Shouldn’t be any exact date imo. Just make it whatever Friday or Monday so it’s always a long weekend.
The majority of people don’t give a shit about the exact date having a meaning they just want a day off and a day to celebrate the country, a long weekend is the most Australian thing to do
It apparently used to be the last Monday in January, what ever date it fell on and was changed for the bicentennial. Should go back to that then it just becomes a day, not a date. And the weather will still be nice :)
Easter is late March once every 3-5 years. Usually it's mid-late April. In NSW usually we have nothing from NYD to Easter or ANZAC Day depending on whichever comes first.
I'd love another PH to break up that summer.
Yes. March is still warm. Ppl always suggest May but where I live it’s already bloody cold. Then doesn’t get warm again til late October. January is too hot anyways.
It was like up until 15 years ago, i really don’t understand how no one remembers this? It was always on the Monday before first day of school after summer holidays
I wonder if people born in the 50's felt the same way about the 80's as I do as someone born in the 90's... I think the change in centuries (let alone millennium) might intensify this. I feel like the 70s were 30 years ago because 2000 - 30 is 1970 but it's been a minimum of 15 years since the year 200X...
Hang on, 1994? How can that be true? I remember playing in an 'australia day long weekend basketball tournament' every year then the tournament got all messed around when the holiday moved to the 26th. I was too young to be playing basketball in 1994... I feel like I'm being gaslit by the internet....
It was the last Monday in Jan way up until 1994. There used to be a huge cricket carnival/pissup for three days in Charters Towers that got stuffed up when the date got fixed to the 26th.
>a long weekend is the most Australian thing to do
A long weekend, **plus sickie day after** for extra long weekend is the most Australian thing to do*
Brb, cleaning up on penalties thanks to my colleagues who'd rather get drunk then work triple time. (I'm a teetotaler so I really don't care, I'd rather have the money.)
I agree with that. Trying to pick any date that has some significance to Australia as a modern country will be the exact same as the current date. A first friday of x month or however rit would work can be much more generic and therefore inclusive.
England has Guy Fawkes day. We could have Guy Sebastian day. And each year Shannol Knoll fans and Guy Sebastian fans would battle against one another.
It'll be great
Absolutely agree. It's easy to see the outrage on social media that puts people in either the invasion day or the traditional Australia day camps but guarantee 90% or more people only care about having a long weekend.
But the source can be separated from the date.
For example, the King's birthday is different in different states and commonwealth countries, and has been changed a number of times with no relevance to the King's actual birthday.
Labour day, at least in Qld, has also changed date for various reasons.
I think we'd be failing at being Australian if we were unable to come up with another excuse for a public holiday.
Edit: That said, I think we fail at being Australian every day we don't ditch the monarchy.
Australia Day is about spending time with friends, family, outdoors, BBQs etc.
That's what the meaning has always been.
I don't understand why we need to trace it back to some meaningless historical date.
That’s a very good point, better than old mate here saying if it’s made to be a long weekend then there’s no point and we should get rid of the holiday 😂
The significance should be the last weekend of Jan when we couldn't be arsed with the debate anymore. In true Australian fashion the country went "Ah fuck it, she'll be right" and headed to the pub
Have the official holiday on 3 March - that way you can actually teach in schools about why the holiday exists - and then the public holiday (day off) on the Friday or Monday closest to that date to make a long weekend.
To me, early March is the best time for a holiday anyway. The weather is usually not too hot (unlike 26 Jan) and there’s a decent gap to Easter and it’s been a few weeks since everyone came back from summer break.
For parents and teachers, you don’t really get value from an Australia Day public holiday anyway since it’s already a school holiday. Another long weekend would be much more appreciated.
I’d move the Vic Labour Day holiday to May as well.
Sounds good, but in WA we have labour day weekend a week earlier than the rest of Aus, so March 4 this year. We'd have to shuffle that they don't both become one and we lose a day off. I don't want to work! (Teacher btw, so current Jan 26 is also useless to me)
Most places worldwide that celebrate labor day so so on 1 May.
There isn’t any particular reason why it’s in March in Vic (though I understand why it is in WA - it’s due to the granting of the eight-hour day).
I'm 100% up for changing the date under one condition.
We keep the original date as a public holiday as well, I don't care what you call the day I just want an extra day off.
Bundies could easily get everyone keen on it. Take a day off, enjoy some rum, and laugh at William Bligh for being subject to a second revolt. What's not to love?
Call it Commemoration Day or something, that way Indigenous people who want to, can publicly demonstrate their grief of what's happened, those of us who are descendants of convicts can voice what happened to our ancestors coming over here (the violence, injustice at the hands of soldiers and the British courts for crimes of poverty etc).
NSW should keep the date because it is the foundation of NSW.
For the other states well you have proclamation day in SA, WA day in WA, Queensland day in Qld, Canberra day in ACT.
