There are some images of Australian flags here. Some combine our traditional flag and the Aboriginal flag but I read that:
"Harold Thomas, who designed the Aboriginal flag in 1971, is opposed to the expropriation of his flag in this manner by Australians generally, as he would prefer for the Aboriginal flag to exclusively represent indigenous people."
It would be a good thing if watching the SBS series, The Australian Wars was something all Australians did. Seems good to me but who knows what Sussan Ley thinks about it.
I don't really know why it's called the Australilan Wars and not the Frontier wars. I didn't even know the doco was being made. I came across it while watching tv during one of those really hot days in Brissy. But you think it could be misleading?
Sorry to be pedantic, but I don’t think it’s accurate to say the Constitution is “formally non-racist”. It’s good the previous exclusion of “the aboriginal race” from the race power was removed - even though ironically the High Court has since ruled that this now empowers the federal government to make laws to the determent of Aboriginal people (such as the NT Intervention) - and from being counted in the census.
But Section 51 still states that the Commonwealth has the power to make laws with respect to “The people of any race for whom it is deemed necessary to make special laws”. It is not implausible to see this used negatively at some time in the future, especially if Australia follows a Trumpian Dutton path.
It makes for interesting times. King Charles isn't getting any younger and his passing in due course will further hurt the royal brand. I reckon this has a flow on effect for us in this wide brown land.
And Populism (read fad) as a political theory is akin to fairy floss in that it tastes good but has no substance thus the US is in for an interesting ride when enough people work out that old mate isn't the Messiah. Tick - on another flow on effect.
Russia & China are also very interested in empire and as to how their relationship plays out directly affects us in the west, I watch and listen with interest as to their respective next moves.
And we have an election a few months away. Do Australian's revert to their old two party ways or so we stick with the experiment of a formidable cross bench & further lock it in as an immesurable requirement of sensible politics?
All these things, and others, in due course feed into healing the scar that we couldn't get our heads around in 2023 due to old mate potato & his bunch of has beens wearing a deeper groove the old fear & loathing record so much that their can't surely be much vinyl left on that track?
I hope we can be one country in the future, embrace our first people and move forward from an over worn trope.
Young people give me hope.
Keep talking people. Every conversation further let's the light in on a sad and bloody story that needs a path forward.
Nothing like commenting when Australia Day is now being forgotten for another year.
I am a non-indigenous Australian and I do regard it as 'Invasion Day' but I wouldn't state that because it would be too confrontational for some people. It has been referred to as a day of mourning and over the weekend I heard some First Nations people refer to it as Survival Day. The latter does show strength and not giving up in how they want to be respected.
The date of Australia Day is offensive. What do we have to be proud of or feel warm and fuzzy about on that day? I wondered whether Australia had been out in front over anything...Voting rights for women were achieved in 1895 - but only in South Australia. An eight hour day was achieved in 1916 (?) but only in Victoria and NSW. What is meaningful to celebrate that has occurred in Australia? Even the notion of recognising the day and date was nominated by a state and Victoria at that, in the mid-1930s.
I would prefer a First Nations term to be used but there are so many different Aboriginal languages and perhaps not many that would refer to Australia as a whole. Is there any word similar to Gondwana but only referring to Australia?
The date of the Australia Act ~ March 3rd seems a positive suggestion. It wouldn't be hard to change that date but the equally important matters of voice, treaty and truth-telling need to be addressed. Possibly, the states (some) playing a part in the latter two might progress things but the Commonwealth definitely has to set the minimum criminal age for all Australians. It's unbelievable that certain states and a territory can run election campaigns on how tough they're going to be against the most disadvantaged children who break the law.
Yeah Lauren Order always comes out during an election campaign in Queensland barracking for the LNP Peta thanks to Murdoch's fear and terror front pages which also coincidentally appear too. Funny that.
I reckon 1st January is the best date as that is the day the various colonies combined to become the a federation of Australia. The only way you would get popular consent would be to make both the 1st and 2nd of January to be public holidays. (2/1 being in lieu of 1/1 being already a public holiday.). Though I also like 21st February as that was the date in 1984 when it became compulsory for Aboriginal and Torres Strait peoples to enrol to vote. Though they had been able to vote since 1966. But I fear that date would be problematic with those who voted NO in the 2024 referendum.
3 March? Unfortunately 26 January remains the perfect long-weekend end to the height of summer. The tennis is finished, school goes back, and most people have imbibed themselves silly over the silly season. I believe this has a lot to do with its popularity. So if we could choose a date around the same time, we would at least preserve the weeks of summer torpor that has become so popular in this country.
