Australians have plenty to celebrate on Australia Day. Unfortunately, every year we find ourselves debating whether one distinction in particular – our choice of date for our national day – is worth celebrating at all.
We didn’t have a national “Australia Day” until 1935 – 34 years after Federation, 147 years after Arthur Phillip’s 11 ships of sail rounded the heads. In fact, for two-thirds of European settlement, there were multiple national days, including marvellous posters from 1915 showing brave Diggers urging us to celebrate Australia Day on July 30. The Diggers, it seems, were not wedded back then to January 26.
But what of our Indigenous brothers and sisters? They arrived here some 70,000 years earlier, give or take a few millennia, making them the oldest continuing culture in human history – no small feat, and one we should all celebrate. Conservative critics will attack me for changing my position since I was prime minister. These same critics also attacked me for reconsidering my position on marriage equality while in office. To them I answer: yes, I have changed my view, and I would also encourage you to reconsider the arguments and the evidence, rather than turn this into yet another episode of identity politics in which the far-right now specialises.
Of all the options available, one stands out: June 3, the anniversary of the High Court decision in 1992 that finally and legally recognised the pre-existing Indigenous title to the land we now call Australia, exposing “terra nullius” as a political and legal fiction, and establishing our shared continent as a matter of law.The Mabo decision wasn’t an act of politicians.
MrKRudd
MrKRudd
MrKRudd 'Tolerance' needs to extend to history. All the world's dead are our common ancestors, we say in the region of Asia that I come from. Moving around traditions at whim is a recipe for making nations rapidly crumbly. AustraliaDay
MrKRudd Stop disseminating hate!
MrKRudd Stop the useless criticism and move on!
MrKRudd Why be so candid and frank. Australia can always conceal that fact.
MrKRudd As much as Mabo was an amazing step, it doesn’t go near acknowledging the full rights and reparations First Nations people advocate for. But I guess it’s better than the 26th, which isn’t relevant *or* positive for the majority of Australians.
MrKRudd Perhaps looking to the future, the Uluru statement is acknowledged, acted on and the constitution recognises our First Nations people. That sounds like a good day to have an Australia Day. A date in Feb 2022 sounds good, the we can all have a beer, bbq, and celebrate together.
MrKRudd Happy Penal Colony day
MrKRudd forever an outpost
MrKRudd It's sort of like Anzac Day when we commemorate - with great national pride! - getting our arses kicked out of Turkey
MrKRudd There is always something that we can decide is wrong. That is easy. Where is the comprehensive plan that reflects the truths of the people from all sides, deeds, desires, contributions, realities etc, where we can ALL agree of what would be right No takers? (except the $$$)
MrKRudd SMH jumping on the virtue signalling bandwagon
MrKRudd Kevin I couldn’t agree with you more, someone needs to add that little fact into the history books!
MrKRudd So as former PM what did you do to change the datw how about i remind you. Fuck all. So sick of ex pollies telling current pollies how to do things when they didnt have the guts to do it themselves. Anthem, flag, change the date, constitution yep a big zero kruddy
MrKRudd Convicts were Used to create a colony, hard labour, clear land hint hint
MrKRudd I appreciate MrKRudd’s suggestion, but what the fuck is it with Pollies from both sides who refuse to act in govt, & all of a sudden becoming reasonable when they leave govt! TOO FUCKING LATE NOW KEVIN/MALCOLM auspol
MrKRudd I try to be positive here but it is challenging. Could've been challenged on your watch Mr Rudd but it wasn't. Care to share why such an important issue was ignored?
MrKRudd InvasionDay Jan26IsInvasionDay for all those people who don't like celebrating Australia day on the 26th here's a thing. Go to work then.!!! Don't benefit from the racist first world safe society.
MrKRudd Why not? It's the founding of our nation?
MrKRudd A change of date is a good idea but you will never convince the masses by choosing 1 January - New Year’s Day when we already get a public holiday. People need to be won over and that would result in people complaining the date change conspires to decrease public holidays.
