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Alice Onriev's avatar

I like the idea of a holiday set by the moon - connecting us back to the natural world that we’re otherwise flogging to death with climate change and biodiversity destruction.

But if we’re going to rearrange public holidays, here’s my suggestion: we want roughly one per month. A certain number of them should be common to all, because part of the joy of a public holiday is that everyone gets a day off at the same time. March/April are jammed with holidays at the moment. The religious have days that are holy to them.

So I’d keep New Year’s Day and Anzac Day where they are as common holidays. Move Christmas/Boxing Day closer to the summer solstice and call it mid summer, common to all.Allow Labour Day to vary between states as now (but also common to all). Make Reconcilliation Day (ACT) National. Bung in an Australia Day somewhere, more likely later in the year so there’s an even spread. And then allow everyone 5 days for their particular religious tradition or just to take when they want. And if the Victorian govt wants to have a holiday for boofheads kicking an oval ball or idiots whipping horses, they can trade off the lower productivity and the rest of the country can ignore them.

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Hannah Forsyth's avatar

As I recall The medieval kerfuffle over the dates of Easter reinforced Roman connections of church power with money over Celtic monastic poverty (for ensuring the poor are fed rather than used to enrich bishops). And Ofc the eastern churches still go by different calcs. I’m all for change as long as we adopt the Celtic version. And the humility that went with it. And maybe move the Vatican to Belfast.

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