employment, education, health, economic development and community safety. </p>
<p>However, Australian governments have failed to achieve their policy goals. Some policies – such as the <a href="https://www.pmc.gov.au/indigenous-affairs/employment/cdp">Community Development Program</a> and the <a href="https://www.humanservices.gov.au/individuals/services/centrelink/basicscard">Basics Card</a> – have been heavily criticised for further entrenching Indigenous inequality and disadvantage. </p>
<p>Indigenous affairs decisions are too often reactionary and crisis-focused. Significant resources are distributed without evidence and without Indigenous oversight and evaluation. </p>
<p>Moving from crisis to crisis, non-Indigenous actors make key policy decisions. These actors fail to appropriately understand issues at hand and force ineffective policy solutions onto Indigenous communities as the only solution. The approach to <a href="https://indigenousx.com.au/what-are-the-causes-of-indigenous-suicides/">Indigenous youth suicide</a> is a key example of this. </p>
<p>These policymakers fail to address the ineffective policy decisions and maintain the impoverished position of Indigenous people. They also fail to respect and recognise Indigenous people as First Nations, and the rights that inhere as a result. </p>
<h2>Hearing Indigenous Australians</h2>
<p>Indigenous people have raised many concerns with these policies. These include being ignored by decision-makers, the denial of Indigenous experience and the failure of policies to enable effective outcomes. The Commonwealth government’s own review of the Indigenous Advancement Strategy and Closing the Gap confirmed these issues. </p>
<p>In response, COAG has offered support to “discuss” the co-design process that would explore a First Nations voice to parliament. However, there has been no mention of specific targets for Indigenous empowerment and self-determination. Rather, COAG’s communique emphasises “strengthening mechanisms to ensure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have an integral role in decision-making and accountability processes”. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/will-treaties-with-indigenous-australians-overtake-constitutional-recognition-70524">Will treaties with Indigenous Australians overtake constitutional recognition?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>This approach aims at incorporation within a structure that has failed Indigenous people. COAG has uncritically repeated a form of rights ritualism: it appears to support Indigenous rights, without actually implementing them. </p>
<p>Even when provided with some semblance of recognition, those rights are only ever minimal and subject to restrictive arrangements. These continue to hold Indigenous people at the whim of government priorities and decision-makers, rather than being led and informed by Indigenous community needs and processes themselves. </p>
<h2>Realising a better Australia</h2>
<p>These issues reflect the entrenched position of Indigenous Australians and the past inability of “Australia” to recognise their place as First Nations. These practices have real implications for policy development, which are reflected in the wider Indigenous affairs debate. Examples include attitudes that dismiss Australia Day concerns as mere symbolism while emphasising practical matters such as youth suicide, sexual and domestic violence, and getting kids into school. </p>
<p>The challenge ahead is to achieve reform that goes beyond limited understandings of these issues as being symbolic or practical. This requires a transformative approach to the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians that will realise a better future for all Australians. The call from many Indigenous Australians following the Uluru Statement from the Heart for a progressive process forward toward Voice, Treaty and Truth provides an authoritative pathway toward achieving this change. </p>
<p>Indigenous Australians have provided important leadership by issuing the Uluru Statement from the Heart. It is up to all Australians, regardless of political persuasion, to accept the invitation and “to walk with us in a movement of the Australian people for a better future”.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/110707/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Eddie Synot does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Instead of paying lip service to promoting Indigenous Australians’ rights as First Nations, the next federal government should be guided by the Uluru Statement from the Heart to make real progress.Eddie Synot, Senior Research Assistant, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1105002019-01-25T02:10:23Z2019-01-25T02:10:23ZVIDEO: Michelle Grattan on Morrison’s first political plays of 2019<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/L0py-t7CLqw?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor Deep Saini speaks with Michelle Grattan about the week in Australian politics. They discuss Scott Morrison’s decision to install former Labor president Warren Mundine as the candidate for the ultra-marginal NSW seat of Gilmore, Kelly O'Dwyer’s announcement that she would not be contesting the next election, and the government’s Australia Day plan to force councils to conduct citizenship ceremonies on January 26 or have their right to do so at all revoked.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/110500/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Deep Saini speaks with Michelle Grattan about the week in Australian politics.Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1100352019-01-24T18:43:25Z2019-01-24T18:43:25ZNew research reveals our complex attitudes to Australia Day<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/254894/original/file-20190122-100264-ndixu5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">It may be that the fortnight or so surrounding Australia Day is evolving into an annual season in which some of the deepest paradoxes of Australian identity play out in public.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Glenn Campbell</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the cultural warfare over whether January 26 should be retained as Australia Day, survey results are deployed like guided missiles. But what do Australians really think about the continuing debate?</p>
<p><a href="https://ipa.org.au/ipa-today/new-poll-75-of-australians-support-australia-day-on-26-january">A recent study</a> undertaken by the Institute of Public Affairs found that three-quarters of Australians agreed that Australia Day should be celebrated on January 26. </p>
<p>In a survey taken late last year, before the annual Australia Day debate commenced, the Social Research Centre asked members of its <a href="https://srcentre.com.au/BBQsandBlackArmbands">Life in Australia research panel</a> a similar question:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>To what extent do you agree or disagree that 26 January is the best day for our national day of celebration?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>And from the 2,167 responses, it received similar results: 70% of respondents agreed (37% strongly agreed/33% agreed). </p>
<p><iframe id="OTTIL" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/OTTIL/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>But this is where the story becomes interesting.</p>
<p>Support for 26 January increases with age. It is 73% for Generation X (39-53 years) and 80% among Baby Boomers (54-72 years). Among the Silent Generation (73 years or older), support for January 26 is nearly unanimous (90%). But it is notably lower among the younger generations at 47% and 58% for Generation Z (aged 23 years or younger) and Millennials (24-38 years).</p>
<p><iframe id="DA5To" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/DA5To/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>These results may explain why the ABC <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/nov/27/triple-j-moves-hottest-100-from-australia-day-after-protests">shifted its Triple J Hottest 100</a> away from 26 January after taking a poll in which 60% of the 65,000 who voted supported the move.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/henry-reynolds-triple-j-did-the-right-thing-we-need-a-new-australia-day-88249">Henry Reynolds: Triple J did the right thing, we need a new Australia Day</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Support was also lower among those with a university degree (55%) compared to those without (75%). In terms of geography, support for January 26 was highest in Western Australia (83%) and lowest in Victoria (65%), and higher in the regions (78%) than the capital cities (66%). These results seem consistent with what we know about the patterns of progressive and conservative political values in Australia. </p>
<p><iframe id="lTWaL" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/lTWaL/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>There are stark differences according to party affiliation. Support is highest among Coalition (85%) and One Nation (94%) supporters compared with 62% of Labor supporters and just 38% among Greens. On these results, perhaps the federal Labor Party’s present support for Australia Day might eventually come under pressure from within.</p>
<p><iframe id="5BwAJ" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/5BwAJ/3/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Those who disagreed that January 26 was the best day for our national celebration were asked:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>On which day do you think Australia should have its national day?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Ten options were offered or an alternative could be nominated. </p>
<p>Reconciliation Day on May 27 – the anniversary of the 1967 referendum – was the most popular alternative at 24%. It was followed by January 1, Federation Day (18%). Somewhat bizarrely, 15% of those opposed to January 26 being the date nominated May 8, because it sounds like “mate”. At present, no date clearly stands out as a popular alternative to January 26 as Australia Day.</p>
<p>To gain a better insight into what January 26 actually means to Australians, we then asked a series of questions to explore which aspects of Australia’s culture and heritage were most strongly associated with Australia Day.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-australia-day-survives-despite-revealing-a-nations-rifts-and-wounds-89768">Why Australia Day survives, despite revealing a nation's rifts and wounds</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Just over two-thirds (68%) of respondents agreed that January 26 celebrated our British culture and heritage. 63% believed the current timing was a celebration of our democracy and system of government. And 58% believed it celebrated the contribution of all immigrants to Australia. </p>
