Conservative politicians stoking Australia Day debate online with paid ads, analysis finds (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 7 months ago by trk@aussie.zone to c/australianpolitics@aussie.zone

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Conservative politicians are dominating Facebook advertising about changing the date of Australia Day, analysis shows.

After Woolworths announced last week that it would no longer stock Australia Day merchandise due to declining demand, the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, condemned the move as an “outrage” born from the retailer’s “woke agenda” and said most Australians likely thought the same.

Now several conservative politicians are paying for advertisements on social media platforms lobbying against changing the date.

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[-] Nath@aussie.zone 8 points 7 months ago

Every year without fail, there's all this noise about Jan 26th in the two weeks leading up to the date, then the conversation fizzles out again until next year. And then we do it again next year.

What even is the debate? Polls have repeatedly shown that while we absolutely want a day to celebrate the country, we aren't particularly attached to January 26th. There is no real significance to Australia for the date, it's the day the English arrived in Sydney. At best, it could be called "Sydney Day".

We can't have it on Foundation day, that's already a public holiday (yes, the holiday matters to us). Personally, I'd vote for a date in Winter. There's presently a big gap between June and September where we would welcome a public holiday. First Friday in August would work nicely. I like the idea of it always being a Friday because some people already have Mondays off and they miss most of the long long weekend bonuses.

[-] unionagainstdhmo@aussie.zone 3 points 7 months ago

I was thinking 9th of May to commemorate the first sitting of the Australian Parliament

[-] spudsrus@aussie.zone 1 points 7 months ago

But go a day earlier for m8

[-] Zagorath@aussie.zone 3 points 7 months ago

This is quite literally the only date that isn’t already a public holiday that I would argue against. It’s such a dumb basis for a holiday. I’d rather have a day chosen at random than be picked because of a bad pun.

While we’re at it, Star Wars Day is 25th May, the anniversary of the original film’s debut in theatres. It’s not "may the fourth be with you".

[-] spudsrus@aussie.zone 1 points 7 months ago

¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

Fair call I guess. I don't really care one way or another. But if you wanted to move the existing date rather than making a second it seems like a choice that might prove popular with people who don't want the date to move currently.