Editorial: It’s no surprise the anti-Australia Day crowd are outnumbered
Every year, a tiny cohort of mostly inner-city types raises a ruckus against Australia Day. They want it abandoned, or the date changed, or the name dropped. But now the proof that the anti-Australia Day crowd is outnumbered by Australia Day supporters.
Opinion
Don't miss out on the headlines from Opinion. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Every year, a tiny cohort of mostly inner-city types raises a ruckus against Australia Day. They want it abandoned, or the date changed, or the name dropped.
And every year a massive majority of Australians affirm their belief in both our nation and our national day by celebrating with friends and family.
In fact, once you venture beyond various councils that believe their role extends beyond garbage collection and pothole repairs, it is as though no Australia Day debate exists at all. Throughout suburbs, towns and regional cities, Australia Day is a time for barbecues, backyard cricket and flags.
Barely anybody speaks of opposition to Australia Day, because it simply does not register in the broader community.
This divide is usually noted anecdotally. But we now have proof that the anti-Australia Day crowd is outnumbered by Australia Day supporters.
Exclusive polling from Sydney firm Research Now shows 75 per cent of people want Australia Day to stay exactly where it is, on January 26 every year.
As some may expect, the youngest of the 1000 people surveyed were the most likely to call for a date change.
But even among those in the 18 to 24 age bracket, a majority of 55 per cent backed Australia Day’s current date. Nearly 40 per cent didn’t have an opinion on Australia Day either way.
Despite all the noise and misinformation in recent years about Australia Day being a celebration of genocide or white violence only 8 per cent of young people actually want the date shifted.
Perhaps this shouldn’t come as such a surprise. Interest in Anzac Day and Australia’s military history and traditions has grown considerably among young people in recent decades.
Where once it was felt by many that Anzac Day would diminish as older Diggers left us, young Australians have ensured that Anzac Day remains powerfully well-observed.
“Young people are not drawn to the divisive argument of opposing our national day,” notes the IPA’s Dr Bella d’Abrera, who commissioned the poll.
“26 January marks the foundation of modern Australia and it should to be celebrated by all Australians.
“Rather than being ashamed of it, we should be proud of it.”
Indeed we should. And we are.
COPPING A TOMIC REACTION
Australian athletes are by nature extremely competitive, so occasional disputes even between teammates should not come as a complete shock.
But the feud between Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt and player Bernard Tomic seems to be in another category entirely.
On Tuesday Tomic revealed that two years ago he’d said he’d “knock him out” if approached by Hewitt.
For his part, Hewitt is taking a milder path.
“I had a bit of a laugh actually,” he said. “It’s Bernie being Bernie, especially after a loss.”
Ouch. Maybe he’s not being so mild after all.
BOOM SHOULD NOT GO BUST
Sydney is in the middle of a construction boom, and much of that boom involves apartment towers.
This means builders, developers, planning authorities and the government must learn as much as possible from the ongoing Opal Tower fiasco.
There is no shortage of material. Many factors to be taken into consideration are found in an independent report commissioned by the government.
Although obviously specific to the Opal Tower building, the report points to areas of potential concern throughout much of the construction industry.
Professors Mark Hoffman and John Carter, the interim report’s authors, have not yet made a final judgment.
“While we have isolated the probable cause to localised structural design and construction issues, we need more information to make definitive conclusions about the cause or causes of the damage,” the professors said yesterday.
Beyond this point, the government must consider how regulatory bodies may improve their role in future Sydney building projects.
Life’s a beach for Albo: Savvy PM feathers his own nest
The optics, as they say in politics, aren’t great, particularly for a bloke seeking to renew his lease on the Lodge in the middle of a cost of living and housing crisis, writes James Morrow.
Cuddly Albo now a torn and tattered teddy bear
‘God smiles on new governments,’ a respected former ALP leader once mused. Two years later, that electoral god is no longer smiling on Anthony Albanese, writes Tim Blair.