"In 2001 Prime Minister John Howard stated that he acknowledged Aboriginal concerns with the date, but that it was nevertheless a significant day in Australia's history, and thus he was in favour of retaining the current date. He also noted that 1 January, which was being discussed in light of the Centenary of Federation, was inappropriate as it coincided with New Year's Day. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd gave a ""straightforward no"" to a change of date, speaking in response to Mick Dodson's suggestion to reopen the debate. The Leader of the Opposition, Malcolm Turnbull, echoed Rudd's support of 26 January,"
"of Australia Day as the national day of Australia, and in the years after its creation, several dates have been proposed for its celebration and, at various times, the possibility of moving Australia Day to an alternative date has been mooted. Some reasons put forward are that the current date, celebrating the foundation of the Colony of New South Wales, lacks national significance; that the day falls on school holidays which limits the engagement of schoolchildren in the event; and that it fails to encompass members of the indigenous community and some others who perceive the day as commemorating the"
"needs of the colonizer. Presently, there are continued debates and protests occurring nationally to change the date or name of ‘Australia Day’, which presently falls on the 26th of January. In Indigenous culture, the 26th of January marks ‘Invasion Day’ – the day in which the British flag was raised on Australian soil. There are calls to change the date entirely, due to the traumatising nature of the day for Indigenous Australians, as well as recommendations to change the name to ‘Survival Day’, to acknowledge the mistreatment and displacement of Indigenous communities. In line with these calls, Melbourne’s Yarra Council"
"Western Australia Day as part of a series of law changes recognising Aboriginal Australians as the original inhabitants of Western Australia. Western Australia Day Western Australia Day (formerly known as Foundation Day) is a public holiday in Western Australia, celebrated on the first Monday in June each year to commemorate the founding of the Swan River Colony in 1829. Because of the celebration of Western Australia Day, WA does not celebrate the Queen's Birthday Holiday in June, as do the other Australian states; it is held in September or October instead. HMS ""Challenger"", under Captain Charles Fremantle, anchored off Garden"
"when this occurs, so no additional public holiday is given by law. However an extra day is usually proclaimed by the minister, so as to have a steady number of public holidays each year. In the year 2038, Anzac Day will coincide with Easter Sunday. Nationally, Australia Day was originally celebrated on 30 July 1915 Recorded celebrations of the 26 January date back to 1808 in Australia, and in 1818, Governor Lachlan Macquarie held the first official celebration of Australia Day. 26 January was chosen because it is the day of the establishment of the first British settlement at Port"
"Western Australia Day Western Australia Day (formerly known as Foundation Day) is a public holiday in Western Australia, celebrated on the first Monday in June each year to commemorate the founding of the Swan River Colony in 1829. Because of the celebration of Western Australia Day, WA does not celebrate the Queen's Birthday Holiday in June, as do the other Australian states; it is held in September or October instead. HMS ""Challenger"", under Captain Charles Fremantle, anchored off Garden Island on 25 April 1829. Fremantle officially claimed the western part of Australia for Britain on 2 May. The merchant vessel"
"of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps who landed at Gallipoli, on that same day in 1915, during World War I. The Christian festivals of Easter and Christmas are public holidays in Australia. Christmas Day, 25 December, falls during the Southern Hemisphere summer. Labour Day is also a public holiday, but on different days throughout the nation. The Queen's Birthday is generally observed on the second Monday in June, except in Western Australia, where it usually is observed in September or October to move it away from Western Australia Day. On the Queen's Birthday holiday, as on Australia Day,"
"national day of unity and celebration was looked for. It was not until 1935 that all Australian states and territories adopted use of the term ""Australia Day"" to mark the date, and not until 1994 that the date was consistently marked by a public holiday on that day by all states and territories. In contemporary Australia, the holiday is marked by the presentation of the Australian of the Year Awards on Australia Day Eve, announcement of the Australia Day Honours list and addresses from the Governor-General and the Prime Minister. It is an official public holiday in every state and"
