An angry culture war surrounds Australia Day
Conservatives claim that wokeness is destroying the national holiday
BEERS, barbecues and beaches are hallmarks of Australia Day. So is the fight surrounding the national holiday. Every year Australians get tangled in an argument over the celebration, on January 26th, which marks the landing of the First Fleet of British convicts in Sydney Cove in 1788. To many Australians, the day is the foundation of their successful and genuinely multicultural nation. To many indigenous Australians, celebrating colonisation feels like a slight. Atrocities that came with European settlement seemed intended to drive their peoples to extinction.
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This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Aussie Aussie Aussie”
From the January 25th 2025 edition
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