<p><iframe id="WcYid" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/WcYid/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>The view that Australia Day recognised the contribution of all immigrants to Australia received stronger endorsement from those born overseas (65%) than the Australian born (55%). This suggests that the long-standing official Australia Day emphasis on unity in diversity has to some extent spoken to their sense of belonging. There is no other date in the Australian calendar that could be considered to represent the contribution of migrant communities. </p>
<p>The association of Australia Day and British culture and heritage was highest in New South Wales (73%). This possibly reflects the particular significance of January 26 for the history of that state, but it is still below the levels observed in the Australian Capital Territory – 81% – and the Northern Territory – 77%. The association with British culture and heritage is highest amongst Coalition and One Nation supporters, at 73% and 71% respectively. For the Silent Generation, the celebration of Australia Day on 26 January is particularly evocative of British culture and heritage: more than four out of five agreed. </p>
<p>Official proponents of Australia Day have fudged the association of January 26 and Britishness as far back as the 1988 Bicentenary. They have more often emphasised diversity and belonging. Yet, fewer respondents accepted that the day was a celebration of migrant contributions relative to its association with British heritage. </p>
<p>In a similar vein, only a minority – although a large one (40%) – believed January 26 celebrated Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and heritage. This proposition is rejected most strongly by Labor and Greens supporters, those living in the capitals and the young.</p>
<p>Yet perhaps the most striking of all our findings is that 45% of respondents agreed the day was offensive to Indigenous Australians. This figure is higher than that found in an <a href="http://www.tai.org.au/content/australians-laid-back-about-australia-day-poll">Australia Institute poll</a> of January 2018, which put the figure at 37%. </p>
<p>The survey also found that women (49%) are more likely than men (42%) to see things this way, possibly reflecting the modern pattern for women to have more progressive political views. Those with a university degree (59%), Victorians (51%) and capital city residents (48%) were also more likely to hold this opinion. And the party divide on this issue is clear. Labor and Greens (50% and 75%) supporters are much more likely to agree than Coalition and One Nation voters (32% and 12%).</p>
<p>Nearly three in ten (29%) of respondents who agree with having Australia Day on January 26 also recognise the date is offensive to Indigenous people. It seems that many of us are sensitive to their objections, but not concerned enough to want to change the date. Australians incorporate in their historical consciousness a range of perspectives on the Australian past, and their significance for present-day commemoration, even when they are apparently in conflict with one another. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/first-reconciliation-then-a-republic-starting-with-changing-the-date-of-australia-day-89955">First reconciliation, then a republic – starting with changing the date of Australia Day</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>So what factors are at play here? One school of thought is that many Australians are mindful of the day’s negative connotations, but place a high value on it because it is an important marker in the calendar. The attachment to this last summer public holiday before the school year starts possibly outweighs concern about offence. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/jan/26/most-indigenous-australians-want-date-and-name-of-australia-day-changed-poll-finds">Previous research has shown</a> that when people were asked to associate three words with Australia Day, the favourites were “barbecue”, “celebration” and “holiday”.</p>
<p>Still, the mix of attitudes we have uncovered seems likely to ensure the day remains contentious. Any expectation that January 26 might perform a similar kind of civic function to July 4 (Independence Day) in the United States or July 14 (Bastille Day) in France is fanciful.</p>
<p>It may be that the fortnight or so surrounding Australia Day is evolving into an annual season in which some of the deepest paradoxes of Australian identity play out in public.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/110035/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As the debate around celebrating Australia Day on January 26 continues, new research shows Australians have mixed views of it as a national day.Darren Pennay, Campus Visitor, ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods, Australian National UniversityFrank Bongiorno, Professor of History, ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1102662019-01-24T18:40:03Z2019-01-24T18:40:03ZThrow a sea cucumber on the barbie: Australia’s trade history really is something to celebrate<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/255318/original/file-20190124-135163-16pr1vx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The sea cucumber, or trepang, Australia's first export to Asia.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The sea cucumber is a marine animal that has a leathery skin but soft body. Its shape and size resembles a cucumber. In Australia we commonly call it trepang, adopted from a Malayan word. It was Australia’s first export to Asia, where it is regarded as a delicacy, particularly in Chinese cuisine.</p>
