Rita Panahi: Miserable activists trashing Australia Day
WE should not allow a small but loud group of self-loathing Australians to trash our national day, writes Rita Panahi.
Rita Panahi
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THE attack on Australia Day from a tiny but loud minority of miserable activists is as tiresome as it is misguided.
The fallacious decision by the City of Yarra to stop acknowledging Australia Day has managed to unite the great majority of the country.
Australians overwhelmingly embrace our national day and do not want it shifted from January 26, despite what you hear from whiny activists in the media, academia and other publicly funded institutions.
There is no appetite for the distorted black armband view that seeks to paint this country as a racist nation built on genocide.
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Struggling Leftist publication The Guardian commissioned a national poll earlier this year to determine people’s attitude to Australia Day.
The findings couldn’t be clearer; 85 per cent wanted to keep Australia Day on January 26 with a similar number against any efforts to rename the day.
For migrants the number was even higher with 87 per cent in favour of the status quo.
Even among indigenous Australians, only 31 per cent felt negative about Australia Day, while 53 per cent supported changing the date.
Given the biased media coverage, you could be forgiven for thinking that every indigenous Australian was vehemently against the national day and in favour of changing the name and date of the celebration.
It’s interesting that migrants are even more protective of Australia Day and all it represents than those born here.
Meanwhile, we have clownish councillors dropping all references to Australia Day based on an online survey of ‘88 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders’ plus another 281 people polled in a street survey, the majority of whom were against the council’s divisive actions.
Yet Labor councillor Mi-Li Chen Yi Mei, thinks many will come to support Yarra Council’s decision.
“I think branding January 26 is an important move because it’s not inclusive,” she said.
“Sometimes I think it’s important to realise that it takes a little courage to change and make reform.”
It’s also important not to mistake weapon grade idiocy with “courage”.
Councillors with delusions of grandeur who insist on grandstanding on national and international issues are neglecting their core responsibilities.
Local government has no business delving into contentious issues from indigenous affairs to same-sex marriage to border protection policies.
If councillors want to push agendas outside the purview of local government then they should run for state or federal parliament.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is right to repudiate the councillors for attacking Australian values.
“Yarra council is using a day that should unite Australians to divide Australians,” he said.
“I recognise Australia Day, and its history, is complex for many indigenous Australians but the overwhelming majority of Australians believe the 26th of January is the day and should remain our national day.”
Australia like every other country in the world has shameful episodes in its past but that is no reason not to celebrate all that we are today; a successful, tolerant and free society.
For most of us Australia Day is one spent with family reflecting on how fortunate we are to be living in this corner of the world.
We should not allow a small but loud group of self-loathing Australians to trash our national day.
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