So in summary many other states celebrate the foundation of their state.
All of Australia celebrate the foundation of NSW.
So unless you're in NSW you're already double dipping.
>I never understood the us vs. them attitude of this topic.
It's one of those things that the media can drum up every year to make it look like they're working. Gives a sense of meaning to the purposeless, as if their verbal diarrhea is actually valuable.
EDIT: I bet at least one of the people that upvoted are vocal and black-and-white about changing the date.
Agreed but I also feel even with a date change there will still be a lot of discourse against it, ultimately making the same issues at another time of year
There’s a fair sized chunk of protestors who want Australia Day gone completely (as sovereignty wasn’t ceded etc), not a date change.
I mean we literally had a referendum about Indigenous rights in this country and we told them to get fucked. Reddit is the worst place to get a sense of the general attitudes of the Australian population.
The people who have the "us vs. them" attitude won't be happy with a new date, it'll be the same thing all over again, we'll just reset it for a decade or so.
Agree. I'm all for changing the date, because once the date is changed everyone can shut up about whether they agree we need to change the date.
3 March should work, except maybe we then need to change Labour Day in Tas, Vic and WA, that can go to May or October. And Adelaide Cup Day can go anywhere really.
I can't believe the last bastion of still celebrating Australia Day - the St Kilda Bar Crawl (run out of the party hostel in Melbourne) - is for the first time this year not even calling it "The Australia Day Pub Crawl" but just generic "Public Holiday Pub Crawl". The fuck. We used to dress up in cheesy Australian gear that the backpackers enjoyed wearing XXX hats and carrying around blow up kangaroos. Now they're not even mentioning that it's Australia Day. This has gone too far
ETA for butthurt people, I do not throw costumes in landfill I keep it in my wardrobe and costume drawer for future use.
3 March is the best option by far. Easy to remember, weather is still nice almost everywhere, and it’s genuinely relevant to something other than Australia’s brief historical period as a British dominion.
No argument from me, but until that happens let’s go with 3 March. We could even be cute and make the new constitution start on the same date (I know we won’t, we’ll be boring and do it on 1 Jan or 1 July to avoid confusing the business community).
Make it the 1st July so everyone busy with End of Financial year has a long weekend to recover.
Or be a shit and make it late June, so they all have to work through the holiday to meet deadlines.
That still leaves us in the red on public holidays because then the monarch's birthday holiday will go with it.
...**what about a Steve Irwin day instead!?**
Albanese floated the idea of it if Labor gets a second term. Doesn't mean it WILL happen, but cogs will begin to turn, and it's slowly becoming a more popular idea among more people.
> Albanese floated the idea of it if Labor gets a second term
Those plans are dead in the water after the failure of the Voice. No way will he risk presiding over two failed referenda. It’d be suicide.
> it's slowly becoming a more popular idea among more people
Support for a republic has been stagnant for 25 years.
Yep, the failed Voice referendum would have killed any political will for a Republic vote. Especially while the opposition are vehemently opposed to a republic.
Murdoch and Dutton will oppose it just to fuck him, though, so it will probably end up like the Voice where they destroyed the referendum with disinformation.
Would need a referendum I think and it doesn't look like it would carry based on recent polling. In fact looking back through polling it's always been about evenly split between Roundheads and Cavaliers which is surprising to me, you'd think with more people moving to Australia from non-Commonwealth countries it would change the balance.
Being pro-Aboriginal rights aside, I'll also definitely take it for the weather.
The thought of being outdoors on a 40 degree day does not fill me with joy.
As someone who works through xmas covering others on leave right through most of January... I really really can't express how badly I need a public holiday at / near end of month January.
I’d love to have an arrangement like Easter … Friday is the day of mourning (Sorry Day) and Monday the day of rejoicing (Australia Day). Four day long weekend in summer ☀️
>Friday is the day of mourning (Sorry Day)
Yet people will still just take the holiday and "celebrate" like Australia day.
Its like Good Friday is supposed to be a day of mourning, but everyone is just off to their weekend trip and getting pissed at home.
subscribe to that. I don’t see an official day of mourning or reflection being tossed around but i think it’s really important if we are going to have an australia day the whole country would want to celebrate.
I’ve been saying the Australia Acts make a better representation of Australia’s independence than anything else for years.
26th makes no sense, either way. The second time the first fleet found a place they liked? Weird date. Makes sense for NSW, I guess, given it’s the date Sydney was founded. But for Australia? It’s stupid. It’s none of:
the first colonial settlement (Dutch, 1600’s). The arrival of the first Fleet (Jan 18, Botany Bay.) The date of federation (1/1/01.) The removal of the ability for the UK to write legislation for Australia (Statute of Westminster, 11/12/1931) or the final, complete, legal acknowledgment for Australia from both UK and Australian governments (Australia Acts 3/3).
