Today’s Brooke Boney weighs into Australia Day date controversy

The new entertainment reporter on Nine’s rebooted Today says she can’t celebrate Australia Day on 26 January.

New Today entertainment reporter Brooke Boney. Picture: Supplied

Brooke Boney, the new entertainment reporter on the revamped Today breakfast show, said marking Australia Day on January 26 means commemorating an extremely difficult period in the country’s history, which she won’t celebrate.

Speaking on a panel discussion about Australia Day following calls by some politicians and sports people to change the date, indigenous woman Boney said Australia was the “best country in the world”.

However, she said she could not celebrate a national day on the anniversary of the landing of the First Fleet on January 26, 1788.

“I can’t separate the 26th of January from the fact that my brothers are more likely to go to jail than they are to go to school, or that my little sisters and my mum are more likely to be beaten and raped than anyone else’s sisters or mum.”

“And that started from that day, so for me, it’s a difficult day and I don’t want to celebrate it. But any other day of the year, I’ll tie an Australian flag around my neck and I’ll run through the streets with anyone else,” she said this morning on air.

Today’s new sports presenter Tony Jones than interjected, asking why any other day be would different to 26 January.

“Because that’s the first day, that’s the day that it changed for us. That’s sort of the beginning of what some people would say is the end. That’s the turning point,” Boney said this morning.

Today’s new co-host Deborah Knight then asked if she wants Australia Day to not be celebrated or the date changed, with Boney saying she would like to see the date changed.

“I think a day that suits more people is probably going to be more uniting,” Boney said.

Boney said the statistics show that the lives of indigenous people are “harder” than other Australians. Jones said it “shouldn’t be an us versus them.”

A Nine spokesperson said: “Our on air team regularly express their opinions on many matters and we encourage respectful debate in the community. With this segment on the Today show this morning, Brooke Boney and Tony Jones expressed two different opinions on the matter respectfully and we support their right to do so.”

Former Today co-host Karl Stefanovic called for the date to be changed in August 2017, when he co-hosted Today with Georgie Gardner, despite initially being against the date being changed. Former tennis player Pat Cash also wants the date changed as does Greens leader Richard Di Natale.

After a weak debut on Monday, Today is starting to attract more viewers.

Brooke Boney with Today sports reporter Tony Jones.

About 238,000 people across the five metropolitan cities watched the show on Wednesday, compared to 196,652 viewers Monday and on 201,587 on Tuesday.

On average, Today had about 235,000 viewers a day during the work week last year, when it was hosted by Georgie Gardner and former co-host Karl Stefanovic, who was sacked last month following a decline in ratings.

Still, Today has a while to go before it catches up to rival Sunrise, which had 251,000 viewers across the five cities on Seven yesterday. Sunrise had 274,701 viewers on Tuesday and 266,469 on Monday.