Anthony Albanese backs sports bodies’ Australia Day snub

Anthony Albanese has refused to back in calls by NSW Premier Chris Minns for Cricket Australia and Tennis Australia to reconsider their Australia Day snub.

Anthony Albanese with NSW Premier Chris Minns in Sydney last week. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

Anthony Albanese has refused to support calls by NSW Labor Premier Chris Minns for Cricket Australia and Tennis Australia to reconsider their decision to snub Australia Day, instead urging the nation to stop looking for reasons to be “outraged”.

The Prime Minister said he believed January 26 was an “important day” while also respecting the differing views of many Indigenous Australians, following revelations Australia Day would not be acknowledged at the Gabba Test or Australian Open on Friday.

He reiterated his support for the day as an occasion to “reflect on who we are as a nation”, as federal ministers Amanda Rishworth and Murray Watt defended the right of the sporting bodies not to celebrate Australia Day. 

“I think we need to stop looking for areas in which we can be outraged,” he told Sky News.

“We need to come together. Look, some people will go to the cricket, people will celebrate or for some people, for First Nations people, I respect the views that they have, someone like Scott Boland has expressed those. They’re entitled to express those views.

“But it’s one where I think it’s an important day for Australia and I certainly will be participating in all the events.”

Mr Minns has urged both sporting bodies to “revisit the ­decision”, although he did not expect the date of Australia Day to change in the near future.

“The idea that you would take a national day away from any country, particularly Australia, is a strange one,” he told 2GB radio.

“We should be trying to pull each other together, and this is the day that we’ve set aside to celebrate what it means to live in the greatest country on earth.”

Peter Dutton accused Mr Albanese of lacking leadership by failing to condemn corporate leaders who undermine the national day, describing him as “up to his neck in this national self-loathing move to kill Australia Day”. The Opposition Leader has called on consumers to boycott Woolworths for not stocking Australia Day merchandise.

Peter Dutton has called on consumers to boycott Woolworths over Australia Day.

“It is about time the Prime Minister stood up as the leader of our country and said to Cricket Australia and other corporate wokes we should be celebrating Australia Day,” he said.

Opposition citizenship spokesman Dan Tehan criticised Mr Albanese for undermining Australia Day, remarking that a “fish rots from the head”.

Nationals Leader David Littleproud said it didn’t fall to sporting codes to “set the moral compass”, disputing Cricket Australia’s claim that the decision not to use the term Australia Day during Friday’s test against the West Indies was driven by a desire to be “inclusive and respectful”.

“Be inclusive and respectful to the vast majority of Australians that want to be proud about the fact that this is our national day,” he told Sky News.

“There’s no country on the planet that hasn’t made mistakes during their journey, but we’re a better nation for where we’ve come from and now what we are and what we’ve made, and we should celebrate that.”

Queensland Premier Steven Miles said he didn’t hold “particularly strong” views on Cricket Australia’s decision, urging politicians to “watch their language” and avoid divisive rhetoric after a Woolworths store was attacked following revelations the supermarket chain would not stock Australia Day merchandise.

Cricket Australia chair Mike Baird declined to comment, saying the issue was being handled by CA chief executive Nick Hockley.

Ms Rishworth said the government remained committed to celebrating Australia Day on January 26 and it fell to private organisations to make their own decisions about how to mark it.

“Every Australian and every private organisation will make decisions about how they acknowledge Australia Day, how they reflect, respect and celebrate, and that’s a matter for them,” she told Channel 9’s Today.

Senator Watt said CA was an independent organisation entitled to make its own decision about how to celebrate Australia Day. “There’ll be some organisations that will be loudly celebrating Australia Day, there’ll be some that aren’t” he told Channel 7’s Sunrise.

“As a government, we’ve made clear that we have no plans whatsoever to change the date from Australia Day.”