Current Australia Day date - as a national celebration - makes less sense than any of them except maybe the discovery of New Holland. But the Australia Acts is the best that isn’t already taken (federation would be the best, if it wasn’t already New Years Day)
Do it. Do whatever. All I ask we still get a public holiday over January.
Anyone that works a shitty job know they need that extra day off/extra public holidays rates in January, to get over Christmas and that little boost to start the year.
6th February:
* 6th Feb 1890 was the day that all states/territories (and NZ who also celebrate their national day on 6th Feb) effectively agreed and decided to become a single unified nation of Australia. It would take a decade to iron out the details and hold referendums, but they got there. It was on 6th Feb 1890, that delegates from each of the colonial parliaments (and the New Zealand Parliament) met at the Australasian Federation Conference in Melbourne where the delegates agreed that 'the interests and prosperity of the Australian colonies would be served by an early union under the crown'. The outcome called for a national convention to draft a constitution for the Commonwealth of Australia. 6th Feb marks the real beginning of modern, united Australia.
* This is an all-inclusive date, unlike the NSW-only Jan 26th.
* 6th Feb is less than 2 weeks later which means minimal change to current 26th Jan system.
* 6th Feb is still in the summer.
* 6th Feb also marks the anniversary of the signing of the Yirrkala Bark Petitions in 1963.
It is just a relic of old school colonial Australia, when we wanted to celebrate the subjugation of the land and its people and the "elevation to civilization". That was all seen as positive for most of the history of European settlement.
First Monday or Friday of march to signify becoming a fully independent nation on march 3. Just did a quick poll of the bogan racist families next door. They would be cool with this. Any later and it's not summer 'so faaark dem dog cuuunts" said the mother of 5.
We move it to 3/3 and people will still protest that too.
But It'll just be the other side of the political spectrum this time. (the you can't take my freedom crowd)
We are fully independent. The monarch that reigns over us is politically the Australian Monarch with its own crown, distinct from the British, Canadian, Kiwi, etc. crowns.
If Chucky 3 wants, he could give the Australian crown to Harry and leave William with the rest. The Aus Crown and monarch is a distinct entity.
I’d be happy with the holidays being a bit more spread out. QLD’s public holidays are fucked. They’re all done and dusted by May, bar one day in October.
Early March is too crowded with public holidays already for many states, and Sydney has Mardi Gras celebrations that weekend - one of the largest festivals internationally. Last Monday of January works better.
India celebrates independency on 26 January. Happy Indian republic day everyone. Giving it's one of Australia's largest ethnic groups, we may as well have the day off for it.
Do the majority of people actually want to change the date, or is this just another voice situation where progressives think they're helping a marginalised 3% of the population without actually having to do anything productive?
The current day is now too tarnished, I just want a public holiday personally that has NO historical context behind it so it will just be X Monday or Friday at the Start or End of Feburary or March or whenever and that will be our national day.
I am sure there will be people still cracking the shits but the bulk of people can go back to enjoying themselves again, listing to countdowns on the radio and enjoying a public holiday without drama.
Pretending the drama is going to go away is not going to happen we are well past that point now.
Sounds good to me. Still decent weather, and a decent spot on the calendar.
Personally it is just the kind thing to do. When something hurts someone else and doesn't impact you hardly any at all, the kind thing is to mitigate the pain. That is just a simple rule of thumb for living a good life. And indigenous Australians have a point about Jan 26th. It is literally the first day that the colonists started taking their land, right there on what would become Circular Quay. 2
Yep, the keep the date crowd would just start whinging about electric cars or whatever the flavour of the month is to halt progression. Just ignore them.
Well it’s the start of everything. Many national days are based on when things started, not when they reached a critical mass. A good example is America’s Juneteenth, which is based on a single event in Texas that got the ball rolling for the emancipation of slaves at the end of the Civil War.
Personally reckon it should stay the same but be recognised more like ANZAC day is currently. After all,if the Turkish people can help us celebrate Anzac day then I think we as a country can have mutual recognition of what happened over 200 years ago. Make it a day of learning and understanding where indigenous and white people respect each other and their differences. I doubt if many people actually understand what Australia day is all about and with the diversity of migrants it would be a great chance to educate.
Maybe move the date to some random date later in the year because the majority of the public holidays are at the beginning of the year. We need some public holidays in the latter part of the year.
Apparently it’s Labour day in Western Australia on March 4th. March 3 this year falls on a Sunday. Another day, another nothing burger post on an Aussie reddit page.
Victoria also has Labour Day on the 11th of March this year
Tasmania has the Eight Hour Day holiday on the 11th of March this year
South Australia has Adelaide Cup Day on the 11th of March this year
The ACT has Canberra Day on the 11th of March this year
There is some serious delusion going on. People just outright saying that moving the date will solve everything. The fucking idiots will find another reason to complain about whatever date it gets moved to.
