Editorial
Australia Day roars back into favour in wake of Voice referendum
The surge in recent support for January 26 as Australia’s national day suggests Australians have shed their shyness over openly expressing their views on divisive social issues.
The latest survey conducted for the Herald by research company Resolve Strategic shows support for January 26 has rocketed from 47 to 61 per cent over the past two years in the wake of the October 2023 Indigenous Voice to parliament referendum.
The findings mark a major sinking in sentiment across the electorate after the referendum. With the federal government convinced of strong momentum for the Voice, 39 per cent of voters wanted to change the date when asked in January 2023, but that had slipped to 29 per cent in November 2023, and dropped to 24 per cent this week.
Fifty-one per cent of Labor voters backed January 26, with 78 per cent endorsement from Coalition supporters. January 26’s popularity differed sharply according to age: only 35 per cent of younger voters – those aged 18 to 34 – supported it, while 79 per cent of the over 55s were fans.
Australia Day is supposed to be a moment for celebrating national unity, once valued by most. But it has been beset by years of bickering, faux gestures – Woolworths vetoed stocking Australia Day merchandise only to back down this year – and demands to change the date and drop citizenship ceremonies on the day.
To some extent, the Albanese government has been hoisted on its own good intentions on the Australia Day citizenship ceremonies. In late 2022, it changed the law to allow councils to conduct citizenship ceremonies three days before or after Australia Day, partly to allay municipal concerns about rising voices opposing what they called “Invasion Day”. Last year, more than 80 local councils around Australia moved citizenship ceremonies from January 26 after feedback from Indigenous communities and dwindling interest in local events.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has seized on divisions over Australia Day, promising to pass a law to make January 26 the official day if he is elected. The Resolve Strategic survey found 52 per cent of voters supported such legislation. It is regretful that both major parties have allowed Australia Day to become an issue of division. Debate about Australia Day and Aboriginal recognition is more than simply a cultural war argument, and it should help reshape Australia symbolically and practically for the betterment of First Nations people.
But in an election year, the survey’s lesson for politicians is that they will have to articulate how they will deal with the cost of living, the economy, jobs and law and order. Voters have turned their backs on change and reform and are more concerned with bread-and-butter issues affecting their own daily lives rather than the lives of others.
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