<p>There is evidence fishermen from Makassar, on what is now the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, were visiting the coast of what is now Arnhem Land to collect sea cucumbers as early as the mid-1600s to sell to Chinese merchants. The fishermen camped on the beach to <a href="https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/trade-with-the-makasar">boil and dry</a> their caught trepang, and exchanged goods with the local Indigenous tribes. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/long-before-europeans-traders-came-here-from-the-north-and-art-tells-the-story-69032">Long before Europeans, traders came here from the north and art tells the story</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Through the lens of trade, therefore, the story of modern Australia, a nation interacting with the global economy, begins long before January 26, 1788.</p>
<p>There are many debates that surround Australia Day. But we can all celebrate our history of trade. Like any history, there are episodes of engagement we can’t admire or be proud of. But on the whole, what began with seafood trade on the coast of Arnhem Land has proven a remarkable success. </p>
<h2>Arrivals, departures, department stores</h2>
<p>Two of Hong Kong’s most iconic department stores provide another example of historic interaction with Asia. </p>
<p>Throughout the 19th century large numbers of Chinese, particularly Cantonese, migrated to Australia’s goldfields. As in any gold rush, it was those who ended up selling supplies that usually prospered more than the prospectors (the 19th century equivalents of Atlassian). In Victoria, Chinese merchants became prominent in the development of retail sectors in Ballarat and Bendigo.</p>
<p>Some Chinese migrants who opened stores in Australia eventually returned to China, and took what they had learned with them. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/255316/original/file-20190124-135157-5usju4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/255316/original/file-20190124-135157-5usju4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/255316/original/file-20190124-135157-5usju4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255316/original/file-20190124-135157-5usju4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255316/original/file-20190124-135157-5usju4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255316/original/file-20190124-135157-5usju4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255316/original/file-20190124-135157-5usju4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255316/original/file-20190124-135157-5usju4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Sincere store in Mongkok, Hong Kong.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sincere_Department_Store,_King_Wah_Centre_(Hong_Kong).jpg">Wikimedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One of those was Ma Ying Piu, who in 1900 opened Hong Kong’s first Chinese-owned department store, called Sincere. The store is said to have been inspired by David Jones in Sydney. </p>
<p>Hong Kong’s second Chinese-owned department store, Wing On, was started by brothers Kwok Lok and Kwok Chuen, who returned to China from Australia in 1907. Both businesses opened branches in Shanghai and became two of the “<a href="http://www.culture-shock-tours.com/blog/4-great-department-stores-of-old-shanghai">four great department stores of China</a>”.</p>
<p>Such entrepreneurial spirit from around the world enabled
the separate Australian colonies to boom for much of the 19th century. Admittedly some paid a heavy price (convicts and Indigenous people treated like slaves, for example). But great economic growth was achieved, as economic historian Ian McLean points out in <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/titles/9897.html">Why Australia Prospered</a>, without a national government or “many of the institutions and sources of advice now regarded as essential for macroeconomic management”, such as trained economists.</p>
<h2>The long march to the Asian century</h2>
<p>Colonial governments ran trade missions to China, South East Asia and Japan in the 19th century. After federation in 1901, the Commonwealth government set up trade offices in Shanghai, Tokyo and Batavia (Jakarta) before the interruption of World War II. In the post-war era there have been “four waves” of Asian engagement. </p>
<p>The first three were: the Japan-Australia Commerce agreement in 1957; Gough Whitlam’s recognition of China in 1971; and the Hawke-Keating economic reforms between 1983 and 1996. </p>
<p>The fourth wave is the Asian Century. It began after Australia survived the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997-99 and realised its future did lie in Asia. </p>
<p>To get to that point was a long process. Paul Keating might have been the prime minister who most enthusiastically spruiked engagement with Asia, but he was certainly not the first to advocate closer ties.</p>
<h2>That was then, and this is now</h2>
<p>So that’s some of our history. What about now? </p>
<p>There are many contemporary things we can be cheerful (and proud about) in 2019 that echo our history.</p>
<p>We can be very pleased about successful Indigenous exporters and entrepreneurs - the successors of our first traders from Arnhem Land. </p>