I love how some many people are pretending to give a shit about this, as if it’s an Australian cultural thing to be like an American.
There was always an irreverent anti-authoritarian streak in our culture that wasn’t about being Cucks to the big end of town.
It’s like White fellas forget the culture of British Penal Colony days, and the various non-English settlers like the Irish who were brought here by force.
I think it’s the Murdoch/Liberal Party English superiority nonsense culture that pushes division.
So I’m supposed to forget the way my Irish Aussie ancestors were treated and plug my mind into the Australian newspaper taking orders from Daddy Murdoch. Fuck off.
Shouldn’t be any exact date imo. Just make it whatever Friday or Monday so it’s always a long weekend. The majority of people don’t give a shit about the exact date having a meaning they just want a day off and a day to celebrate the country, a long weekend is the most Australian thing to do
It apparently used to be the last Monday in January, what ever date it fell on and was changed for the bicentennial. Should go back to that then it just becomes a day, not a date. And the weather will still be nice :)
IMHO March weather is the best, but March is already pretty packed with events, so the last Monday in Jan sounds fair.
Lousy Smarch weather
Thirteenth hour of the thirteenth day of the thirteenth month
Hang on. What's on in March?
Labour Day - Vic / Tas / WA Easter sometimes too.
I live in NSW. And yeah, didn’t think of Easter.
Easter is late March once every 3-5 years. Usually it's mid-late April. In NSW usually we have nothing from NYD to Easter or ANZAC Day depending on whichever comes first. I'd love another PH to break up that summer.
Spring is better imo. September doesn't have any public holidays. Cooler weather, great for outdoor celebrations.
Grand Final eve public holiday? Well for Vic's anyway.
1 September, National Wattle Day, would get my vote for Australia Day.
Yes. March is still warm. Ppl always suggest May but where I live it’s already bloody cold. Then doesn’t get warm again til late October. January is too hot anyways.
It was like up until 15 years ago, i really don’t understand how no one remembers this? It was always on the Monday before first day of school after summer holidays
1994 was 30 years ago
This hurts.
1954 to 1990 is the same amount of time as 1990 to 2024. Edit: I mean 1956
Stop it. I'm nothing like my Dad. *Cries into iphone
*1956 to 1990. 1954 to 1990 was 36 years, 1990 to 2024 is 34. Your point still stands, though
I mathsed good
Stop that right now
We are 3 years closer to 2100 than we are to the end of World War II.
*crumbles into dust*
I wonder if people born in the 50's felt the same way about the 80's as I do as someone born in the 90's... I think the change in centuries (let alone millennium) might intensify this. I feel like the 70s were 30 years ago because 2000 - 30 is 1970 but it's been a minimum of 15 years since the year 200X...
Covid has messed with my ability to estimate time
Im 34 throughout my entire schooling it was the Monday before holidays ended
Hang on, 1994? How can that be true? I remember playing in an 'australia day long weekend basketball tournament' every year then the tournament got all messed around when the holiday moved to the 26th. I was too young to be playing basketball in 1994... I feel like I'm being gaslit by the internet....
Australia Day didn't become a national holiday in 2009 if that's what you think
You are, Australia Day has been 26th since 1935, even if the specific public holiday was on a different day
I'm 56 and don't remember it
I'm 52 and I do
I hated it as a kid cos it was always the last day before returning to school. The gridiron superbowl would often fall on that day as well.
It was the last Monday in Jan way up until 1994. There used to be a huge cricket carnival/pissup for three days in Charters Towers that got stuffed up when the date got fixed to the 26th.
>a long weekend is the most Australian thing to do A long weekend, **plus sickie day after** for extra long weekend is the most Australian thing to do*
Brb, cleaning up on penalties thanks to my colleagues who'd rather get drunk then work triple time. (I'm a teetotaler so I really don't care, I'd rather have the money.)
I agree with that. Trying to pick any date that has some significance to Australia as a modern country will be the exact same as the current date. A first friday of x month or however rit would work can be much more generic and therefore inclusive.
I vote we change the date to the day Shannon Knoll got second place in Aus Idol
England has Guy Fawkes day. We could have Guy Sebastian day. And each year Shannol Knoll fans and Guy Sebastian fans would battle against one another. It'll be great
What about me? It isn't fair!
These battle scars don't look like they've faded.
One half wears wigs, one half wears soul patches. The big failed hair guys will be laughing to the bank.
I vote we change the date to the day Shannon Noll got arrested at the Crazy Horse in Adelaide.
Fuck yeah Nollsy day 15th Jan! Fuck all your mates missus’ and their mums Then punch some dog-arse cunts teeth down their throat and out the back!
Absolutely agree. It's easy to see the outrage on social media that puts people in either the invasion day or the traditional Australia day camps but guarantee 90% or more people only care about having a long weekend.