MrKRudd I’m not sure it’s possible to pick a date that is totally meaningless to anyone from a history perspective. 26 January is not it. Winter is out. It has to be a day when it’s warm enough for a swim and a BBQ, bcos we know that’s all most people want from it.
MrKRudd Suggested dates, 1 Jan proclamation of the Clth, 29 or 30 Mar 1st Clth election, 9 May opening of the 1st parliament of the Clth. Prior to 1901 there were only individual British colonies with their own (UK) laws & gov'ts. My 2 bobs worth.
MrKRudd Why not move it to 1 January - we became a Federated nation on 1 January 1901 - it makes sense
MrKRudd We could celebrate on a day named for an Indigenous word for this country. 4th Sunday of January, for the month we began living together. Public holiday the following Monday. THEN...some fast moving action on how on we share this country. By all of us who live here.
MrKRudd So whats the option? The day Cook landed? The day the colonies unilaterally took possession and formed a nation? The day Australia suffered a military defeat? or the day that Australia becomes a republic? There is really only one but until then Jan 26th is as good as any other.
MrKRudd Does Kevin Rudd’s opinion really matter?
MrKRudd What did K Rudd do on Australia Day when he was PM? Hypocrite ...
MrKRudd Gee if only the author - Kevin Rudd is his name yeah? - had the opportunity to have done something about his strong beliefs during his career. You’d probably have to have been Prime Minister though daretodream 🤪
MrKRudd That’s why Dutton loves it
MrKRudd It is odd that the date was chosen because Bennalong stood for Indigenous rights whilst Cook claimed 'empty land' and the British were taken aback because of his connection to Philip and his conviction to his people.
MrKRudd Why can't we move the date? It's not written in stone that Australia Day has to be the 26 Jan. I'm all for celebrating being Australian but for ALL Australians moved the date, 17 Feb is a good date. AustraliaDayJan26 changethedate InvasionDay
MrKRudd No it isn't, your opinion sucks.
MrKRudd THANK YOU Mr.k RUDD OLder Generation KNOW True History Convicted Rough PRISONERs SHIPPED to AUSTRALIA Fixed 1 Scilling by*British Empire Capt.Cook The Leader BON VOYAGE AFTER ,Landing British KILLED Thousands Aussie -AboriginaL ASK*Cathy Freeman She had GOLD MEDAL Share
MrKRudd This is not about reconciliation. This is about power and money. Indigenous leaders will never say to Australia one day that we are now reconciled. They will just move on to the next thing to be outraged against. AustraliaDay
johngleeson52 MrKRudd Kevin You are still out of touch
MrKRudd if you don't like it, you know where the door is
MrKRudd Don't be rama rama
MrKRudd Not the first time it's been changed. So what's the big deal in doing it again, if it mean the whole country can be united. And while we're all nationalistic and such, let's grow up and become a Republic once and for all FFS.
MrKRudd it's odd that we should celebrate it at all. a commemoration of ethno-nationalism, founded in a history of colonialism, murder and genocide.
MrKRudd The Ponderous Work of MrKRudd 'Of the rules of historical perspective he has not the faintest notion. There is neither foreground nor background in his delineation' Thomas Babington, Lord Macaulay
MrKRudd Don’t often agree with Rudd, but he’s not wrong here. The fact that so many kick and scream saying don’t change the date says more about them, than those who want to change it.
MrKRudd no
MrKRudd Imagine being such a sap to accept a watermark on our flag too.
MrKRudd Shows you find Rudd is . 26th Jan 1949 marked Australia’s independence from Britain as from that day Australians could access and use Australian passports not British ones . From that day on it was called Australia Day for that reason . I figure that is not taught any more 🙄🙄
RBD926 MrKRudd MrKRudd Ist fleet came on 18th January 1788. Eddie Mabo was extra special. Employed by JCU for over 20 years, lived in Townsville. We were there when he died before knowing his wonderful work had been successful. His funeral was big and next day his grave was vandalised.
