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Post by Yossarian on Jan 28, 2007 19:56:15 GMT -4
We have a public holiday on Australia/Invasion Day. Which means that, unless you work under an AWA (a whole other issue) that you don't have to go to work! Yay! Anyway, there are also public events organised for the day. At Botany Bay (where the Fleet first sailed in) they do some kind of re-enactment-flag raising-monarchist routine. Around Sydney there are fireworks and everyone gets drunk. For indigenous Australians, it's not such a happy day and some tribes conduct mourning-remembrance-protest ceremonies. It's also the day when a kind of honour roll of Australian citizens is declared - sportspeople, doctors, scientists, charity workers and other good types (well, except the sportspeople ) get an official nod for their work from the govt and ostensibly from the Queen. micedvolvo: I nibble on the edges of the freddo until the strawberry filling starts to ooze and then I suck it out before eating the rest of the chocolate. Strawberry freddos forevah!111!!!!
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Deleted
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Oct 1, 2024 3:17:24 GMT -4
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Post by Deleted on Jan 28, 2007 20:14:45 GMT -4
No problems fairfox. Here is my vague summary:
The 26th jan is officially known as Australia Day, and is an official public holiday that celebrates white settlement on the Australian continent. Around the time of the Bicentennial (1988) it was reimagined as a day that represented that the whole of the Australian nation was more than the sum of its parts (ie convicts, free settlers, later waves of immigration etc). (Now people just talk about it in pretty vague terms as a day when we celebrate 'what makes Australia great', which is pretty jingoistic imho.)
However, this popular conception of Australia Day has tended to sideline the indigenous population and usually reduced their contribution to the nation as little more than boomerang-throwing and didgeridoo-playing ornaments. In response to this, Australia Day has more recently been contested by many indigenous communities and refigured as a day of mourning, representing the beginning of Aboriginal dispossession precipitated by the 'invasion' by white europeans who settled in sydney on that day in 1788.
Hence the term 'Invasion Day', which some Australians use to express recognition that the day chosen to celebrate the nation is problematic and does not adequately represent a unifying force in the life of the nation.
So to answer your question...yes, it is controversial holiday, However, the nature of the controversy is not recognised by a great proportion of the population.
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fairfox
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Oct 1, 2024 3:17:24 GMT -4
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Post by fairfox on Jan 28, 2007 20:29:05 GMT -4
OK, that helps my understanding, micedvolvo - I was wondering why a seemingly inflammatory name like 'Invasion Day' would be used but I get that it's not the 'official' name and is used by people trying to recognize the dark side of the day.
I wonder if natives here in Canada protest Canada Day in any way? I don't think so but I wouldn't necessarily know. July 1 as Canada Day is only 40 years old, though, and it isn't an explicit celebration of white settlement.
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Deleted
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Oct 1, 2024 3:17:24 GMT -4
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Post by Deleted on Jan 28, 2007 20:39:58 GMT -4
I'm partial to the white chocolate freddos. And somehow when I was little I got into the habit of eating the extremities first, then the body, then the head last. Ah, youth...I think my five year-old diet consisted of nothing but Freddos, TimTams, the occasional vegemite sandwich, and Lemon & Paeroa. Yeah, I wasn't the healthiest little kid. I'm feeling pretty damn homesick right now (two more months, then I'm homeward bound!), but I do want to wish everyone a happy Australia Day!
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Deleted
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Oct 1, 2024 3:17:24 GMT -4
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Post by Deleted on Jan 28, 2007 21:02:54 GMT -4
Mmm...white chocolate freddos
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Deleted
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Oct 1, 2024 3:17:24 GMT -4
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Post by Deleted on Jan 29, 2007 12:52:13 GMT -4
. . . I'm feeling pretty damn homesick right now (two more months, then I'm homeward bound!), but I do want to wish everyone a happy Australia Day! Join the club. Reading all the talk about the hot Aussie summers, compared to the current temp of -4C isn't helping much either. It's supposed to climb to a high of -3 today. I never imagined I'd miss a Brisbane summer. Anyone want to trade? Two years in northern NJ, less than 30 miles from NYC, lots of shopping centres, and all the Hershey's chocolate you can eat!
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fairfox
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Oct 1, 2024 3:17:24 GMT -4
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Post by fairfox on Jan 29, 2007 18:20:31 GMT -4
It's -24C here. I am more deserving than Beatle. Please trade with me instead. I'm even willing to fight off the drop bears.
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Deleted
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Oct 1, 2024 3:17:24 GMT -4
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Post by Deleted on Jan 29, 2007 18:30:54 GMT -4
It's not the drop bears you've got worry about, it's the hooping snakes that'll get ya.
And Beatle, I just sweltered my way through a Gold Coast night, anytime you want to swap, let me know.
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Post by Yossarian on Jan 29, 2007 18:54:24 GMT -4
Quick poll: yay or nay the apparent re-blossoming of love between Shane and Simone?
My vote: yay. At least that way, 50% of the time he'll be occupied by Simone and won't have quite so many chances to terrorise other females with his text messages and Playboy speedos!
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Deleted
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Oct 1, 2024 3:17:24 GMT -4
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Post by Deleted on Jan 29, 2007 19:29:44 GMT -4
I vote yay if it means that Simone will stop appearing on celebrity reality tv shows. That said, I'm steadying myself for another round of pics of warney in his underpants frolicking with scrubbers in about 3 months time.
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