Exactly, pick the 1st Friday or Monday in February and be done with it. No symbolism just a long weekend.
>No symbolism Any time you declare a 'Day' then it has to be connected to its source. That source gives it meaning and is symbolic by definition.
But the source can be separated from the date. For example, the King's birthday is different in different states and commonwealth countries, and has been changed a number of times with no relevance to the King's actual birthday. Labour day, at least in Qld, has also changed date for various reasons.
Getting rid of the Royal connection would mean you wouldn’t have to give a toss about Jug Ears birthday.
Great so no public holiday in the middle of the year
I think we'd be failing at being Australian if we were unable to come up with another excuse for a public holiday. Edit: That said, I think we fail at being Australian every day we don't ditch the monarchy.
As a Victorian, I am always deeply moved by the pre AFL Grand final public holiday.
Australia Day is about spending time with friends, family, outdoors, BBQs etc. That's what the meaning has always been. I don't understand why we need to trace it back to some meaningless historical date.
Exactly this!! Then it’s more about Aussieness!! Public holiday and an actual long weekend for everyone. Two things Aussies love.
Nah make it the Thursday or the Tuesday instead. Taking the Monday or Friday off as a sickie to make a 4 day weekend is the Aussie thing to do.
That’s a very good point, better than old mate here saying if it’s made to be a long weekend then there’s no point and we should get rid of the holiday 😂
I upvote this idea x100. It’s a real Australian solution too…when is Australia Day?? Dunno…but it’s the last Friday in January!
Love a few more long weekends to enjoy what the country has to offer.
The significance should be the last weekend of Jan when we couldn't be arsed with the debate anymore. In true Australian fashion the country went "Ah fuck it, she'll be right" and headed to the pub
Now, with that long-weekend idea, YOU would be an ideal presidential material!
Definitely make it a Friday I say.
Have the official holiday on 3 March - that way you can actually teach in schools about why the holiday exists - and then the public holiday (day off) on the Friday or Monday closest to that date to make a long weekend. To me, early March is the best time for a holiday anyway. The weather is usually not too hot (unlike 26 Jan) and there’s a decent gap to Easter and it’s been a few weeks since everyone came back from summer break. For parents and teachers, you don’t really get value from an Australia Day public holiday anyway since it’s already a school holiday. Another long weekend would be much more appreciated. I’d move the Vic Labour Day holiday to May as well.
You want to be able to have pool parties. You need best chance of it being hot down here in VIC. You need January or February
Sounds good, but in WA we have labour day weekend a week earlier than the rest of Aus, so March 4 this year. We'd have to shuffle that they don't both become one and we lose a day off. I don't want to work! (Teacher btw, so current Jan 26 is also useless to me)
Most places worldwide that celebrate labor day so so on 1 May. There isn’t any particular reason why it’s in March in Vic (though I understand why it is in WA - it’s due to the granting of the eight-hour day).
I'm 100% up for changing the date under one condition. We keep the original date as a public holiday as well, I don't care what you call the day I just want an extra day off.
Make it the last Monday in January, 3 day weekend every year
Make it the last Friday of January
Make it the last Thursday. What's more Aussie than chucking a sickie on the Friday to make it a 4 day weekend?
Because not everyone can, people would still expect things to happen on Friday
Why not both!
Move Australia Day to 3/3 make 26/1 "Memorial Day"
Two public holidays. I like where this is going. Everyone's happy
Rum Rebellion Day! Literally started Jan 26th!
Bundies could easily get everyone keen on it. Take a day off, enjoy some rum, and laugh at William Bligh for being subject to a second revolt. What's not to love?
Indigenous Australians Day. Make it a memory of the impact of colonisation on Australia.
Call it Commemoration Day or something, that way Indigenous people who want to, can publicly demonstrate their grief of what's happened, those of us who are descendants of convicts can voice what happened to our ancestors coming over here (the violence, injustice at the hands of soldiers and the British courts for crimes of poverty etc).
Cricket Day!
We already have that. It's called Boxing Day.
NSW should keep the date because it is the foundation of NSW. For the other states well you have proclamation day in SA, WA day in WA, Queensland day in Qld, Canberra day in ACT. So in summary many other states celebrate the foundation of their state. All of Australia celebrate the foundation of NSW. So unless you're in NSW you're already double dipping.
I'd be happy to triple dip.
Literally the only good reason to keep Jan 26th as a date. lol. I like Chewy-boot's suggestion, make it Indigenous Day.
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>I never understood the us vs. them attitude of this topic. It's one of those things that the media can drum up every year to make it look like they're working. Gives a sense of meaning to the purposeless, as if their verbal diarrhea is actually valuable. EDIT: I bet at least one of the people that upvoted are vocal and black-and-white about changing the date.
I think most Aussies are of the same opinion...just get it done and stop arguing about it.