MrKRudd Yes. We will never be a nation until the Uluru Statement from the Heart is implemented. Then we can celebrate nationhood on a day acceptable to First Nations people. I, a white person, like the Mabo Day/Treaty Day idea, but it must not be imposed.
MrKRudd What are hypocrite you are Kevin and you didn't want to change the date in the first place and said No! Straight at everyone face on January 26! Why do you want to score brownie points right now? auspol AustraliaDay InvasionDay springst labor abc labor changethedate
MrKRudd
MrKRudd On his birthday would be a truely fitting and symbolic move
MrKRudd Id like to know who they would have rather it have been than the British. So many more countries that could have settled here. I dont think any would be here today if the Dutch got there hands on the place.
MrKRudd It was former Prime Minister Paul Keating who made Australia Day as an official holiday and you Kevin didn't want to change the date in the first place. Why do you want to score brownie points? auspol AustraliaDay InvasionDay springst labor abc labor changethedate
MrKRudd It was the beginning of our great nation.
MrKRudd The prison wasn’t on the other side of the world. It was here!
MrKRudd Or even on the other side of the country.
MrKRudd It won’t be long now before the ABC and launch their assault on ANZAC day.
MrKRudd Really!!- You do realise the Aboriginals invaded Australia and wiped out all megafauna and anyone else here. That shameful time should never be forgotten or celebrated. You should read up on what an invasion is - Germany/Japan WW2 for instance.
Judith54Nunn MrKRudd Exceedingly odd.😡🤦♀️
MrKRudd Kevin Rudd is an HONEST THINKING WISE man . What is a celebration if most of all citizens are not involved ?
MrKRudd It’s odd that two of our ex prime ministers can’t be humble enough to accept that they are no longer relevant
MrKRudd Coward
MrKRudd change the attitude not the date racists still gonna hate no matter what the date
MrKRudd When you were the PM why didn’t you recognise Mabo with its own day. It should be recognised but I don’t think Australia Day should be moved, give Mabo its own day.
FatherBob MrKRudd Jan 1 Date of federation seems more appropriate day to mark in my opinion. That’s the day the new constitution and Australia as we know it (well almost) was created. Before that the States were independent colonies of UK.
MrKRudd
MrKRudd It's odd the of the 200 or so cultures that inhabit our nation, only one of them is constantly at the forefront and only one of them has 7 cultural specific days to celebrate. Treat all cultures equally.
MrKRudd Is that why he is Former Australian Prime Minister? Whitey Man from Nambour High School they say how did he go in History might be better for SMH to look at & see if he missed a topic? Land owned by Creator agrees sensible Black and Whites of all Cultures. Too late to change now?
FatherBob MrKRudd Amen 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
MrKRudd Go away Kevin, your Anti-Australianism is not wanted.
MrKRudd Move the date but keep it in summer though
MrKRudd It's not odd at all when you realise how white biased our view of ourselves is and even how racist a lot of us are.
MrKRudd Every year we have to see the resident whiners bang on about this.
MrKRudd Fxck the australia date debte Fxking christ do I not give a sh!t
MrKRudd Why change the dat? Just let's have a truthful acknowledgement & accept the Statement from the Heart Day.
MrKRudd This would be a more truthful date to mark our national day.
MrKRudd Great, and then we can rename Jan 26th as ‘Thank God it was the British’ day.
MrKRudd Well said Kevin. How about declaring a republic, and making that date Australia Day? I would love a day that every Australian can consider Ours.
MrKRudd Whilst I think this could be a great idea, I would like to hear the opinions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples on this idea. A national celebration of Mabo day is a great idea, but I'm not sure whitewashing it with 'Australia Day' is the answer..?