"as Australia Day appearing to grow stronger, Australians are looking for an alternative date and National Wattle Day has been proposed. The Golden Wattle is Australia's national floral emblem; but in addition each Australian state has its own floral emblem. Wattle Day Wattle Day is a day of celebration in Australia on the first day of September each year, which is the official start of the Australian spring. This is the time when many ""Acacia"" species (commonly called wattles in Australia), are in flower. So, people wear a sprig of the flowers and leaves to celebrate the day. Although the"
"Australia Day is held on the first Sunday of March every year and encourages people to clean up their local areas. Any person can register a place they plan to clean up on the Clean Up Australia website and others can join them there. Activities on the day include removing large items such as car bodies from water ways and the collection of general waste lying around. Clean Up Australia Day was first held in January 1989. The idea was born out of an Australian Bicentenary event, ""Clean-Up Lake Macquarie"", which was instigated in 1987 by Ivan Welsh as Mayor"
"Jackson by Captain Arthur Phillip in 1788. It was made a public holiday in New South Wales in 1836, and Victoria adopted the day as a public holiday in 1931. The 26 January commenced to be recognised by all states and territories as Australia Day in 1946. Australia Day has been celebrated as a national public holiday on 26 January since 1994. Since 1960, the winner of the Australian of the Year award is announced by the Prime Minister on the eve of Australia Day (25 Jan). Labour Day commemorates the achievements of the Australian labour movement. The celebration of"
"Australian Citizenship Day Australian Citizenship Day is celebrated each year on 17 September. Managed by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP), Australian Citizenship Day is an opportunity for all Australian citizens, whether by birth or by choice, to reflect on the meaning and importance of their citizenship. The day is used as an opportunity to think about what unites all Australians, to take pride in Australia’s democratic values and to celebrate the role citizens play in shaping the nation. The Australian Government introduced Australian Citizenship Day in 2001 in response to a recommendation by the Australian Citizenship Council"
"""My view is that it is much more successful now than it's ever been."" A September 2017 poll conducted for ""The Guardian"" revealed that only 26% of Australians supported changing the date of Australia Day, while a January 2018 poll conducted by The Australia Institute found that 37% believed the current date was offensive and 56% do not mind what day it is held. A January 2017 Guardian poll found that 68% of Australians felt positive about Australia Day, 19% were indifferent and 7% had mixed feelings, with 6% feeling negative about Australia Day. Among Indigenous Australians, however, only 23%"
"Wattle Day Wattle Day is a day of celebration in Australia on the first day of September each year, which is the official start of the Australian spring. This is the time when many ""Acacia"" species (commonly called wattles in Australia), are in flower. So, people wear a sprig of the flowers and leaves to celebrate the day. Although the national floral emblem of Australia is a particular species, named the golden wattle (""Acacia pycnantha""), any acacia can be worn to celebrate the day. The day was originally intended to promote patriotism for the new nation of Australia:""Wattle Days emerged"
"Australia east of the 135th meridian east between the latitudes of 10°37'S and 43°39'S, which included most of New Zealand except for the southern part of South Island. The First Fleet of 11 vessels carried over a thousand settlers, including 778 convicts (192 women and 586 men). A few days after arrival at Botany Bay the fleet moved to the more suitable Port Jackson where Phillip established a settlement at the place he named Sydney Cove (in honour of the Secretary of State, Lord Sydney) on 26 January 1788. This date later became Australia's national day, Australia Day. The colony"
"Flag Day (Australia) In Australia, Australian National Flag Day is celebrated on 3 September. It commemorates the day in 1901 on which the Australian National Flag was first flown. On that day Prime Minister Edmund Barton announced the winners of the official 1901 Federal Flag Design Competition. A large flag, , was flown over the dome of the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne. On 28 August 1996, the Governor-General of Australia, Sir William Deane, issued a proclamation that officially established 3 September as Australian National Flag Day. Australian National Flag Day is not a public holiday. The idea of an"
"spirits that inhabit the land and animals. European settlement introduced Indigenous Australians to Christianity, especially through ""missions"". There was a wide range of experiences of the missions by Aboriginal people. Australia's calendar of public holiday festivals begins with New Year's Day. This is also the day upon which the Australian Federation officially came into being, however the national day, Australia Day, is celebrated on 26 January, the anniversary of British colonisation. Anzac Day, 25 April is another day strongly associated with Australian nationhood, however it more particularly commemorates Australians who fought in wars and is named to honour the soldiers"