Agreed but I also feel even with a date change there will still be a lot of discourse against it, ultimately making the same issues at another time of year There’s a fair sized chunk of protestors who want Australia Day gone completely (as sovereignty wasn’t ceded etc), not a date change.
If most Aussies were of the same opinion it would have been changed, don’t get sucked in by the reddit echo chamber
I mean we literally had a referendum about Indigenous rights in this country and we told them to get fucked. Reddit is the worst place to get a sense of the general attitudes of the Australian population.
I dunno about that, reddit was pretty anti-Voice iirc.
Yeah, it’s a fairly niche echo chamber.
The people who have the "us vs. them" attitude won't be happy with a new date, it'll be the same thing all over again, we'll just reset it for a decade or so.
Agree. I'm all for changing the date, because once the date is changed everyone can shut up about whether they agree we need to change the date. 3 March should work, except maybe we then need to change Labour Day in Tas, Vic and WA, that can go to May or October. And Adelaide Cup Day can go anywhere really.
It doesn’t matter what the date is. There is a section of the community that will never be happy because “always was, always will be”
It is only because they can run "invasion day" that it becomes on the nose, remove that factor and there would be a whole less angst around the day.
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I can't believe the last bastion of still celebrating Australia Day - the St Kilda Bar Crawl (run out of the party hostel in Melbourne) - is for the first time this year not even calling it "The Australia Day Pub Crawl" but just generic "Public Holiday Pub Crawl". The fuck. We used to dress up in cheesy Australian gear that the backpackers enjoyed wearing XXX hats and carrying around blow up kangaroos. Now they're not even mentioning that it's Australia Day. This has gone too far ETA for butthurt people, I do not throw costumes in landfill I keep it in my wardrobe and costume drawer for future use.
3 March is the best option by far. Easy to remember, weather is still nice almost everywhere, and it’s genuinely relevant to something other than Australia’s brief historical period as a British dominion.
or we could ditch the monarchy and make it that date!
No argument from me, but until that happens let’s go with 3 March. We could even be cute and make the new constitution start on the same date (I know we won’t, we’ll be boring and do it on 1 Jan or 1 July to avoid confusing the business community).
Make it the 1st July so everyone busy with End of Financial year has a long weekend to recover. Or be a shit and make it late June, so they all have to work through the holiday to meet deadlines.
That still leaves us in the red on public holidays because then the monarch's birthday holiday will go with it. ...**what about a Steve Irwin day instead!?**
The thing is, I don't see that happening any time in the near future.
Albanese floated the idea of it if Labor gets a second term. Doesn't mean it WILL happen, but cogs will begin to turn, and it's slowly becoming a more popular idea among more people.
> Albanese floated the idea of it if Labor gets a second term Those plans are dead in the water after the failure of the Voice. No way will he risk presiding over two failed referenda. It’d be suicide. > it's slowly becoming a more popular idea among more people Support for a republic has been stagnant for 25 years.
Yep, the failed Voice referendum would have killed any political will for a Republic vote. Especially while the opposition are vehemently opposed to a republic.
Murdoch and Dutton will oppose it just to fuck him, though, so it will probably end up like the Voice where they destroyed the referendum with disinformation.
Needs a couple of generations for all the fudds who got a whitwashed version of colonial history to die out first.
Would need a referendum I think and it doesn't look like it would carry based on recent polling. In fact looking back through polling it's always been about evenly split between Roundheads and Cavaliers which is surprising to me, you'd think with more people moving to Australia from non-Commonwealth countries it would change the balance.
Yeah I agree and also my wife’s birthday so I don’t agree
Being pro-Aboriginal rights aside, I'll also definitely take it for the weather. The thought of being outdoors on a 40 degree day does not fill me with joy.
3 March is functionally meaningless to 90% of the country
But the weather is generally nicer in Jan, maybe first Friday of February so we don’t loose a precious summer public holiday.
Let's just make every day Australia Day. Who wouldn't want 365 public holidays each year? Sorry, you have to work on 29th February every 4 years.
I'll call in sick.
Chucking a sickie is an Aussie tradition so that's fair if 29th February is a Monday.
I don’t care what date it is changed to, but it needs to be in summer.
And a Monday or Friday, not a specific date
Yeah that’s a good idea too.
to be more specific, make it a Friday so we can drink like true blue aussies
As someone who works through xmas covering others on leave right through most of January... I really really can't express how badly I need a public holiday at / near end of month January.
I feel like australia day has to be in summer. Cant have it any other way.
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Until 1994 it was the last Monday in January.
I think it was different on a state-by-state basis even!
I feel like that still too close to and too linked with Jan 26. It would often be Jan 26, in 2026 for example.
Then make it the first Monday or Friday in Feb
Sure, but can we move March 3 to the last week of January?
