Comment on Make Oz Day a celebration of the future, not the past by Hal Duell.
Domenico: “… with eyes on the future.” (What I said) is a bit different than “celebrate the future” (how you read it).
Federation Day is indeed on January 1, but to ask people to come together the day after the night before, or New Year’s Eve?
As an intelligent man, surely you can see how that, while factually correct, is an impracticable solution.
Hal Duell Also Commented
Make Oz Day a celebration of the future, not the past
Domenico: Please stop misquoting me. I do not and have not suggested Anzac Day be also known as Australia Day.
“If (IF!) we want a national day to celebrate our coming of age in the crucible of war, Anzac Day amply suffices.”
No one, myself included, has suggested we meld that day into Australia Day.
You are doing your argument no favours by resorting to underhanded and misleading rhetorical tricks.
Make Oz Day a celebration of the future, not the past
Domenico: Perhaps we need to think again on what constitutes an acceptable national day, or day of unity.
We already have a designated Federation Day, but does anyone really pay much attention to it? And falling as it does on the day after the global party of New Year’s Eve makes it hard to imagine it becoming anything more than what it already is.
If we want a national day to celebrate our coming of age in the crucible of war, Anzac Day amply suffices.
My suggestion of the last Monday in January was mostly to offer a minimal alternative to January 26, which will never be accepted by many.
Following comments to my letter, I am coming around to the idea of September 1, or Wattle Day.
It is politically neutral, it is the first day of Spring, it celebrates the green and gold, and it allows for the participation of schools and school children.
Not a bad combination when celebrating the present and looking to the future.
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