"Melbourne Day Melbourne Day is an annual celebration to mark the founding of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, on 30 August 1835. Melbourne was settled on 30 August 1835 by a party of free settlers from Van Diemen's Land. The party was led by John Lancey aboard the schooner ""Enterprize"", and was funded by the businessman John Pascoe Fawkner. The settlement followed a treaty with the indigenous Aboriginal group, the Wurundjeri of the Kulin nation alliance, which was negotiated by John Batman on behalf of the Port Phillip Association. Melbourne differs from Australia's other early colonial cities, in that it was"
"Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales and South Australia. In Victoria and Tasmania, it is the second Monday in March (though the latter calls it Eight Hours Day). In Western Australia, Labour Day is the first Monday in March. In the Northern Territory and Queensland it is called May Day and occurs on the first Monday in May. It is on the fourth Monday of March in the territory of Christmas Island. The first march for a nine-hour day by the labour movement occurred in Melbourne on 21 April 1856. On this day stonemasons and building workers on building sites"
"Australia Day (Piracy parody). The video compared the celebration of Australia Day (Jan 26), which marks the arrival of the First Fleet, to a number of infamous events in history. The events depicted include Nazi's ""Final Solution"", dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Sep 11 attacks on the Twin Towers. The video was released as part of the Change the Date campaign (#changethedate) which calls for changing the date of Australia Day by Aboriginal, Torres Straight Islander and wider community groups.""Many believe celebrating on January 26 is insensitive as the arrival of the First Fleet marked the beginning"
"Anzac Day in Queensland Anzac Day is a day of remembrance in Queensland, Australia. It is a public holiday held on 25 April each year. The date is significant as the Australian and New Zealand troops (the ANZACs) first landed at Gallipoli in World War I on 25 April 1915. Anzac Day observance in Australia did not begin as a government initiative, nor was it instigated by returned services associations. Indeed, in the lead up to 25 April 1916, the date of the first anniversary of the landing, acting Prime Minister George Pearce was less than enthusiastic about the event,"
"National Sorry Day National Sorry Day is an annual event that has been held in Australia on 26 May, since 1998, to remember and commemorate the mistreatment of the country's Aboriginal People. During the 20th century, Australian government policies resulted in a ""Stolen Generation"", described by John Torpey as ""Aboriginal children separated, often forcibly, from their families in the interest of turning them into white Australians"". On 26 May 1997, the ""Bringing Them Home"" report was tabled in Parliament. The date 26 May carries great significance for the Stolen Generations, as well as for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities,"
"released naming new members of the Order of Australia and other Australian honours. This occurs on the date observed in the Eastern States, not the date observed in Western Australia. The Queen's Birthday weekend and Empire Day, 24 May, were long the traditional times for public fireworks displays in Australia. Although they still occur, the tradition has recently been overshadowed by larger New Year's Eve fireworks, as the sale of fireworks to the public was banned by the states in the 1980s, and in the ACT as of 24 August 2009. Christmas is observed on 25 December each year to"
"nationhood. Australia's annual holiday to remember its war dead is held on ANZAC Day, 25 April, each year, the date of the first landings at Gallipoli in 1915. The choice of date is often mystifying to non-Australians; it was after all, an allied invasion that ended in military defeat. Bill Gammage has suggested that the choice of 25 April has always meant much to Australians because at Gallipoli, ""the great machines of modern war were few enough to allow ordinary citizens to show what they could do"". In France, between 1916 and 1918, ""where almost seven times as many (Australians)"
"date should be changed. However, support for changing the date amongst the Australian population is low, with a 2017 poll conducted for ""The Guardian"" finding only 15% of the total population supports changing the date. The same poll found that most indigenous Australians want a date and name change of Australia Day, with only 23% saying they felt positive about Australia Day. On 13 May 1787 a fleet of 11 ships, which came to be known as the First Fleet, was sent by the British Admiralty from England to New Holland. Under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip, the fleet"