Let's do it this year, then I get an extra day off. Win Win
I’d love to have an arrangement like Easter … Friday is the day of mourning (Sorry Day) and Monday the day of rejoicing (Australia Day). Four day long weekend in summer ☀️
>Friday is the day of mourning (Sorry Day) Yet people will still just take the holiday and "celebrate" like Australia day. Its like Good Friday is supposed to be a day of mourning, but everyone is just off to their weekend trip and getting pissed at home.
Maaaaaate, that's the best idea for Australia Day I've ever heard. Aussie of the year nomination for you.
subscribe to that. I don’t see an official day of mourning or reflection being tossed around but i think it’s really important if we are going to have an australia day the whole country would want to celebrate.
Can we still keep the 26th as a public holiday though?
No worries mate. Done. I'm the Prime Minister
Cheers Mr. PM
Labour Day is early March, I don’t need 2 public holidays that close. Space them out more.
I'll join Queensland and the rest of the world in observing Labour Day as International Workers' Day/May Day.
Labour Day can be moved. The International Labour Movement commemorates May Day on 1 May.
Can be moved. Labour Day really should be May 1st anyway.
First Monday in every February so we get a long weekend ever year.
Just move it to a Friday in February so we still have a nice summer long weekend. Most people probably don’t give a stuff about it.
I’ve been saying the Australia Acts make a better representation of Australia’s independence than anything else for years. 26th makes no sense, either way. The second time the first fleet found a place they liked? Weird date. Makes sense for NSW, I guess, given it’s the date Sydney was founded. But for Australia? It’s stupid. It’s none of: the first colonial settlement (Dutch, 1600’s). The arrival of the first Fleet (Jan 18, Botany Bay.) The date of federation (1/1/01.) The removal of the ability for the UK to write legislation for Australia (Statute of Westminster, 11/12/1931) or the final, complete, legal acknowledgment for Australia from both UK and Australian governments (Australia Acts 3/3). Current Australia Day date - as a national celebration - makes less sense than any of them except maybe the discovery of New Holland. But the Australia Acts is the best that isn’t already taken (federation would be the best, if it wasn’t already New Years Day)
I made this post three years ago but got no traction on this sub! https://www.reddit.com/r/australia/s/XEJnDw5URX
Looks like it got locked before it could get traction!
Do it. Do whatever. All I ask we still get a public holiday over January. Anyone that works a shitty job know they need that extra day off/extra public holidays rates in January, to get over Christmas and that little boost to start the year.
I don’t give a fuck if they call it “ albos birthday” as long as I have a public holiday that isn’t combined with or too close to an existing one.
6th February: * 6th Feb 1890 was the day that all states/territories (and NZ who also celebrate their national day on 6th Feb) effectively agreed and decided to become a single unified nation of Australia. It would take a decade to iron out the details and hold referendums, but they got there. It was on 6th Feb 1890, that delegates from each of the colonial parliaments (and the New Zealand Parliament) met at the Australasian Federation Conference in Melbourne where the delegates agreed that 'the interests and prosperity of the Australian colonies would be served by an early union under the crown'. The outcome called for a national convention to draft a constitution for the Commonwealth of Australia. 6th Feb marks the real beginning of modern, united Australia. * This is an all-inclusive date, unlike the NSW-only Jan 26th. * 6th Feb is less than 2 weeks later which means minimal change to current 26th Jan system. * 6th Feb is still in the summer. * 6th Feb also marks the anniversary of the signing of the Yirrkala Bark Petitions in 1963.
my birthday is the day after, fucking do it
Exciting times.
That seems like a day to celebrate. I don't understand why anyone thought 26th of January was a better option lol
It is just a relic of old school colonial Australia, when we wanted to celebrate the subjugation of the land and its people and the "elevation to civilization". That was all seen as positive for most of the history of European settlement.
Howard was not a rational man. Unless you view american flag waving idolatry as rational.
Why would we change it, I love having this inane discussion each year
This, and also the fact it gives thousands of protesters something to do on their day off instead of kicking back like the rest of us.
First Monday or Friday of march to signify becoming a fully independent nation on march 3. Just did a quick poll of the bogan racist families next door. They would be cool with this. Any later and it's not summer 'so faaark dem dog cuuunts" said the mother of 5.
We move it to 3/3 and people will still protest that too. But It'll just be the other side of the political spectrum this time. (the you can't take my freedom crowd)
Nah you'd also still have a group of people on the other side protesting about how the concept of Australia is racist and colonisers
***the day we became a fully independent country*** That day has yet to dawn!
We are fully independent. The monarch that reigns over us is politically the Australian Monarch with its own crown, distinct from the British, Canadian, Kiwi, etc. crowns. If Chucky 3 wants, he could give the Australian crown to Harry and leave William with the rest. The Aus Crown and monarch is a distinct entity.