Perhaps when we eventually do reconcile, or become a republic, we could choose a day not too far away from 26 January?
The holiday should be on the fourth (or last) Monday in January. As you say, it's the ideal time for a day off, marking the end of summer and giving children returning to school a four day week first up.
As to what to call it, how about the January Public Holiday? The UK does this with their bank holidays and they also lack a national day. If it must have a name, how about Flag Day, and we either celebrate our flag or get a new one and celebrate that.
Hi John, I'm late to this article, so I hope that you nevertheless see my comment.
NATIONAL DAY
Yeah Australia (Act) Day is a great idea, and breaking from the UK is indeed an ideal event.
I also like Wattle Day on 1st September, because it's a beautiful time of year and the wattle blossoms would really add to the celebration.
Or the most minimal change option could be a floating day - say the last Friday in January.
I don't like the idea of a national day on a treaty date. For a start, linking these issues would risk making both never eventuate, and besides, if we did have a treaty, perhaps we should have a special Treaty Day to celebrate reconciliation?
I don't have a strong opinion of the date. It's more important for us to move the date out of respect for Aboriginal Australians, and then to have a massive community discussion about when we should celebrate.
NATIONAL FLAG
While I like most of what you write, I really think you need to read more about new flags.
Aside from the idea that someone else mentioned that the artist who designed the Aboriginal Flag didn't want it used in another way, I also don't think it's appropriate for all Australians to 'appropriate' a specific cultural emblem for a broader cause. Another term for that would be 'stealing'. Let's not do that.
Also, there has been tons of work into designing a new Australian Flag, and your suggestion that we should adopt something with stars and Aboriginality is basically like John Howards' referendum proposal. If we want a new Australian Flag, we need a deliberative process to talk about all of our options and then to find the best one.
Despite all that, as an amateur flag enthusiast who has designed and discussed many new Australian Flag options, may I please share with you my personal favourite new flag design? This is a brilliantly simple, powerful, original, and distinctly Australian emblem:
There are some images of Australian flags here. Some combine our traditional flag and the Aboriginal flag but I read that:
"Harold Thomas, who designed the Aboriginal flag in 1971, is opposed to the expropriation of his flag in this manner by Australians generally, as he would prefer for the Aboriginal flag to exclusively represent indigenous people."
https://www.flagsaustralia.com.au/designsnewflag.html
It would be a good thing if watching the SBS series, The Australian Wars was something all Australians did. Seems good to me but who knows what Sussan Ley thinks about it.
https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/tv-series/the-australian-wars
G'day Julie, is the term "Frontier Wars" out of favour now? Not easily misconstrued with our empire wars as Australian wars can be.
I don't really know why it's called the Australilan Wars and not the Frontier wars. I didn't even know the doco was being made. I came across it while watching tv during one of those really hot days in Brissy. But you think it could be misleading?
Sorry to be pedantic, but I don’t think it’s accurate to say the Constitution is “formally non-racist”. It’s good the previous exclusion of “the aboriginal race” from the race power was removed - even though ironically the High Court has since ruled that this now empowers the federal government to make laws to the determent of Aboriginal people (such as the NT Intervention) - and from being counted in the census.
But Section 51 still states that the Commonwealth has the power to make laws with respect to “The people of any race for whom it is deemed necessary to make special laws”. It is not implausible to see this used negatively at some time in the future, especially if Australia follows a Trumpian Dutton path.
It makes for interesting times. King Charles isn't getting any younger and his passing in due course will further hurt the royal brand. I reckon this has a flow on effect for us in this wide brown land.
And Populism (read fad) as a political theory is akin to fairy floss in that it tastes good but has no substance thus the US is in for an interesting ride when enough people work out that old mate isn't the Messiah. Tick - on another flow on effect.
Russia & China are also very interested in empire and as to how their relationship plays out directly affects us in the west, I watch and listen with interest as to their respective next moves.
And we have an election a few months away. Do Australian's revert to their old two party ways or so we stick with the experiment of a formidable cross bench & further lock it in as an immesurable requirement of sensible politics?
All these things, and others, in due course feed into healing the scar that we couldn't get our heads around in 2023 due to old mate potato & his bunch of has beens wearing a deeper groove the old fear & loathing record so much that their can't surely be much vinyl left on that track?
I hope we can be one country in the future, embrace our first people and move forward from an over worn trope.
Young people give me hope.
Keep talking people. Every conversation further let's the light in on a sad and bloody story that needs a path forward.