<p>Think of Ros and John Moriarty of Balarinji, the design agency that has developed all of the motifs used by Qantas in its Flying Art series.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/255250/original/file-20190123-135142-1rftwvi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/255250/original/file-20190123-135142-1rftwvi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/255250/original/file-20190123-135142-1rftwvi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255250/original/file-20190123-135142-1rftwvi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255250/original/file-20190123-135142-1rftwvi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255250/original/file-20190123-135142-1rftwvi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255250/original/file-20190123-135142-1rftwvi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255250/original/file-20190123-135142-1rftwvi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Balarinji oversaw translating Emily Kame Kngwarreye’s 1991 painting ‘Yam Dreaming’ for application on a Qantas jet.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Qantas</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Or Peter Cooley, who founded <a href="https://blakmarkets.com/pages/about-us">Blak Markets</a> to provide economic development opportunities to Indigenous people. (He also hosts his own business show.)</p>
<p>Or David Williams and the members of the <a href="https://www.bangarra.com.au/about/company">Bangarra</a> dance company. </p>
<p>At my business school at the University of NSW a new generation of Indigenous business students have just completed summer school. I am hopeful many will become our business stars of tomorrow. </p>
<p>Along with homegrown talent, Australia has been blessed by waves of immigrants rich in the same entrepreneurial spirit that enabled Chinese merchants to prosper despite the racism of the 19th century. </p>
<p>From the first fleet, we’ve had English, Scots and Irish seeking freedom from poverty and persecution. We’ve had East European Jews, Vietnamese Buddhists, Lebanese Christians and Afghan Muslims fleeing persecution and war. </p>
<p>About one in four Australians were born overseas, but they represent one in every two exporters, and two out of every three entrepreneurs. Immigration has been a good story for Australia in terms of trade and entrepreneurial talent. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-australian-cities-are-adapting-to-the-asian-century-103917">How Australian cities are adapting to the Asian Century</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The books <a href="https://profilebooks.com/why-nations-fail.html">Why Nations Fail</a> and <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/titles/9897.html">Why Australia Prospered</a> show Australia has developed much more successful economic institutions (such as property rights) and political institutions (such as democratic rights) than other nations with similar natural resources, agricultural endowments and increases in human capital through immigration. </p>
<p>This is partially due to our successful record as a trading nation.</p>
<p>No nation is perfect. They all have their failures and aspects of their history not to be proud of. But the things we have gotten right are worth remembering.</p>
<p>So even if you throw a shrimp on the barbie, at least remember the sea cucumber.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/110266/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tim Harcourt does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Trade tells a story of modern Australia that began long before January 26, 1788.Tim Harcourt, J.W. Nevile Fellow in Economics and host of The Airport Economist, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1104452019-01-24T09:56:11Z2019-01-24T09:56:11ZGrattan on Friday: Liberals stir the culture war pot but who’s listening?<p>As a new round of the culture wars bubbles, West Australian Liberal
senator Dean Smith has urged that we should legislate to “protect” the January 26 date of Australia Day.</p>
<p>Smith came to national prominence as one of the small coterie of
Liberals who forced the Turnbull government to act on same-sex
marriage. He advances his causes with moderation and respect, and
always warrants a hearing. But in this instance he does not make a convincing argument.</p>
<p>Australia Day’s date – which marks the First Fleet’s landing – has
become increasingly contentious in recent years, opposed by Indigenous and other critics on the grounds that it is really “invasion day”.</p>
<p>If we were starting again, I think it would be better to
have Australia Day on January 1, to celebrate the birth of the
Commonwealth.</p>
<p>But given the present date has strong community support, there is not
a compelling case for change. Equally, there isn’t a case to bake in
the current date either. (This date, incidentally, only appears in
legislation as a public holiday.)</p>
<p>In an <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/defend-australias-day-of-unity/news-story/e4240a9b0e5e69beee722737c4a5f02a">opinion piece</a> in Thursday’s Australian Smith writes: “Australia Day
remains unprotected and could easily fall victim to the whims of a
political party or special interest lobby group interested in
political point-scoring rather than celebrating the virtues of a
contemporary and forward-looking Australia.”</p>
<p>He proposes legislation to “guarantee that January 26 ceases to be
Australia Day only after the Australian people have been consulted
directly, and that to change the date of Australia Day an alternative
date must be submitted to every Australian elector.”</p>
<p>In reality, the January 26 date won’t “fall victim” to “whims”. No