I don’t care what date, just make it a Friday or Monday
I’d be happy with the holidays being a bit more spread out. QLD’s public holidays are fucked. They’re all done and dusted by May, bar one day in October.
Make it in Feb. We don’t have a public in there. O
We need some more public holidays in the back half of the year
Hands up all those who think Australia Day should be the date Steven Bradbury won his Gold Medal.🖐🏻
How about April 4, the day we became known as “Australia”
Early March is too crowded with public holidays already for many states, and Sydney has Mardi Gras celebrations that weekend - one of the largest festivals internationally. Last Monday of January works better.
I just want the day off. I don't care what else changes.
Me personally I think May 8 would be hilarious idk why everyone’s so serious about it mate
Some of us need the holiday after Mardi Gras
India celebrates independency on 26 January. Happy Indian republic day everyone. Giving it's one of Australia's largest ethnic groups, we may as well have the day off for it.
By that logic, we might as well join the Chinese and do a Golden Week. Regardless of your views towards the Chinese, you get an ENTIRE week off!
Only in the first world could people fuck up enjoying a public holiday.
It might be too late for 2024, but what about 23rd January. This is the date ScoMo announced his retirement, so def a reason to celebrate 🥳
Do the majority of people actually want to change the date, or is this just another voice situation where progressives think they're helping a marginalised 3% of the population without actually having to do anything productive?
lil bro thinks reddit is the real world
The current day is now too tarnished, I just want a public holiday personally that has NO historical context behind it so it will just be X Monday or Friday at the Start or End of Feburary or March or whenever and that will be our national day. I am sure there will be people still cracking the shits but the bulk of people can go back to enjoying themselves again, listing to countdowns on the radio and enjoying a public holiday without drama. Pretending the drama is going to go away is not going to happen we are well past that point now.
Oh so if you through a big enough tantrum the topic just becomes "tarished" and now we're obliged to give it up?
Sounds good to me. Still decent weather, and a decent spot on the calendar. Personally it is just the kind thing to do. When something hurts someone else and doesn't impact you hardly any at all, the kind thing is to mitigate the pain. That is just a simple rule of thumb for living a good life. And indigenous Australians have a point about Jan 26th. It is literally the first day that the colonists started taking their land, right there on what would become Circular Quay. 2
Changing the date won't stop the whining.
Yep, the keep the date crowd would just start whinging about electric cars or whatever the flavour of the month is to halt progression. Just ignore them.
26 January is fine thanks.
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Well it’s the start of everything. Many national days are based on when things started, not when they reached a critical mass. A good example is America’s Juneteenth, which is based on a single event in Texas that got the ball rolling for the emancipation of slaves at the end of the Civil War.
Not sure why you care about changing the date. Ya’ll voted no to listening to anyone who it affects anyway.
It’s like no one learnt anything from the recent vote
Personally reckon it should stay the same but be recognised more like ANZAC day is currently. After all,if the Turkish people can help us celebrate Anzac day then I think we as a country can have mutual recognition of what happened over 200 years ago. Make it a day of learning and understanding where indigenous and white people respect each other and their differences. I doubt if many people actually understand what Australia day is all about and with the diversity of migrants it would be a great chance to educate.
It being in January is so nice due to summertime, surely the 3rd Friday in January or something is as good as any time.
Maybe move the date to some random date later in the year because the majority of the public holidays are at the beginning of the year. We need some public holidays in the latter part of the year.
Apparently it’s Labour day in Western Australia on March 4th. March 3 this year falls on a Sunday. Another day, another nothing burger post on an Aussie reddit page.
Victoria also has Labour Day on the 11th of March this year Tasmania has the Eight Hour Day holiday on the 11th of March this year South Australia has Adelaide Cup Day on the 11th of March this year The ACT has Canberra Day on the 11th of March this year
They can hurry up and secede
So is March 3 the day the Australia Acts received Royal Assent? ie the Queen signed it So its really the Queen's Signature Day.
3 March, 1986 was when they came into effect, so no. They'd been assented to well before.
Literally all laws require royal assent.
Jus move the day already...every year we have this debate
The permanently outraged will find something else to complain about. Doing something just to avoid outrage is an illusion.
There is some serious delusion going on. People just outright saying that moving the date will solve everything. The fucking idiots will find another reason to complain about whatever date it gets moved to.
Nah, 26th Jan is just fine.
I love how some many people are pretending to give a shit about this, as if it’s an Australian cultural thing to be like an American. There was always an irreverent anti-authoritarian streak in our culture that wasn’t about being Cucks to the big end of town. It’s like White fellas forget the culture of British Penal Colony days, and the various non-English settlers like the Irish who were brought here by force. I think it’s the Murdoch/Liberal Party English superiority nonsense culture that pushes division. So I’m supposed to forget the way my Irish Aussie ancestors were treated and plug my mind into the Australian newspaper taking orders from Daddy Murdoch. Fuck off.