MrKRudd 3 June is not a good time for celebrating in most states of Aus. Let’s choose a Monday in true Aussie long weekend tradition - that probably needs to be in January to avoid interrupting schools. Celebrate Mon 3rd Week of Jan the day we grew up as a nation & truly became “One”...
MrKRudd Ahead of 'Australia Day,' I'd like to ask as an Asian immigrant recently chastised for celebrating the day: As a 'stolen' nation, and a land with a large and growing population of dual-citizens, is there any rationale for defending ourselves against China or any other nation?
MrKRudd Lets keep we are in this together and call it united australia day
AlexWodak MrKRudd Eh? Botany Bay is in Sydney, not Spain.
MrKRudd Noble Kevin, but I suggest middle ground would be making our National day the day we become a republic. Let’s make is soon.
MrKRudd That's a great idea but I think people underestimate why people like the 26th of Jan. It's summer and people like drinking in the summer.
MrKRudd I thought you had moved on ?your hanging around like a bad smell,take the hint and go away.
MrKRudd Where would you move it to. Leave it alone
MrKRudd So true. Maybe Morrison was correct. Wasn't too flash for the convicts? Such a great day for First Nations people, convicts & all coming here & probs never see their families again. Sounds like a PERFECT day to commemeorate doesn't it?
MrKRudd What I would like to know is did the first thing that the British did whenever they reached a new land was to kill the people living there. Was Cook a pirate?
MrKRudd Not sure where the mistake occurred but Canada's 'birthday' is 1867, NOT 1876, and you'll recall that the 150th anniversary of Confederation was widely celebrated in 2017.
MrKRudd A concise and yet comprehensive analysis based on historical analysis, thank you Mr Rudd. And your proposal is a great linking of two significant events in our recent history which closes a circle.
MrKRudd Or, were prisoners just 'cheap labour' to carry out essential tasks in the construction & establishment of a new land capable of benefitting from European history?
MrKRudd Perhaps the remains of 60,000 years ago belong to the original inhabitants that were decimated and assimilated by the many waves of migrations from a prehistorical SE Asia? If 60,000 without any evolution, wouldn't that be an evolutionary cul de sac, not something to be lauded?
MrKRudd I commemorate is as a day this country gave my parents feeedom and helped me have the life I have today.
MrKRudd Mabo Day short catchy title that wld make peeps think
MrKRudd I agree that the Mabo decision is the most important date to celebrate AustraliaDay. ...It's the most important recognition since the illegal terra nullius declaration. Celebrating InvasionDay is obscene and hurtful. I want to be able to celebrate on Australia Day! 🖤💛♥️
MrKRudd To celebrate the birth of a nation is to accept the death of a people who’s nation it once was🤔,,,From Aborigines to Indians history shows how those with the guns & thirst for wealth have marched to the “sent “ of money 👁🌍👁
MrKRudd No, let’s change Australia Day to the 1st of January - the day we became a nation. If people actually care about a national holiday, it shouldn’t matter if it’s not a public holiday.
MrKRudd The whole issue is cr*p, my parents CHOSE to live in Australia from the UK, together with Italians, Greeks and so on, their offspring were born here, they call Australia home. The bloody date was chosen for convenience, nothing to do with invasion.
MrKRudd What odd is the never ending, virtue signalling, meaningless dribble that flows out of the sewers of Leftie thought.
MrKRudd
MrKRudd Bloody oath! Ridiculous....
MrKRudd This is how we should be discussing the topic. We don't need shouting down people being 'unAustralian' or inventing false equivalence of colonisers not having a flash day either.
MrKRudd Australia was just a piece of land for 70k+ years. Then the colonials arrived, 200 years later Australia is the 1st world nation that we’re all lucky enough to live in today, including Rudd and many IAs. Sure recognise the sacrifices but don’t smear history with a sh** brush.
MrKRudd According to the radical left it was and invasion, so if thats how they want to play we can say the Aboriginals were conquered fair and square.
