The hullabaloo around “Australia Day” started early this year. It was barely the beginning of December 2024 when outrage columns and Sky News Australia video clips were raging about a chain of pubs apparently “banning” Australia Day celebrations. Never mind that these establishments did nothing of the sort. They simply stated that they were not going to be holding Australia Day events themselves – there was never any indication they intended on turning away flag-wearing fools from sinking a lager.
What followed was predictable. Woolworths said it would be reinstating flag merchandise to distract us all from the fact that, along with Coles, they are currently under fire for price gouging during a cost-of-living crisis. Alternative prime minister Peter Dutton has seized the opportunity to build popularity in an election year by making statements that hark back to the good old days of John Howard’s nationalistic culture wars. Federal Labor has been, well, hopeless. Their only real vision for Indigenous rights appears to have been their failed voice referendum, and when it boils down to it, Labor just wish to retain power while polls show they are losing popularity rather than inspiring an electorate with any real vision. Then there was the conservative thinktank the Institute of Public Affairs releasing their polling results that stated folks did not want to change the date of Australia Day, never mind that this is not why people march on 26 January.