government would change it lightly.</p>
<p>An alteration would only happen if there was evidence of a big
shift in community sentiment. Maybe that will come in future years –
if it does, so be it.</p>
<p>Change is certainly not on the cards any time soon. Bill Shorten remains committed
to January 26.</p>
<p>The Coalition has been using the (annual) debate about Australia Day
as political ammunition.</p>
<p>This became a little messy, however, because Warren Mundine, Scott
Morrison’s star candidate for the marginal NSW seat of Gilmore, has
been a forthright advocate of moving Australia Day to January 1.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/view-from-the-hill-morrisons-gilmore-candidate-is-the-man-whos-been-everywhere-110300">View from The Hill: Morrison's Gilmore candidate is the man who's been everywhere</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Mundine <a href="https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/rendezview/we-must-stop-celebrating-australia-day-on-january-26/news-story/36989400b8175992dddc98784358803b">wrote</a> on January 24, 2017: “The 26th of January is the wrong day to celebrate Australia Day.</p>
<p>"Firstly, Australia wasn’t founded on January 26, 1788. It was founded
on January 1, 1901 …</p>
<p>"Secondly, the tension between commemorating British conquest on the
one hand and celebrating Australian identity and independence on the
other isn’t going away. This isn’t a recent tension drummed up by
Lefties. It’s always been there, even before anyone cared about what
Indigenous people think.”</p>
<p>Despite his new status Mundine is sticking to his view – he’s just
saying now that this is not a priority issue for him. “I’ve got 100
different things in front of that, before I even get to that stage,”
he told a news conference as he stood beside his leader on Wednesday.</p>
<p>He declines to be drawn on his position if he were elected and faced a
Smith private member’s bill. He told The Conversation, “I’ll jump that
hurdle when I get there. At the moment I’m fighting a tough battle to
win the seat.”</p>
<p>As this year’s Australia Day approached Morrison ramped up the nationalistic
and culture war rhetoric in general, and accompanied it with some
controversial actions.</p>
<p>The Liberal Party <a href="https://twitter.com/LiberalAus/status/1087256359844728832">tweeted</a>: “The Government is taking action to protect Australia Day from activists.”</p>
<p>The government proposes to force local councils to hold citizenship
ceremonies on Australia Day, after the refusal of some to do so.
Councils defying the edict would not be allowed to conduct them at all.</p>
<p>This has come with a recommended dress code for these occasions – no
thongs or board shorts. “I’m a prime minister for standards,” declared
Morrison, to something of a national horse laugh.</p>
<p>Councils have been given to the end of next month to provide feedback.</p>
<p>Morrison has struggled to differentiate himself from Shorten over Australia Day, since
they are at one about the date. </p>
<p>“It’s not good enough to say that you just won’t change it. You’ve got to stand up for it and I’m standing up for it,” he declared. “Bill Shorten will let it fade
away.” </p>
<p>It’s true the level of rhetoric around Australia Day has varied over the years but the notion of it just “fading away” is ridiculous.</p>
<p>This week the debate moved on to Captain Cook, with Morrison’s
announcement of $6.7 million for the Endeavour replica to circumnavigate Australia to mark next year’s 250th anniversary of Cook’s arrival and take the story of Cook to 39 communities across the country. (The money is from $48.7 million set aside earlier to mark the anniversary.)</p>
<p>Morrison – who was visiting Cooktown in North Queensland – was
described by Shorten as having a “bizarre Captain Cook fetish”.
(Liberal MP Warren Entsch recalls Morrison’s special interest in Cook
from his days in tourism. In parliament Morrison happens to represent
the seat of Cook.)</p>
<p>The prime minister, who argues that the narrative of Cook can be used as one
pillar for Indigenous reconciliation, hit back by accusing Shorten of
“sneering at Australia’s history”, declaring “you can’t trust this guy
on this stuff”.</p>
<p>He added that “political correctness … is raising kids in our country
today to despise our history”, and alleged that Shorten wanted to
“feed into that”.</p>
<p>For some in the right of the Liberal Party, the culture and history
wars are a continuing preoccupation.</p>
<p>But these issues hover on the fringe of politics in this election
year, even if they do resonate in Hansonland and similar territory.</p>
<p>It mightn’t have been front and centre, but the battle that’s been
going on this week between Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and his shadow,
Chris Bowen, about the economy, tax policy and the like is a lot more
relevant to most voters than the culture wars and political
