26/01/2024
JANUARY 26 - AUSTRALIA DAY?
(8-minute read)
Do you have an opinion on whether āAustralia Dayā should stay or move from January 26?
You are invited to read this below so as to become acquainted with some of the history of Australia that you might not have known about.
Then your opinion will be informed.
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100,000 Years ago = People we now call āAboriginalsā first start arriving in what we now call āAustraliaā.
8000 - 4000 Years ago = Makassan hunter-gatherers from Sulawesi in Indonesia, arrive, forage, and introduce their dogs to Australia. These dogs would later become known as āDingoesā.
8000 BCE - 1900 CE = Makassans continue to fish, trade, explore, and have s*x with Aboriginal women until their presence is banned under the āWhite Australia Policyā in the 19th Century.
1422 = A Chinese Fleet of ships lands in several places around Australia looking for minerals and treasure.
They stay for weeks, and in some places for months.
1521 - 1524 = The Portuguese, as part of their world conquest, land on the western coast of Australia.
1606 - 1770 = An estimated 54 European ships from a range of nations made contact officially. They variously charted, landed, foraged, and had s*x with Aboriginal women.
Unofficially many more ships would have made contact. Many of these were merchant ships from the worldās second multi-national corporation, the āDutch East India Companyā and would have included Traders from Spain, France, Portugal, Holland, Germany, and England.
1606 = A Dutch explorer and Trader Willem Janszoon, working for the Dutch East India Company, travels along, lands, and fights locals in what we now call Cape York Peninsula, Queensland.
1642 = On November 24, Abel Tasman, a Dutch explorer and Trader, also working for Dutch East India Company, lands in what we now call Tasmania. He named the island, 'Van Diemen's Land'.
1644 = Tasmanās second voyage sees him charting and landing in various spots across the top of this continent. He officially names this country on his maps as āNew Hollandā.
1688 = English explorer William Dampier lands on west coast of New Holland.
1770 = On a sunny afternoon on April 29, Captain James Cook and his men first set foot on New Holland soil at what they call Botany Bay - now known as Botany Bay, New South Wales.
1778 = On January 18, at 2:15 pm, one of the ships of the Convicts Convoy known as the āFirst Fleetā - an armada of 11 British ships carrying 1480 people - anchors on the northern side of Botany Bay. Its crew begin exploring the surrounding countryside and made contact with the Aboriginals.
1778 = On January 19, three more ships of the First Fleet land.
1788 = On January 20, the remaining 7 ships land.
1788 = By January 20 the British, American, African, and French convicts, along with soldiers, administrators, women and children, have all landed at Botany Bay to set up shop.
1788 = On January 26 the Botany Bay landing spot was abandoned and the Fleet moved to what they called, āSydney Coveā in āPort Jacksonā ā now known as Circular Quay, Sydney Harbour.
1788 = At Circular Quay on January 26, the First Fleet Commander Captain Arthur Phillip raises the British Union Jack flag to officially designate Britainās latest Prison Colony.
Phillip then declares that Sydney Cove and the entire territory in the east of the continent is claimed for Britain and henceforth shall be named āNew South Walesā. Leaving the western part of the continent to be still known as New Holland.
Aboriginal onlookers are perplexed to say the least.
The name New Holland continued to be used for this country, semi-officially and in popular usage, as the name for the whole continent, right up until the mid-1850s.
1803 = Matthew Flinders and the Aboriginal King Bungaree, complete the first circumnavigation of the continent, still known as New Holland. On his charts Flinders decides to name the continent, "Terra Australis" - Latin for 'Southern Land'.
1827 = On January 21, the Brits think, āF**k itā, and formally claim all of New Holland to add to their possession of New South Wales.
1832 = The Swan River Colony changes its name to 'The British Colony of Western Australia'. This is the first time the word āAustraliaā is officially used to denote any area in this country.
1851 = On July 1, Victoria separates from New South Wales and forms its own Colony. Over the coming decades other areas break away from āNew South Walesā to form their own Colonies.
1854 = On December 3, the Eureka Stockade is attacked and levelled by British troops in order to trample the first example of social democracy in New Holland/Australia.
1869 - 1970 = Children of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent are removed from their families by Colonial government agencies. This practice lasted until 1970 and is known as 'The Stolen Generationsā.
No numbers kept but estimates are between 20%-30% of Aboriginal families were terrorized in this way.
1891 = By now all Colonies/States have Politicians who are to meet and decide on changing the name of the country officially to āThe Commonwealth of Australiaā - depending on whether they can come together in the future.
1895 = "Waltzing Matilda" (original longer lyrics show it was an anti-establishment protest folk song) was first sung in public, in Winton, Queensland.
