Australian national holidays
Many of our public holidays are obscure or meaningless and should be replaced. Although a lot of positive effort has gone into making Australia Day a significant occasion it comprises an odd mixture of citizenship awards and wet t-shirt competitions.
We are the only country in the world that celebrates the founding of a prison. The origin of the day is exclusive to New South Wales and insults some of the indigenous population.
At least Australia Day has some meaning. Few however, will argue that the Queen’s Birthday deserves to be retained as a national holiday.
Even those who support the constitutional monarchy have to acknowledge that the holiday is not formally celebrated and falls several months distant from the Queen’s actual birthday.
Republican critics of these facts should note that Labor Day is equally meaningless. Few people know that it commemorates the eight-hour day, few people work an eight-hour day and hardly anyone formally celebrates it.
The origins of Boxing Day are so obscure that academics can’t even agree.
The only non-religious holidays which hold down their places on the calendar are New Year’s Day and Anzac Day.
I’d like to propose a revamped series of national holidays that we can all understand, respect and celebrate.
New Year’s Day should also be known as Federation Day because that’s what it is. Federation is arguably our first and greatest national achievement. We already party on that day and it won’t require much imagination to rebadge the celebration. The New Year honours become the Federation honours, etc.
Boxing Day should be replaced by a holiday on December 31 to enable a two-day celebration of the New Year and Federation. That will retain the traditional week in which many people combine annual leave with public holidays between Christmas and New Year.
I propose that two new holidays be created called Legends Day and Heritage Day.
Legends Day can commemorate the country’s indigenous culture and human achievement since white settlement. The date should fall in early March to replace Labor Day.
Heritage Day should be observed to commemorate all that’s good about our history with a focus on the pioneers and explorers. To replace the Queen’s birthday it should be observed on June 9 or the nearest Monday.
That’s the date Matthew Flinders completed the first circumnavigation of Australia.
Perhaps Australia Day should stay, but like it was until recent years it should be no more than a good excuse for a long weekend.
The effort invested by some in its celebration should be redirected towards Federation Day or one of the new suggested holidays.
Whatever your opinion, and whether you’re at a community breakfast on Friday or ogling wet t-shirts, happy Australia Day!
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