Another year, another January 26 and a revisit to the continuing “Australia Day” conversation turned conservative culture war.
Over 25 years, as a young Koori living between Sydney and regional New South Wales, I’ve personally seen the shifting trends over January 26. As a child I had to constantly educate people around me about the Aboriginal positions around the date, so it has been an immense feeling seeing tens-of-thousands of people march on the date, and dozens of local councils moved their citizenship ceremonies in the last couple years.
But even through the excitement of growing support, there was a firm reality check from my parents and grandparents — get ready for the pendulum to swing, just in case.
Earlier this month, Peter Dutton came out swinging, claiming that one of his first acts as Prime Minister would be to legislate January 26 as Australia’s national day, which would force local councils to conduct citizenship ceremonies, claiming in a press conference this week that “our country needs to re-establish our sense of pride”.
At this press conference, journalists from the Sydney Morning Herald informed the opposition leader of their recently commissioned poll, which found that 61 per cent of their respondents did not want to change the date.
This is one of many recent polls that have been released regarding this topic and has led to headlines like “Proof Aussies are sick of Australia Day Debate” and “Australia Day roars back into favour in wake of Voice Referendum”, amongst others.
Often citing different surveys from different research companies, writers across the country are rushing to declare that their survey is the definitive proof of no support for changing the date and an embrace for “Australia Day”.
One Newscorp survey claimed that a whopping 9 out of 10 Australians support “Australia Day” on the 26th, a leap from The Herald’s more modest 61 per cent and even further from The Conversation found only 58 per cent in support.
When talking about survey results, we must remind ourselves that surveys are useful but ultimately imperfect sources of data. Their results can radically range due to their sampling pool or even how questions are worded. We must also remember that headlines are meant to get clicks and we all need to take information from journalists with a grain of salt (even this one).
However, we can’t be ignorant or dismissive of this trend just because of attention-seeking journalism or politicians. This trend of decreasing support for changing the date of “Australia Day” is in step with a shift to conservative politics in Australia and around the world. It must be analysed seriously to truly understand the landscape of First Nations justice.
Following the failure of the Voice Referendum there has been a reported dip in Australians interest in national First Nations affairs. In the June 2024 Ipsos Indigenous Issues Report, only 16 per cent of respondents said they were ”very interested” in First Nations affairs; which is a drop from 22 per cent in 2023 and 19 per cent in 2021.
The report also found a dwindling interest for Treaty and Closing The Gap initiatives, noting that “Non-Indigenous Australians who don’t consider Treaty important for reconciliation believe their perspective is widely shared”. Associate research director Nonie Finlayson told SBS that the results were influenced by a “significant fatigue post the divisive Voice to Parliament campaign and are also feeling deflated after the vote’s rejection”.
The rejection hasn’t just influenced the feelings of everyday Australians, but also policy moves from governments, who claim the outcome wasn’t just voting on the Voice to Parliament but indicates a rejection of a number of First Nations justice issues.
Importantly, the Federal Government has delayed action on Truth and Treaty. Following the “No” outcome, the federal government reaffirmed their commitment to Truth and Treaty through a Makaratta Commission but has since backed away from this promise, removing the allocated $5.8 million from their federal budget.
On a state level, First Nations justice has also taken a blow. Notably, in October last year, the Queensland Liberal National Party election platform included the promise to repeal the Pathway to Treaty Act, backflipping on their support for the bill in May. On their first day in parliament, the LNP abolished the state truth-telling inquiry without warning, an initiative that took six years to establish and two days to dismantle.
During campaigning, Premier David Crisafulli justified these decisions by claiming that the outcome of the referendum indicated that, “Queenslanders do not want to continue down a path that leads to more division and uncertainty”.
Division and uncertainty, they seem to be the words of the moment in regards to the state of Indigenous rights in settler-colonial countries.
This week we saw the inauguration of President Trump in the United States. His first set of executive orders has threatened the birthright citizenship of Native Americans and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies which could impact treaty obligations. He claims these actions “will begin the complete restoration of America and the revolution of common sense”.
In Canada, following the resignation of Prime Minister Trudeau, the candidate expected to win this year’s election is Pierre Poilievre — who has famously called compensation to Residential School survivors (similar policy to Stolen Generations) a “waste”, voted against the national recognition of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and is known for his belief in “economic reconciliation”; which is code for getting First Nations people to agree to extractive industry projects they’ve historically protested.
Our neighbours in Aotearoa/New Zealand haven’t been faring well, either. Through the election of conservative Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and the Coalition government, a number of rights for Māori have been repealed, including dismantling the Māori health authority, use of Māori language in the public service and reinterpreting the Treaty of Waitangi .
I don’t reiterate this national and global context to shame or deflate supporters of Indigenous rights. I do this to illustrate why your vocal and active support for First Nations people and our rights is more important than ever before.
It’s easy to throw your weight behind a cause when you’re seeing wins but showing up when the odds are stacked against you is where it actually counts.
The trend across Western settler-colonial countries is a rise in anti-Indigenous rhetoric, which neglects our aspirations and often denies outright promises — election, treaty or otherwise. Headlines about changing support trends should not deflate us but demand our action and our visible support for what we believe is the right thing to do.
This January 26, take action for First Nations justice and be loud about it – then keep going!
- Show up to a protest
- Attend a First Nations-led event
- Buy from a First Nations business
- Redistribute your wealth to community organisations through a place like First Nations Future #WEALTHBACK campaign
- Repost graphics demonstrating your support on your social media or print them as posters such as my multilingual post or this one from Clothing The Gaps
- Sign petitions such as the Clothing the Gaps ‘Not A Date To Celebrate’ petition, which currently over 30,000 signatures
Lead image: Getty Images
If you’re feeling affected by this content, help is available. There’s no shame in talking about it.
If you’re in distress, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or chat online.
You can also get in touch with Headspace Yarn Safe online.
Or you can speak with your NACCHO community health service – find your local member online.
The post Jan 26: Australians Dipping Their Support For Changing The Date, But Why? appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
