Originally Posted by
Lookleft
Very true but all that came about on 1 January 1901 when a bunch of separate colonies became a federation. Its also what the national flag represents. How many people actually know what the big white star on the flag represents? Lets celebrate that as Australia Day and gazette the third Monday in January as the public holiday. That is the ideals that the Australians fought and died for. All January 26 represents is when a bunch of convicts and their military guards finally got off the boat in the name of an English King and got drunk. If you want to get rid of the Union Jack off the flag and become a Republic then 26 January has to go as well. If we do become a Republic then make that the national holiday and make it a date other than 26 January.
There's another fact I recently learned about the "tradition" of Australia Day on the 26th of January. The 26th has only been the official public holiday in all states and territories from 1994. Before then it was common for the public holiday to be on a Monday.
Maybe make the holiday the last Monday in January so it's a long weekend before school goes back.