We can look back on The First Fleet's arrival as, to quote our previous Prime Minister, "a defining moment in our nation's history"
Hope you 'survive' the day!

This is the thread where we ignore the reality that territorial conquest & cultural colonisation is the history of the entire human race, not just indigenous people and also pretend that there was anything about the stone age aboriginal culture worth keeping for anything other than anthropological reasons.

Nooooooooooooooo :'(

I find it funny how everyone has been conned into celebrating what is essentially Sydney's birthday.

Date of the eureka stockade would be better imo. 

Rubbish, its Australia day, its about Australia.

"No pride in genocide!"

Never understood the push for the eureka stockade. It's presented as a freedom fight against British colonisation, but I understood the reality was more that it was a protest against taxation against the local (Victorian) government and local police. A tax riot is hardly the thing a national day is made of, but happy to hear the other side to this.

Yeah. Hate to be for the people. 

Pahahahahahahaha legit, only overweight lesbians chant that. 

Happy Oz Day

-PB

You too mate. 

Eat a sausage tardtho, it's Australia day. 

:laugh::laugh:

-PB

-PB

If you aren't pirating illegal media today, you are un-Australian mate!

Well the American war of independence sort of kicked off with the Boston tea party.  Essentially a protest about unfair tariffs and taxation so there is sort of a precedent.

Really it should be January the 1st.  That's the day Australia actually became "Australia".  If it wasn't already a public holiday it'd be a lay down misere for that day.

Saw a video proposing changing the date to May 8 ('cos Mate).  Was "heh" worthy until the social commentary started

Australia is the only country in the British commonwealth that still celebrates its national day on the anniversary of the date of colonisation.

Every other country in the British commonwealth either changed it or picked a different day, including New Zealand. Why? Because they worked out it was fucking stupid to do it.

We're still proudly ignorant.

Muz - the Boston Tea Party was a rebellion against an overseas power, demanding an end to taxation without representation. Two differences to Eureka, which was just an anti-government, criminal riot - harsh assessment, but fundamentally true.

"The rebellion was the culmination of a period of civil disobedience in the Ballarat region during the Victorian gold rush with miners objecting to the expense of a miner's licence, taxation via the licence without representation and the actions of the government, the police and military.[3][4] The local rebellion grew from a Ballarat Reform League movement and culminated in the erection by the rebels of a crude battlement and a swift and deadly siege by colonial forces."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eureka_Rebellion

I wasn't saying it's an exact parallel but there were similarities.

Nice find, I thought they would've already had representation, I'll have a read...

I only know this because I've recently been reading a history of the Australian gold rushes.  There's a chapter on the Eureka stockade and the events that lead up to it.

Would be ecstatic if they changed it to the date to the Eureka stockade. A great day in our nations history.

I like may8. Getting cold then though

It's fine where it is. If anything it should be moved to Jan 1, but that's a holiday anyway.

May 8 is shit, May 1 is labour day in Qld.

“We don’t see anywhere near the number of people protesting… child abuse, violence, unclean, unsafe communities. So that’s why I question their sincerity.”

Indigenous researcher Dr Anthony Dillon says there are bigger issues than changing the date of Australia Day.

Disingenuous people with ulterior motives protesting on behalf of other people who are more than capable of speaking for themselves. 

I wonder if Australia day is Socialist Alternatives biggest day for magazine sales. 

Why is it only in the last few years these people have started protesting in their thousands and burning flags?

I don't ever remember seeing such widespread protesting against a day before about 5 years ago.

We should change the day so leftard organ thieves like murdochs rags have to find something more important to complain about.

The reality is the aboriginal people will transfer their grievance to another issue, the protesting and government demonization will never end. All we white devils can feel is empathy for their suffering and the misconduct carried out against them. Most of us were not alive to stop/alter some of the darkest parts of our history. However we're all guilty by association.