MrKRudd Great idea Kevin. I think reconciliation should start by handing back beach properties Noosa. Maybe just those over a value of $17m to start with.
MrKRudd . I celebrate Australia Day because its purpose is to celebrate our unity & national pride. I'm not elebrating the landing of the First Fleet on 26 Jan 1788. I hope the date changes to one relevant to its purpose. Until then, I'll celebrate Australia Day on the date marked. .
MrKRudd This is one initiative of Rudd that I approve and applaud. His previous saying sorry to our indigenous brothers and sisters without restitution is nothing but window dressing but at least it is more than what little Johnno did.
MrKRudd How is doing that equitable?
MrKRudd There will not be any roses to smell if you keep spreading fake information and opprobrium about China when the Super powers started throwing their nukes around.
MrKRudd . The belief that Australia was settled as a prison for convicts is the biggest myth of our history. Convicts were used as slave labour, first to build the colony and then as free labour for the wealthy to clear the land and make their millions. History...
MrKRudd You do realise that many indigenous Australians don’t want 26th Jan changed!!!!
MrKRudd I find it hard to understand why some people passionately argue to keep such a divisive date as a national celebration day. I am appalled that even those that call themselves Christian do not see what’s wrong with celebrating while your neighbour is in misery
MrKRudd Yes, another public holiday in the middle of winter is just what this country needs
MrKRudd Just cancel it. That's what they want.
MrKRudd It doesn't
MrKRudd I thank my British ancestral family every day for coming to Aus. and affording me the life I have now. I have no respect for those who seek to divide the nation and destroy what we have. That includes those who set up altnat.flags, tent embassies and treasonous organisations.
MrKRudd I really wonder why K Rudd continues to live in Australia. A country he has nothing but criticism for.
MrKRudd
MrKRudd Similar thoughts. Federation would be my suggestion. Feels like we are celebrating the navigation achievements of British sailors, not the establishment of a nation.
MrKRudd Spot on! InvasionDay auspol
MrKRudd I think February 29th would be good. One public holiday every four years should just about nail it. And on March 1st during the other three years, we can collectively trudge off to work while cursing our nation's thankless history. LessWhingeMoreToil
MrKRudd Fck off... next!
MrKRudd Oh FFS it does nothing of the kind you dipshits. It commemorates nothing. It celebrates the current nation. This woke nonsense is such a waste of time.
MrKRudd Please MrKRudd set up prisons on Manus and Nauru after he opened the Borders to Australia and let illegals come on boats. Aussies voted Mr Rudd out for a reason and even in 2021 Aussies still dont care what he thinks about anything on the planet auspol UN
MrKRudd So what did Kev do about it while he was in power Nothing ..
MrKRudd We can’t change history. Sorry
MrKRudd With all the talk about Australia Day being considered by some as 'invasion day' let's not overlook the fact that Australian Aboriginals also invaded this land - 50,000 years ago.
MrKRudd Nothing more than a solution to Britain’s internal justice problems. That’s what Settlement was. Nothing more.
MrKRudd Unlike those of Germanic ancestry still living in their Traditional Land of Germany and on foreign lands such as the American 'The Terminator' ashamed of their crimes against humanity. Those of British flora and fauna living on my Fatherland have no shame for their crimes!
MrKRudd It’s a nothing day , just another reason why we are unhappy with our incompetent corrupt Federal Government
MrKRudd How’s about we just get over it and move on.
geoffrey_payne MrKRudd Great idea and a natural follow up to changing the ‘young nation’ line in the anthem!
MrKRudd We used to be a British colony. 1 Jan 1901 we became Australia. Maybe we can ditch the Queen and get a new date.
MrKRudd Hi Kev. Found your marbles.
MrKRudd Only somebody as podgy and pale as Rudd could conceive of Australia Day of marking any time but the end of the Summer school holidays. Mabo Day should have its own holiday.
MrKRudd
MrKRudd On the same day as running an opinion piece that only a quarter want a change of date.
MrKRudd
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