Nothing like commenting when Australia Day is now being forgotten for another year.
I am a non-indigenous Australian and I do regard it as 'Invasion Day' but I wouldn't state that because it would be too confrontational for some people. It has been referred to as a day of mourning and over the weekend I heard some First Nations people refer to it as Survival Day. The latter does show strength and not giving up in how they want to be respected.
The date of Australia Day is offensive. What do we have to be proud of or feel warm and fuzzy about on that day? I wondered whether Australia had been out in front over anything...Voting rights for women were achieved in 1895 - but only in South Australia. An eight hour day was achieved in 1916 (?) but only in Victoria and NSW. What is meaningful to celebrate that has occurred in Australia? Even the notion of recognising the day and date was nominated by a state and Victoria at that, in the mid-1930s.
I would prefer a First Nations term to be used but there are so many different Aboriginal languages and perhaps not many that would refer to Australia as a whole. Is there any word similar to Gondwana but only referring to Australia?
The date of the Australia Act ~ March 3rd seems a positive suggestion. It wouldn't be hard to change that date but the equally important matters of voice, treaty and truth-telling need to be addressed. Possibly, the states (some) playing a part in the latter two might progress things but the Commonwealth definitely has to set the minimum criminal age for all Australians. It's unbelievable that certain states and a territory can run election campaigns on how tough they're going to be against the most disadvantaged children who break the law.
Yeah Lauren Order always comes out during an election campaign in Queensland barracking for the LNP Peta thanks to Murdoch's fear and terror front pages which also coincidentally appear too. Funny that.
I reckon 1st January is the best date as that is the day the various colonies combined to become the a federation of Australia. The only way you would get popular consent would be to make both the 1st and 2nd of January to be public holidays. (2/1 being in lieu of 1/1 being already a public holiday.). Though I also like 21st February as that was the date in 1984 when it became compulsory for Aboriginal and Torres Strait peoples to enrol to vote. Though they had been able to vote since 1966. But I fear that date would be problematic with those who voted NO in the 2024 referendum.
3 March? Unfortunately 26 January remains the perfect long-weekend end to the height of summer. The tennis is finished, school goes back, and most people have imbibed themselves silly over the silly season. I believe this has a lot to do with its popularity. So if we could choose a date around the same time, we would at least preserve the weeks of summer torpor that has become so popular in this country.
Perhaps when we eventually do reconcile, or become a republic, we could choose a day not too far away from 26 January?
The holiday should be on the fourth (or last) Monday in January. As you say, it's the ideal time for a day off, marking the end of summer and giving children returning to school a four day week first up.
As to what to call it, how about the January Public Holiday? The UK does this with their bank holidays and they also lack a national day. If it must have a name, how about Flag Day, and we either celebrate our flag or get a new one and celebrate that.
Hi John, I'm late to this article, so I hope that you nevertheless see my comment.
NATIONAL DAY
Yeah Australia (Act) Day is a great idea, and breaking from the UK is indeed an ideal event.
I also like Wattle Day on 1st September, because it's a beautiful time of year and the wattle blossoms would really add to the celebration.
Or the most minimal change option could be a floating day - say the last Friday in January.
I don't like the idea of a national day on a treaty date. For a start, linking these issues would risk making both never eventuate, and besides, if we did have a treaty, perhaps we should have a special Treaty Day to celebrate reconciliation?
I don't have a strong opinion of the date. It's more important for us to move the date out of respect for Aboriginal Australians, and then to have a massive community discussion about when we should celebrate.
NATIONAL FLAG
While I like most of what you write, I really think you need to read more about new flags.
Aside from the idea that someone else mentioned that the artist who designed the Aboriginal Flag didn't want it used in another way, I also don't think it's appropriate for all Australians to 'appropriate' a specific cultural emblem for a broader cause. Another term for that would be 'stealing'. Let's not do that.
Also, there has been tons of work into designing a new Australian Flag, and your suggestion that we should adopt something with stars and Aboriginality is basically like John Howards' referendum proposal. If we want a new Australian Flag, we need a deliberative process to talk about all of our options and then to find the best one.
Despite all that, as an amateur flag enthusiast who has designed and discussed many new Australian Flag options, may I please share with you my personal favourite new flag design? This is a brilliantly simple, powerful, original, and distinctly Australian emblem:
The Golden Wattle Flag
http://www.goldenwattleflag.com/
I support a change to a more tasteful date but it is a non-starter in the current political climate.
A fine idea [1st I've read of this]