What is Australia Day?
British settlement/invasion began in Australia on 26 January 1788.
A survey of 5,000 people in Australia showed that 60% want to keep Australia Day on 26th January.
74% of those aged over 75, and 70% of those aged 55 to 75, feel the date should remain as is, as recognised for over 200 years.
But 53% of a younger generation, (millennials aged 19 to 35 born between 1986 and 2002) think that date is wrong.
An example of the reasoning of a millenium: I am one of the Millenials who thinks we should change.
I have yet to hear a good reason for why the date should be the 26th. I usually just hear defenses of “we shouldn’t have to change it”, and never “this is the right day for this reason”.
What is Australia Day, the 26th January every year? From the above, it appears that some people are unaware of the original reason for that date. I wonder how many others do know?
On 26 January 1788, Captain Arthur Phillip guided a fleet of 11 British ships carrying convicts to the colony of New South Wales, effectively founding Australia.
On 26 January 1818, an official holiday was declared marking the 30th anniversary of British settlement in Australia.
On 26 January 1949, the Nationality and Citizenship Act was passed. This Act established Australian citizenship for people who met eligibility requirements, rather than being identified as subjects of Britain.
Jacinta Yangapi Nampijinpa Price, an Indigenous leader who supports keeping 26 January as Australia Day, observes that 26 January 1949 marked the beginning of the Nationality and Citizenship Act (1948), which created an Australian citizenship and the conditions by which it could be acquired. (Indigenous people were implicitly included in the act in the category of ‘natural-born’ Australians.)
What the history of Australia Day can tell us about the date
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/australia-day
https://theconversation.com/60-of-australians-want-to-keep-australia-day-on-january-26-but-those-under-35-disagree-175503