correctness.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/110445/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>It’s true the nationalistic rhetoric around the date has varied over the years but the notion of the date just “fading away” is surely ridiculous.Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1102752019-01-23T02:03:11Z2019-01-23T02:03:11ZRough seas ahead: why the government’s James Cook infatuation may further divide the nation<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/255063/original/file-20190122-100264-15j06po.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=13%2C197%2C2856%2C1796&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Morrison government has committed $50million to celebrate next year's 250th anniversary of Cook’s landing at Kurnell on April 29, 1770.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Marc McCormack</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It is fitting that Scott Morrison represents the federal division of Cook, named after British explorer James Cook. First as treasurer, and now as prime minister, Morrison is committed to a <a href="http://sjm.ministers.treasury.gov.au/media-release/042-2018/">A$50 million plan</a> to celebrate the upcoming 250th anniversary of Cook’s landing at Kurnell on April 29, 1770. He has announced <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/australia-sinks-6-7-million-into-replica-endeavour-circumnavigation">A$6.7million for a replica</a> of the Endeavour to circumnavigate the country (something Cook himself never did).</p>
<p>Cook and his treatment by public memory can be seen as the latest front in an ongoing culture war. It is a debate centred on how Australian history – especially its colonial history – should be understood. Which voices and stories should be included, and excluded, from the dominant narrative?</p>
<p>Morrison frames this is as an extension of the campaigns to change January 26 as Australia Day. In 2018, he lambasted the <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/indulgent-self-loathing-scott-morrison-denounces-council-s-australia-day-date-change">“indulgent self-loathing”</a> of those who wanted to change the date. He tweeted – incorrectly – that “Our modern Aus nation began on January 26, 1788”. This predates the flag, Constitution, five out of six states, and even the word “Australia”.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1044011832225103872"}"></div></p>
<p>But this was never about historical accuracy. Deputy Nationals leader Bridget McKenzie claimed – also wrongly – that January 26, 1788, was “when <a href="https://www.theherald.com.au/story/5678256/what-does-the-date-really-mean-to-australians/">Captain Cook stepped ashore</a>”. He actually died in 1779. But nevertheless, as the man who claimed Australia for Britain, Cook has become a symbol of settler-colonialism with his legacy intertwined with Australia Day. </p>
<p>Morrison is determined that 2020 be a year of government-led celebration of Cook’s exploits. The justification for the anniversary spend is as much ideological as historical. Morrison <a href="https://www.perthnow.com.au/politics/federal-politics/prime-minister-scott-morrison-wants-aussies-to-rediscover-captain-james-cook-with-12m-project-ng-b881081256z">claimed</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>he gets a bit of a bad show from some of those who like to sort of talk down our history.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/255066/original/file-20190123-100261-m22bls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/255066/original/file-20190123-100261-m22bls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=793&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255066/original/file-20190123-100261-m22bls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=793&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255066/original/file-20190123-100261-m22bls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=793&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255066/original/file-20190123-100261-m22bls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=996&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255066/original/file-20190123-100261-m22bls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=996&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255066/original/file-20190123-100261-m22bls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=996&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Explorer James Cook has come to symbolise Australia’s divided view of its history and how it should be celebrated.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The use of public money to cast Cook in a positive light is a continuation of the “<a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-history-wars-reignite-57065">history wars</a>” that flared up during the prime ministership of John Howard. He rejected the “black armband” view that saw Australian history as a “disgraceful story”. On balance, Howard insisted, it was one of “<a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/RP9798/98RP05">heroic achievement</a>”.</p>
<p>For Morrison, Cook is the embodiment of a colonial hero whose reputation has been tarnished by left-wing “activists”. <a href="https://www.perthnow.com.au/politics/federal-politics/prime-minister-scott-morrison-wants-aussies-to-rediscover-captain-james-cook-with-12m-project-ng-b881081256z">He laments</a> that “it’s very trendy to talk down James Cook and all that sort of stuff”.</p>
<p>Presumably “all that sort of stuff” is a gentle euphemism for dispossession and the destruction of Indigenous cultures. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-history-wars-reignite-57065">Australia's 'history wars' reignite</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Debate over Cook’s legacy briefly raged in 2017. Indigenous journalist Stan Grant <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-18/america-tears-down-its-racist-history-we-ignore-ours-stan-grant/8821662">questioned the plaudit</a>, “discovered this territory 1770”, etched in stone at Cook’s statue in Sydney’s Hyde Park. Soon after, “change the date” was spray-painted on the base. </p>
