Albo: Don’t change date
Jan 26 best for national day, say Labor leader
AUSTRALIA Day should be celebrated on January 26, according to Anthony Albanese, who says it is an important day to recognise the “good and bad” of the nation’s history.
The neutralising comments follow Finance Minister Simon Birmingham issuing a warning to people who wanted the date moved to “not ruin Australia Day for everybody”.
There is growing support to change the date, which marks when the First Fleet landed, out of respect for Indigenous
Australians. But the federal Opposition Leader maintains that January 26 provides an opportunity to think about the country’s past, as well as its future.
“Australia Day is an important day for us to recognise our history, good and bad,” Mr Albanese said on Sunday.
“It’s an opportunity for us to acknowledge that our history goes back some 60,000 years, and that is a priority for us to celebrate that. We live with the oldest continuous civilisation on the planet. That should be a great source of pride.”
He said he did not want to get into a culture war over the date, adding he was focused on having First Nations people recognised in the constitution through a voice to parliament.
“That is something that this government promised would happen in this term, and we have seen no serious advance on it,” Mr Albanese said.
Senator Birmingham said the day should celebrate all that had been achieved and acknowledge that the nation’s history had not been perfect.
“Let’s do it in a positive way, not one that simply tears or divides us apart,” he said.
Exclusive new YouGov polling has revealed 35 per cent of people want our national day of celebration shifted from January 26 out of respect for Indigenous Australians.
Support for changing the date was the highest in Victoria, with 44 per cent calling for it to be moved. But 56 per cent of all respondents said Australia Day should be kept as January 26.
YouGov surveyed 2297 people nationwide between December and January.