1899 = On September 2, the Colonies of Queensland and then New South Wales begin preparations to send troops to help Britain grab more land in South Africa from the Dutch. This fight is called the Second Boer War. These troops fight under the British Union Jack flag.
1900 = Britainās government changes the proposed constitution of Australia to make sure Englandās economic interests in Australia are not compromised. Whereupon it was given approval by the ruling monarch of Great Britain, Queen Victoria. (Gee, thanks Vicky!)
1900 = Knowing Federation was coming, a Melbourne Newspaper ran a competition for a new flag for Australia, as opposed to the British Union Jack that had been the flag till that point. However the competition stipulated that all entries had to have a Union Jack and the Southern Cross constellation of stars in their design. (So much for originality or any sense of independence.)
1901 = On January 1, (and this is the REALLY important bit) the previously individual and former British Colonies of New Holland/New South Wales band together creating a āFederationā of States and for the first time EVER, officially refer to their collective Federation, and this island, and this continent, as āthe Commonwealth of Australiaā.
The British Parliament then passed legislation allowing the six former British colonies to govern in their own right as the Commonwealth of Australia. (Gee, thanks!)
1901 = The Australian Commonwealth government finally decides to get in on the flag design act and they launch a competition as well; partly sponsored by a To***co company.
The winner was chosen by a cheap and ta**ry magazine at the time that was the equivalent of todayās magazine āNew Ideaā.
The winning ādesignā was the same as we have today but on a red background. Referred to as the āRed Ensignā.
The flag's initial reception was not well received.
The magazine āThe Bulletinā labelled it:
āA stale dish of warm upped leftovers of the British flag, with no artistic virtue, and no national significance... Minds move slowly and Australia is still Britain's little boy. What more natural than that he should accept his father's cut-down garments, lacking the power to protest, and only dimly realising his will. That bastard flag is a true symbol of the bastard state of Australian opinion.ā
1914 ā 1918 = First World War. Australia sends troops to help Britain, France, and Russia carve up the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman Empire.
At Gallipoli, Turkiye, the Australians invade and fight under the flag of the British Union Jack.
The āAustralianā flag was nowhere to be seen.
60,000 Australians die in that war.
1922 = Vegemite is first produced. (Also true - and just checking youāre still with me!)
1927 = On May 9, Parliament House in Canberra opens and flags flown that day were the Red Ensign and the British Union Jack.
And there were more British Union Jack flags than Red Ensigns. (Que surprise!)
1939 = On September 1, the British Empire declares War on Germany for their invasion of Poland and thus World War 2 (officially) begins.
Australia is a part of the British Empire and thus is at War also.
Despite the pleas of the Australian government for its military forces to remain in Australia to deal with the growing threat of the Japanese, the British insist Australian troops be sent to England and Singapore.
1939 - 1945 = During World War 2, wherever Australians fought, they were mainly under the command of the British and so fought under the British Union Jack.
On the rare occasions they were not under British (or American) command, Australian forces flew both the Red Ensign and (- can you guess?) the British Union Jack.
1941 = On December 7, the Japanese attack America at Hawaii and thus start expanding the Pacific War in earnest.
1942 - 1943 = The Japanese bomb Darwin, Northern Territory for the first time. They continue to bomb Darwin many times over the next year or so.
1942 = On February 15, after one week of fighting the Japanese Army, the British Military Command of Singapore decides to surrender 130,000 men, including 15,000 Australians who had just landed in Singapore. They would all become Prisoners of War of the Japanese. Very very few of the Australians survived at the hands of the Japanese.
The Australian commander of those OZ troops, Lieutenant-General Gordon Bennett (somehow?) fled/escaped Singapore by boat on the night of the surrender and returned home to a comfortable life in Australia.
1942 = February. The Japanese Imperial Forces descend on East Timor.
Australia sends its first ever Commando Unit to conduct Guerrilla warfare operations on the island.
But these operations are only made possible because of the support of the East Timorese people who risked their lives to help the Australian Commandos known as āSparrow Forceā.
The East Timorese people provided food and shelter, ponies for carrying heavy equipment, acted as porters and guides, and helped set up ambushes. Some even took up arms themselves and fought alongside the Australians.
In retaliation for helping the Australians, the Japanese executed 55,000 East Timorese.
1952 = On October 3, Australia allows Britain to conduct its first Nuclear Bomb explosion test on the coast of Western Australia.
1952 - 1957 = Australia allows Britain to further explode 12 major Nuclear Bombs in Western Australia and South Australia.
