1y ago

Is the 'Change the Date' movement gathering momentum?

Normally I tune out to this annual debate since it feels so polarised and stale, but the messaging from Woolworths, Cricket Australia, the Australian Open and others this year suggests big companies are concerned about an attitude shift within Australian society. It seems they've decided the inevitable backlash is now worth it because the silent majority has begun leaning in favour of change.

Is this just a natural result of this being the first post-referendum Australia Day or is there a longer-term change unfolding here?

32 comments

There is a longer term change happening here.
I think more and more Australians are starting to feel genuinely ashamed at the idea of celebrating a day/event that is a source of pain and grief for many.
- Eh I feel it’s more most people just don’t care about Australia Day.
  We’re more concerned about having a day off than celebrating someone landing in Sydney.
  
  That's me. Couldn't give a toss about the reason behind it, so do whatever you like. Just make sure we get to keep the day off and I'm down for whatever.
  
  That's part of it, but it's not the end of it. If that were all it was, then Woolworths, Cricket Australia etc, wouldn't be actively avoiding it
- I would say do it on the day we became a nation, like every other country does. I can't remember the exact date but it's early January
- Yeah 100%. You can see the change just in gen z's attitudes towards this. The rallies are also getting bigger each year.
The knuckle-dragging mob mentality is going to take a long time to steer into something approaching an reasonable view on historical injustice.
Arseholes like Dutton and Hanson do not help one little bit.
These companies have entire public relations departments that can see the writing on the wall. The people who want to celebrate Australia day as it currently is are dying out / becoming irrelevant. Millenials will soon be the largest generation. Sure there are still millenials that have no problem celebrating Australia day, but they are increasingly in the minority. Even moreso in gen z.
Personally I don't even know if i think the date should be changed anymore. Maybe it would be better if we embraced Indigenous Australian's experience and treated it as a day of mourning. Essentially, stop cebrating on this day and treat it more like rememberence day. A day where we reflect on the ongoing impacts of colonisation and commit to rectifying injustices. A day of truth telling. I'm happy to go with what Indigenous Australians think is best.
- I've thought for a little while now that we should treat it like ANZAC day. The beginning of the day is reserved for ceremony and respectful reflection, which is followed by gradually more social things, like a community breakfast, then by lunch a more celebratory tone is adopted.
  In this way the day comes round to identifying with all the emotions someone may hold in themselves about this place.
My work let's us swap the day off. With it being on a Friday this year I don't think many are swapping. Plenty did in previous years when it fell mid week. Ends up being a bit ridiculous with everyone taking different days though.
I'm really not attached to it being on the 26th. I think shifting it to always being the last Friday in January or first Friday in February would be better anyway. I reckon most people don't give a shit either way about the actual date and just want a long weekend in summer.
When I was younger it was always a fun day, hottest 100 party and the fireworks in Perth. Hottest 100, I don't even know when they do that and the fireworks have been canned also.
Maybe if a new day is picked then it can go back to being a unifying celebration. Probably not likely though, I think those pushing the divide and conquer thing like having excuses for culture wars. Getting people angry about stuff other than the massive wealth inequality in our country is their priority.
My workplace allows us to swap the Friday public holiday for any other day within one week so that's something new. I'm guessing that it isn't very widespread though
I think there are probably at least 4 groups:
A - don't want a national day.
B - want a national day, but actively want to change the date.
C - want a national day, don't care when it is, even if it is the 26th January.
D - want a national day, and are staunchly opposed to changing the day.
I don't think D has never been a huge chunk of the population; the reason people take that position is for a range of reasons (I suspect one is they see being opposed to people who like B is part of their identity, and otherwise wouldn't care, or maybe they actually like the racist undertones of the date, or they are just conservative and don't like change, and it's been that day all their life).
B is probably growing, but C is the position of apathy. I'd imagine C is probably the largest.
The real question is then how A + B balances out D. I imagine that in some states, there is probably more A + B, but other states have a strong D contingent.
- Well, I'm C , I think it should be on the day we became a nation but it really doesn't matter to me much.
In niche online communities, yes. Among the general population, no.
Edit: obligatory related PBF
- Ah the classic “I was totally going to support X but you were mean to me” argument.
  Always felt like a cop-out to me.
  
  You can call it what you want. But Lemmy does not represent the general populace. Or Reddit. Or Twitter/X. Or Facebook.
  This isn't a real place. And it gets tiresome decade after decade seeing people shocked_pikachhu.jpeg when it turns out their online communities of choice aren't the majority opinion.
I have no idea, i think it should stay the same.
I say this as an Aboriginal Australian.
Australia day is still a day for celebrating Australia amd all thinga great. The only thing the 26th has is they named the settlement.
First fleet arrived before then.
Besides people will complain one way or another no matter what, ans unfortunately it seems everybody wanta something and if you winge enough you get it.
It's certainly being discussed more and more in my circles, and while we're talking about it please check out Pay The Rent and consider making an ongoing commitment!
https://paytherent.net.au

32 comments