<p>The then prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, insisted Grant was “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/aug/25/changing-colonial-statues-is-stalinist-says-malcolm-turnbull">dead wrong</a>”. Using rhetoric that bordered on the ridiculous, Turnbull took to Facebook to describe the graffiti as part of a “<a href="https://www.facebook.com/malcolmturnbull/posts/the-vandalism-of-the-statues-of-james-cook-and-lachlan-macquarie-is-a-cowardly-c/10155761463461579/">totalitarian campaign</a>”. He also dismissed calls to change the date of Australia Day, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/malcolmturnbull/posts/the-vandalism-of-the-statues-of-james-cook-and-lachlan-macquarie-is-a-cowardly-c/10155761463461579/">condemning the</a> “Stalinist exercise of trying to wipe out or obliterate or blank out parts of our history”.</p>
<p>The Morrison government’s decision to punish councils that do not acknowledge January 26, to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/jan/13/scott-morrison-forces-councils-to-hold-citizenship-ceremonies-on-australia-day">introduce dress codes</a> at citizenship ceremonies, to refuse to discuss the date of Australia Day, and to spend millions on Cook’s 250th anniversary, all stem from the same culture war. </p>
<p>The Liberal Party’s Twitter page claims it is trying to “protect Australia Day from activists”. But the heavy-handed attempts to cast Cook as some high priest in the church of Australian nationalism stifles debate and skews history. Increasing social unease with traditional colonial narratives is not based on a desire to deny history, but to expand it and to include the perspective of First Nations.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1087256359844728832"}"></div></p>
<p>As historian Mark McKenna <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/james-cook-founder-of-modern-australia-or-the-embodiment-of-dispossession-20180313-p4z45d.html">notes</a>, the communities in Kurnell and Cooktown have worked hard to connect with Indigenous leaders and find new ways to commemorate Cook’s voyage. But crucially, this requires a willingness to accepts history’s nuances and diversity. It requires moving beyond the false dichotomy of utter shame or complete pride in Australia’s history.</p>
<p>Few would dispute that Cook was a brilliant navigator and explorer. But there is also a question of balance. The Captain Cook Society notes that he is commemorated by more than 100 memorials, many in Australia. It is hardly a “Stalinist exercise” to suggest that Cook is already well honoured and that a more worthy project might be a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/postcolonial-blog/2016/sep/27/kevin-rudds-indigenous-museum-was-a-good-idea-but-lets-not-leave-it-to-politicians">new Indigenous museum</a>.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/do-you-know-all-the-lyrics-20021025-gdfraw.html">original lyrics</a> to Advance Australian Fair boasted that when “gallant Cook from Albion sailed … true British courage bore him on”. Veneration of Cook has been historically tied to British patriotism. As the Sydney Morning Herald <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/16566386?searchTerm=%22captain%20cook%22%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20&searchLimits=">noted</a> in 1929, Australia’s great patriotic moments for “all who share British blood” occur in April. It included in this, Cook’s landing, the landing at Gallipoli, <a href="http://www.stgeorgesday.com/">St George’s Day</a>, and the birth of Shakespeare.</p>
<p>Our nation has changed.</p>
<p>Cook is no longer the national hero he once was, for the simple reason that Australians no longer see themselves as British, sharing in British achievements. More importantly, since W.E.H. Stanner’s call to end the “<a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-the-great-australian-silence-50-years-on-100737">great Australian silence</a>” in 1968, Australians have become more aware of the ancient cultures that possessed this land at least as far back as the Pleistocene. Retreating into the lazy “cult of forgetfulness” with a government-promoted, triumphant Cook narrative, narrows a history that has been slowly broadening for decades.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-the-great-australian-silence-50-years-on-100737">Friday essay: the 'great Australian silence' 50 years on</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The anniversary in 2020 of Cook’s voyage can and should be marked. But without genuine consultation with First Nations peoples to find a form and language that offers respect, it will be another exercise in exclusion. If the memorials and events suggest, in former prime minster Tony Abbott’s words, that before the British arrived Australia was “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/04/tony-abbott-says-australia-was-unsettled-before-british-arrived">barely settled</a>”, we will know we have failed yet again.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/110275/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Benjamin T. Jones does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The government’s investment in a celebration of 250 years since James Cook’s voyage to and along Australia, if not done properly, will further inflame the history wars in Australia.Benjamin T. Jones, Lecturer in History, CQUniversity AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.