Aboriginals and Australian military personnel were on the ground near all the tests and were exposed directly to the radiation fallout.
Fallout also drifted across the ENTIRE continent contaminating most of the Australian population at that time.
1953 - 1963 = Australia allows Britain to explode a few HUNDRED small scale Nuclear Bombs as tests.
Despite a poll in 1957 showing half the people of Australia were against the tests, the pro-British Liberal government of Robert Menzies ignored the protests.
1954 = For the first time, the Blue Ensign (our current flag with the navy blue background) becomes Australiaās official flag.
1962 = Aboriginals given the right to vote for the first time ā even though they were not counted as ācitizensā of Australia in the Census.
1963 = Indonesia invades West Papua and Australia turns a blind eye to it.
Since then the Indonesians have slaughtered over 500,000 West Papuans.
Australia is not only a supporter of Indonesian rule over West Papua, but also supplies training and equipment to the military unit āDeath Squadsā that operate in West Papua.(- how nice of us.)
1967 = On May 27, Aboriginals now become eligible to be counted in Census and finally, officially, become recognized as ācitizensā of Australia.
1970/71 = More than 500,000 Australians at each of two massive demonstrations, protest against the invasion of Vietnam by American and Australian forces.
These are the largest demonstrations ever in Australiaās history.
The Liberal (LNP) government of the time ignores the protests.
1975 = On October 16, Australian Intelligence Services, specifically the most secret one of the lot, the āDefence Signals Directorateā, intercepts Indonesian military messages during the Indonesian invasion of East Timor, which outlines their plan that day to kill 5 Australian journalists covering the invasion.
The Australian Labor government under Whitlam is informed of this but does nothing to warn or save the journalists who are subsequently murdered.
1975 = On December 7, Indonesian military forces expand their full-scale invasion and occupation of East Timor.
The Australian government does nothing.
Conveniently, Australians have a SHORT MEMORY and have forgotten those 55,000 East Timorese that were slaughtered by the Japanese for aiding Australian Commandos on East Timor during World War 2.
1975 ā 1999 = Indonesian military forces kill over 200,000 East Timorese.
Australia does nothing.
1985 = The Australian government finally gets around to banning the British government from making laws for Australia. (Thatās a bit rough you Wallaby!)
1991 = Prime Minister of Australia Paul Keating said when asked about Australiaās flag, āI do not believe that the symbols and the expression of the full sovereignty of Australian nationhood can ever be complete while we have a flag with the flag of another country on the corner of it.ā
1996 = Commonwealth Government leads all Australian states and territories to introduce uniform gun laws following the deaths of 35 people in the Port Arthur massacre. Laws that keep most Australians safe to this day. Laws that are opposed by right wing, ātrue blueā, āaussieā groups, and the National Party, the Shooters and Fishers Party, and all members of the Liberal Party. (Lot of gun partying going on.)
2005 = December. A lifeguard at a Sydney beach side suburb called Cronulla is supposedly punched by two āmiddle eastern looking' youths.
Seizing on this incident to generate ratings for his show, Alan Jones, a Sydney talk back, shock jock, racist, right wing nut job radio host, begins a week long tirade of inflammatory and hate inciting speeches against āmiddle eastern thugsā and commands his listeners to go down to Cronulla beach and āteach them a lessonā.
At the end of the week, Cronulla explodes in a race riot as 5,000 drunken, racist āAussiesā run amok looking for anyone of colour to attack.
And they find people to attack, and do so.
Most of the 5,000 Aussie āpatriotsā fly those little Aussie Flags out their car windows, or sport Australia Flag tattoos, or wear Australia Flag head gear, shirts, shorts, and of course, thongs.
Australia had never seen such a huge public display of the Australian flag before.
Many carry and parade the Australian flag as some kind of justification for their rioting and violence. (The Australian flag ever since has connotations and connections to all the Race Riots that have plagued Australia over the past two centuries.)
Radio host Alan Jones claims no fault for riot or stoking the ugly face of Aussie āpatriotismā.
2017 = Liberal Party politicians propose that Australia become the dumping ground for the worldās nuclear waste. They said, āWe could make a lot of money.ā
2024 = Australiaās Head of State continues to be, not the Prime Minister, not the Opposition Leader, not even the 'Governor General', no, the AUSTRALIAN Head of State is Charles, the King of England and Great Britain.
N.B ā Remember this bit from earlier on?
1901 = January 1, was the day when 6 separate Colonies decided to band together under one combined government, and then FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, decide that this country, its islands, and this continent, should be known forever more as the 'Commonwealth of Australia'.
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So rather than being force fed January 26 as a date to celebrate, personally Iād like a country to celebrate.
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