"and supporters, many of whom regard Australia Day as ""Invasion Day"". Australian hip hop duo A.B. Original and their anti-Australia Day single ""January 26"" were instrumental in drawing support to the cause. Triple J responded to the campaign in September 2016, announcing a review over whether the date of the Hottest 100 should be changed. The review of the date continued into 2017, including consultation with Reconciliation Australia, the National Congress of Australia's First Peoples, and the National Australia Day Council, while 2016's Hottest 100 was held on Australia Day without change. In August 2017, Triple J launched a survey"
"and New Years Day are national public holidays in Australia (with the exception of South Australia, where Proclamation Day is celebrated on 26 December instead). Two major sporting events traditionally commence on the day after Christmas Day in Australia: the Boxing Day Test cricket test match, and the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. A popular tradition celebrated in Adelaide is the Adelaide Christmas Pageant. This parade is the largest of its kind in the world, attracting crowds of over 400,000 people. Begun in 1933, the pageant is staged in early November every year, usually on a Saturday morning, marking the"
"was published until 1909. The other orders were announced on the King´s birthday in November). Australia has discontinued New Year Honours, as it now announces its honours on Australia Day, 26 January, and the Queen's Official Birthday holiday, in early June. The Australia Day honours were established in 1975 to replace the New Year honours in Australia. The list is issued on 26 January every year. Birthday Honours are part of the celebration of the reigning monarch's official birthday in each realm. The awards are presented by the reigning monarch or head of state, currently Queen Elizabeth II, or her"
"to the outgoing Australians of the Year with songs chosen by the previous Australians of the Year. This was followed by the Australian of the Year Awards ceremony. Once the Awards ceremony was complete, the concert continued with each artist performing a full set of music. In August 2016 the National Australia Day Council announced that the Australia Celebrates Live has been cancelled from 2017. Australia Day Live Concert Australia Day Live was a concert on Federation Mall, the lawns of Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, that was hosted each year on 25 January. The concert, first launched in 2004,"
"As Western Australia celebrates Western Australia Day (formerly known as Foundation Day) on the first Monday in June, the Governor of Western Australia each year proclaims the day on which the state will observe the Queen's Birthday, based on school terms and the Perth Royal Show. There is no firm rule to determine this date, though it is usually the last Monday of September or the first Monday of October. In 2012, Queensland celebrated the holiday in October, as the June holiday was reserved to mark Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee as Queen of Australia, after which the holiday has reverted"
"Mourning before Australia Day 1938 in Sydney by the AAPA and around 100 further Aboriginal people made significant impact on the national conversation and triggered an invitation for Indigenous leaders to meet with Prime Minister Joseph Lyons. The message to the churches got through too. Certainly, some churches were observing the day by January 1940 and it was nationally observed by 1946 at the latest. By 1957, the leaders of the movement decided to change the date from January to July. The National Aborigines Day Observance Committee (NADOC) formed and the first Sunday in July became a day of remembrance"
"Picnic Day (Australian holiday) Picnic Day is a public holiday in the Northern Territory of Australia which takes place every year on the first Monday of August. Picnic Day events in the Northern Territory date back to the late 1800s. They were held in a variety of locations such as Adelaide River, Brunette Downs Station and Glencoe Paddock at differing times of year. A regular annual Union Picnic Day or Trade Picnic Day was observed at Adelaide River by railway employees working on the North Australia Railway. The date of the first event is not known. The event included Public"
"Australian of the Year The Australian of the Year is an award conferred on an Australian citizen by the National Australia Day Council, a not-for-profit Australian Governmentowned social enterprise. Since 1960 the award for the Australian of the Year has been bestowed as part of the celebrations surrounding Australia Day (26 January), during which time it has grown steadily in significance to become one of the nation's pre-eminent awards. The Australian of the Year announcement has become a notable part of the annual Australia Day celebrations. The official announcement has grown to become a public event, and the Canberra ceremony"