News by Natalie Brown This January 26 marks 233 years since the First Fleet landed in Port Jackson. And while it s long been pegged as a day of celebration and coming together, for many Australians the day has become a symbol of inequity and institutionalised harm. In the last five years, the public holiday has seen thousands of Aussies take to the streets to protest against it - with the Invasion Day rallies calling for, among other things, a changing of the date to reflect the fact that for some, it represents more than the beginning of British colonialism when the First Fleet arrived at Sydney Cove.
18 January 2021 10:15am
A new survey by free market think tank Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) found that 69 per cent of Australians support Australia Day being celebrated on 26 January, while only 11 per cent favour the date being changed to accommodate those who state that the day is not inclusive of Indigenous communities.
The majority of the 1,038 people questioned (82 per cent) said they felt proud to be Australian, and 72 per cent said the national day was an authentic way for Indigenous and non-Indigenous people to do this.
While the numbers in support of Australia day are still quite high there is a downward trend as 75 per cent supporter the 26 January date to be kept in 2019, and 71 per cent last year.
Sky News host Chris Smith says the descendants of the first fleet should reach out and "unite black and white" rather than "divide and antagonise" memories of the past.
“What an Australia Day that would be,” Mr Smith said.
It comes as federal Greens MP Lidia Thorpe called for the Aboriginal flag to be flown at half-mast on what she called “invasion day” in a column for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.
“Those attending Invasion Day Dawn services should also consider wearing black to symbolise mourning. The countless injustices Aboriginal people have faced began on January 26th 1788, but they continued today,” Ms Thorpe said.
Her impassioned plea though comes as the Institute of Public Affairs released a poll which shows that 69 per cent of those surveyed believe Australia Day should be celebrated on January 26.
Mr Smith said none of the evidence matters to Ms Thorpe who “loves stirring the pot”.
There's been a reassessment of the US President and his populist movement following the Capitol riots at a time when Prime Minister Scott Morrison reserves public judgement.
McGowan Calls for a National Elimination Strategy to Handle the CCP Virus
Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan is advocating for the rest of the nation to follow his states CCP virus elimination strategy bringing National Cabinet’s policy of suppressing outbreaks into dispute.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday McGowan heralded lockdowns and border closures as the way forward and congratulated the Queensland government’s measure.
“The idea that you kick along with the virus and somehow that is a better model is wrong,” McGowan said.
“I just urge the New South Wales government and the people in New South Wales to look outside New South Wales and what other states and territories are doing in order to crush and kill the virus, that’s a better approach.”