Australia Day: Why It Needs Protecting

Australia Day marks the landing of the First Fleet, and proclamation on January 26 1888 of the east coast of the continent as a colony of the British Empire.

Originally called Foundation Day, it was first officially celebrated in 1818. Governor Macquarie declared the day a holiday for all government workers, and ordered a thirty-gun salute to mark the date being the thirtieth anniversary of the colony's founding.

Although it became Australia’s first declared public holiday in 1838, Australia Day did not become a truly national holiday until 1941, with all States except South Australia marking the founding of our nation.

In 1946, all six States and the Commonwealth finally agreed to a unified celebration of Australia Day on 26 January.

Every January, the Australian media roll out the same old has been television personalities and washed up sportsmen to tell us why should move Australia Day because it offends members of the Indigenous Nations.

We are told that our Monarchy is outdated and undemocratic – that we must become a republic with a president elected not by the people, but by a two-thirds majority of the Federal Parliament. Now that sounds democratic.

What I find the most offensive, however, is that these people insist that we must change our National Flag and our National Anthem.

One of the most outspoken anti-patriotic flag haters is a famous Australian Football player, coach and commentator.His father was fighting for Australia under the flag that he wants replaced.

Another infamous flag-hating republican, is the man who made his name – and millions – selling cheap electronics goods from Asia, before selling his empire to the Taiwanese. He then had the audacity to complain long and loud about the dwindling number of Australian owned and operated companies, before establishing his own brand of food products - one of the dearest brands on Australian supermarket shelves.

In 1984, the Australian Federal Government held a referendum on changing the Australian National Anthem. The “yes” vote got up, and God Save The Queen was replaced with Advance Australia Fair. Later, the opening line of the new anthem “Australia’s Sons let us rejoice...” was changed to “Australians all let us rejoice...”

Sadly, that change was not enough for some. As Australians will hear, see and read over the coming weeks as our National Day approaches, there are many who would like to replace Advance Australia Fair completely.

The frontrunner for our new anthem? That well known and much loved traditional Australian song, Waltzing Matilda.

While Australia can certainly lay claim to A.B. “Banjo” Patterson’s words being true blue, the same cannot be said of the music. It seems that Christina Macpherson’s score for Waltzing Matilda, written in 1894, “borrows” rather heavily from a Scots folk song from the early nineteenth century.

The lyrics of The Bonnie Wood O’ Craigielea were penned in 1805, by Robert Tannahill, with James Barr composing the music in 1818.

When I was in primary school, we stood to attention every Monday morning and sang God Save The Queen and Advance Australia Fair. Now, even the Returned Services' League only sing the first verse of Advance Australia Fair at Dawn Service on Remembrance Day.

If we allow the unpatriotic PC thugs to undermine our heritage, our culture and our establishments, we will have no national identity to celebrate.

_{© Copyright The Writer's Dog 2012}

Video of Bonnie Wood O' Craigielea posted to YouTube by Raymond Crooke.

Bonnie Wood O' Craigielea Lyrics by Robert Tannahill 1805; Music by James Barr 1818