Happy Australia Day!

biko

Australia Day, also known as Anniversary Day and Foundation Day, is the official national day of Australia. Celebrated annually on 26 January, the day commemorates the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788, the unfurling of the British flag at Sydney Cove and the proclamation of British sovereignty over the eastern seaboard of Australia.

Australia Day is an official public holiday in every state and territory of Australia, and is marked by the Order of Australia and Australian of the Year awards, along with an address from the Prime Minister.

Records of the celebration of Australia Day date back to 1808, with Governor Lachlan Macquarie having held the first official celebration of Australia Day in 1818. In 2004, an estimated 7.5 million people attended Australia Day celebrations and functions across the country.

Australia Day is seen as controversial by some historians. Alongside proposals to change the date of Australia Day, there have been significant protests from the Indigenous Australian community. Many Indigenous Australians see Australia Day as a celebration of the destruction of Indigenous culture by British colonialism. Since 1988, "Invasion Day" protests have been held supporting this view.

Mingey

Vegemite Sangers all around!

dSTAR

Thanks for the history lesson biko (not that it was called for or even needed). Indigenous history and politics has been discussed ad nauseam here (and elsewhere) and is better discussed in the proper context. Most of the regular visitors to the Aus/NZ forum have strong views on this matter so I don't see the point in revisiting such a divisive topic with this type of highly politicized and loaded post entering the fray and alienating people.

biko

Yeah I thought that too after copy/paste first paragraph from wiki, that's what it is. Report the post if you like.

Just wanted to say Hi and I miss Australia, Adelaide to be specific.

big b

biko wrote: »

Yeah I thought that too after copy/paste first paragraph from wiki, that's what it is. Report the post if you like.

Just wanted to say Hi and I miss Australia, Adelaide to be specific.

For every friendly hello, there's always an over-zealous scolding.

Strangely (?) the mods don't seem to have a problem with Biko's post.

Mingey

Are we not allowed to talk about the injustices that were caused to the indigenous people here, or is the forum just for celebrating the spoils of colonialism?

big b

Mingey wrote: »

Are we not allowed to talk about the injustices that were caused to the indigenous people here, or is the forum just for celebrating the spoils of colonialism?

well, it is the travel section. As such, I thought jumping down Biko's throat was inappropriate.
Sometimes molehills > mountains though.

Mingey

Yeah, but why would the mods have a problem with Biko's post? Surely this is the best place for it?

Edit: Oh, I see. Sorry, I thought you implied that they should. Never mind. Ehh lovely weather there in Aussie, isn't it?

Zambia

biko wrote: »

Australia Day, also known as Anniversary Day and Foundation Day, is the official national day of Australia. Celebrated annually on 26 January, the day commemorates the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788, the unfurling of the British flag at Sydney Cove and the proclamation of British sovereignty over the eastern seaboard of Australia.

Australia Day is an official public holiday in every state and territory of Australia, and is marked by the Order of Australia and Australian of the Year awards, along with an address from the Prime Minister.

Records of the celebration of Australia Day date back to 1808, with Governor Lachlan Macquarie having held the first official celebration of Australia Day in 1818. In 2004, an estimated 7.5 million people attended Australia Day celebrations and functions across the country.

Australia Day is seen as controversial by some historians. Alongside proposals to change the date of Australia Day, there have been significant protests from the Indigenous Australian community. Many Indigenous Australians see Australia Day as a celebration of the destruction of Indigenous culture by British colonialism. Since 1988, "Invasion Day" protests have been held supporting this view.

Happy Australia day to you too Biko

dSTAR

biko wrote: »

Yeah I thought that too after copy/paste first paragraph from wiki, that's what it is. Report the post if you like.

Just wanted to say Hi and I miss Australia, Adelaide to be specific.

Hello biko. Fair dinkum mate

Zambia232 like myself and others have been down this path already. It has resulted in infractions and threads being closed down. Anyways lets forget it.

Seriously you miss Adelaide. :eek:

Surely this is a mistake?

watna

Previous threads on indiginous people (actually they were unrelated threads that descended in to madness) got out of hand and were locked and people banned. The last "what are you doing for Australia day" thread was an example of this.

Therefore discussion on such things are monitored and are not tolerated at all if they arise off topic from another thread. You can already see from Mingey's post that this topic causes argumentative posts from the offset.

I see nothing wrong with Biko's post or a rational discussion on the topic in general. I do have a problem if the discussion turns in to abuse and flaming.

biko

I've spent time in NT and SA and was loving it. Guess I like the desolation of the outback.
Adelaide is just the right size for me too. Sydney is too busy/big.

The_B_Man

Went to see the fireworks in perth. THey were pretty cool. I also saw the Sydney new years fireworks and thought they were better, but I was on me own on that one. Everyone else thought the Perth Australia Day fireworks were better than Sydney New Years ones. I dunno. I was sober for Australia Day, and drunk for New Years. Maybe that had something to do with it....

MonicaBing

biko wrote: »

I've spent time in NT and SA and was loving it. Guess I like the desolation of the outback.
Adelaide is just the right size for me too. Sydney is too busy/big.

Surely you are jestin sir!!!!! Take a trip next time out west to perth, and take a trip to Esperance...The most beau part of oz, if you ask me, i know you weren't but still, there you go...:D

Xavi6

Went in to the Perth fireworks myself. Wasn't too shabby considering that once you see one set of fireworks you've seen them all.

Got there at 4pm after being told it'd be jammers. I coulda got there 10 minutes before hand and still got a good spot.

The_B_Man

we turned up and sat down. as we sat down, the first fireworks went off! we got there at like a minute to 9! we were sittin in the grass under the high rise buildings. cant remember the name of the park, but ye, we had no problems at all. had a big open space to ourselves!

Zambia

watna wrote: »

Previous threads on indiginous people (actually they were unrelated threads that descended in to madness) got out of hand and were locked and people banned. The last "what are you doing for Australia day" thread was an example of this.

Therefore discussion on such things are monitored and are not tolerated at all if they arise off topic from another thread. You can already see from Mingey's post that this topic causes argumentative posts from the offset.

I see nothing wrong with Biko's post or a rational discussion on the topic in general. I do have a problem if the discussion turns in to abuse and flaming.

It didn't exactly turn into Madness now Watna

That said you where 100% right to close it