Originally Posted by
tail wheel
It does. And in recent years descendants of the Melanesian South Sea Islander labourers are also being recognized at Aboriginal. Wonder how long before they want their own flag?
There are 798,400 Australians that identify as Aboriginal, 3.1% of the Australian population. Of that 3.1% of the population less than 15% (approximately 120,000 or less than 0.5% of the Australian population) are agitating for change.
Some recent polls have shown
55% to 33% support from the overall population to changing the date other
polls 60% in favour of a change or establishment of a separate day for indigenous recognition. A bit more than 0.5%.
While there are polls in the opposite direction, what it shows is opinion on the day is divided and Jan 26 is not a day of national unity as it's supporters claim it should be.
But there's a second issue. It's not really polls for or against a date change, it's the fact that there is a growing lack of interest in January 26th being seen as a day of national celebration. Businesses across the board have basically stopped all recognition of the date, even accounting for the pandemic there was a distinct lack of interest in those I know to hold Australia day celebrations, the number of flags on cars etc seemed far less. So while a small majority may support keeping Jan 26 as the national day, that may just be limited to the AOTY announcements and some citizenship ceremonies. This
poll last year showed 53% saw Jan 26 as "just another public holiday" as opposed to 29% "a day to do something to celebrate Australia".
So whilst the date may remain the same the nation's attitude to how they view the day is shifting. Especially amongst the youth. I sort of see the current situation like the SSM debate. That started out as a minority position, but when prominent people and businesses made the case the opinions polls swung around quite rapidly. And with a larger support for changing the date amongst the youth then there's an air of inevitability over the whole thing.
I'm not sure where you got that the majority of Indigenous people don't support a change to Australia Day, polling shows a
majority of Indigenous people in support of a change as far back as 2017 before attitudes began to shift in the overall population.
Respected leaders? Two conservative aligned pollies, and Noel Pearson who actually in that message supports an expansion of the current date to Jan 25 to mark the sovereignty of Indigenous people over the land of Australia. Plenty of
other respected Indigenous leaders have been calling for a date change.
A change to the date of Australia Day, a change of National Flag, or a change of method of Government may well be contrary to the wishes and alienate the vast majority of Australians, of all races, creed, or political persuasion.
Well almost
2/3rds in support of a flag change recently.
One would hope that the wishes of a majority of all Australians and a majority of those that identify as Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and South Sea Islander are respected.
Yes, I hope so too......